ATP Sale Anouncement

by

Given
the rush of government announcements across different parts of Government it
must be Christmas time!

Yesterday the Government announced that UrbanGrowth NSW (UG) would handle an EOI process which closes 30th January 2015 for the sale of the Australian Technology Park.

As requested by REDWatch from UG below you will find an email regarding this
announcement and immediately below is what has appeared on the UG website:

December
4, 2014: The NSW Government is
seeking Expression of Interest (EOI) to confirm market interest in the
Australian Technology Park (ATP). This is a continuation of the
well-established intention that began in 2013. The sale could enable further
development consistent with the vision in the Major Development SEPP 2005 and
to release the capital locked in the asset, including for possible reinvestment
in the transformation of the Central to Eveleigh corridor. THE EOI will include
requirements for continued public access to and through the Park, and that any
developments embrace the commercial, heritage and conservation attributes of
the Park and contribute positively to the surrounding community.  For more
information visit
the ATP website.

Below
you will find links to information about the sale and site that we currently
are aware of:

Initial
REDWatch Comment

As
UrbanGrowth has a meeting coming up next week and some people will want to get
across this announcement before then we are sending this out as quickly as
possible with some initial observations so you can seek clarifications next
week.

Bad
Community Engagement Start for UG

UrbanGrowth
in their Concept Plan had a series of questions about what people would like to
see at the ATP including the question “If ownership of ATP were to change what
are the key public benefits you would like to see retained if possible?”

In
an ideal world after such a “feeling out” of the community a body like UG would
come back to the community and say this is what we heard, did we get it right?,
this is what we are thinking of doing, and what do you think about that?
Community Engagement best practice however has not made it to UG NSW to
influence this decision so there has been no feedback on what they thought they
were told or any further discussion of what safeguards they were putting in
place to protect against community concerns  just an announcement that the
Govt has decided to sell!

Even
worse UG have not put out anything to the community that addressed the issues
that were raised with them or the ATP and said how the EOI process will try and
address those concerns.

How
does sale fit with UG C2E?

Sale
is for site with existing RWA controls. So does this mean that whoever buys it
then gets the uplift in value for free that flows from Central to Eveleigh
pushing up floor-space around the site? Why not wait until C2E process is
completed rather than flogging it off now? The Frank Knight brochure says that
in addition to the three development sites at RWA heights and floor space
“Substantial value-add opportunities exist across ATP, including many spaces
that can be developed or converted to attract new business.”

Looking
at how developers have pushed up heights and floor space above controls and
concept plan levels at Frazer’s Broadway and Green Square locals in Alexandria
who were impacted by the Channel 7 building are hardly likely to welcome the
site passing from Government to a private developer.

What
are the Heritage Implications of the Sale

This
is not clear to us from the scant answer in the FAQs who ask  Will the
heritage of the site be affected by the sale? A: ATP forms part of the
former Eveleigh
Railway and Locomotive Workshops State Heritage Register listing, and a Conservation
Management Plan has been prepared for ATP and endorsed by the NSW Heritage
Council. The industrial heritage of the Park is important to ATP’s identity,
and any future owners of the Park will be statutorily obliged to maintain and
manage the site’s heritage items and buildings as listed on the State Heritage
Register in accordance with the Heritage Act, 1977. The EOI will ask
prospective owners to demonstrate their capacity and experience in relation to
heritage matters.

REDWatch’s
main concern with privatisation was its implications for the heritage that is
retained at the park. As we understand it state bodies have stricter
requirements concerning heritage than heritage held by private bodies. While we
have been successful in pushing ATP and UG predecessors to see Heritage as an
asset rather than a liability we remain unconvinced that increasing property
prices will change that balance for a private owner. Will UG indicative
development flythrough be used by a buyer to argue that they should be able to
remove key heritage buildings on the site as indicatively done by UG? What
happens to proposals to try and interpret the former Eveleigh Railway site as
one precinct when a large part of it drops from Government ownership. REDWatch
is of the view that the members of the earlier Redfern Waterloo Heritage
Taskforce should be bought together to explore these issues as a matter of
urgency. The City of Sydney Council said they would do this if the Minister did
not – now is the time for the City implement its resolution on this matter.

Clarification
needed for public spaces at ATP

The
EOI involves the sale of the Vice Chancellors Green, Innovation Plaza, the
walkway from Alexandria to Redfern Station, the tennis courts and other public
accessible spaces. UG needs to urgently clarify what is proposed as part of the
sale process about the sale of these currently public spaces.

Ideally
a Govt body interested in listening to and working with local communities would
have put in the public domain the answer to these and other questions raised in
the July consultation. Regrettably they have not and they need to do so ASAP if
they want to have a constructive relationship with resident groups around the
site like REDWatch.

Geoffrey Turnbull – Spokesperson

Email from UrbanGrowth NSW

Subject: ATP EOI

I wanted to
inform you that the NSW Government is seeking Expression of Interest (EOI) to
confirm market interest in the Australian Technology Park (ATP). This is a
continuation of the well established intention that began in 2013.  The
sale could enable further development consistent with the vision in the Major
Development SEPP 2005 and to release the capital locked in the asset, including
for possible reinvestment in the transformation of the Central to Eveleigh
corridor. THE EOI will include requirements for continued public access to and
through the Park, and that any developments embrace the commercial, heritage
and conservation attributes of the Park and contribute positively to the
surrounding community. 

For your
information please find

For more
information visit the ATP
website or please
contact me if you have any further queries.

Regards,

Vanessa
Gordon
Project Communications Advisor