His comments follow the stabbing death of a 23-year-old
Aboriginal man on Eveleigh Street
last month.
Mr Mundine, also the CEO of the Aboriginal Housing Company,
said the company would fight the NSW Planning Department in the Land and Environment Court
unless it waives a $60,00 fee to assess its Pemulwuy development for Redfern.
The DA for Pemulwuy is for 62 new houses for Aboriginal
families living on Eveleigh Street
and will include social initiatives to prevent crime and drugs from returning
to the area once the homes are built.
A cultural centre and other community spaces are also
included in the plan.
Mr Mundine said the fee was unreasonable and the
organisation would have no hesitation taking the matter to the LEC. The
impasse, reported in
Central in early March, has halted progress of the Pemulway
project, which Mr Mundine said was essential to saving lives in impoverished
parts of suburb, including the Block. Mr Mundine said the Planning Department
should waive any assessment fees because the AHC was a non profit community
organisation.
“We can’t afford to give them anything – we have no
money,” Mr Mundine said. “There has never been any funding to put
this together, the $250,000 for the plan was donated by the architect.
“We are a non-profit organisation, we are not going to
make any money out of this project, and everything will be going back into the
community.”
A Department of Planning spokesman said a final figure had
not yet been determined as it was still waiting on information from the AHC.
Mr Mundine said the Pemulway project had been “held
back” for a number of years, and the Government had to accept some
responsibility for crime and drug-related problems at the Block.
“If it was not because of this Government the
development would have happened by now,” he said. “It’s costing
lives, someone died in the Block the other week. That murder would not have
happened if this project had been completed.”
Photo: Phil Rogers – Mick Mundine wants the Pemulway project
fast tracked for the good of Redfern.
Source:
Central 11 June 2008