Community feeling was strong in Erskineville as residents gathered to oppose overdevelopment in their neighbourhood on February 22. The Friends of Erskineville (FoE) called the meeting in their local town hall in response to City of Sydney plans to allow nine-storey towers in the Ashmore Estate area, bordering Alexandria.
More than 200 residents watched detailed presentations by senior council planners and FoE volunteers, followed by a question-and-answer session. City councillors Irene Doutney (Greens) and Meredith Burgmann (Labor) attended and showed their support for residents. The main concerns raised were traffic, flooding, and inadequate public transport and other services.
The controversy is continuing from last year’s directive from the NSW government to allow 19-storey towers on the site. Five hundred residents submitted objections to the plan, which the state government has yet to rule out.
The directive was the result of representations from the site’s main landowners, Macquarie Goodman and Leighton. Leighton is under investigation by the Federal Police for possible ethical breaches in Iraq contracts. Both companies have a history of developer donations to city councillors.
At present, the council is pushing for a nine-storey compromise plan, open for comment until the end of this month. The council has already received many objections and many more are expected.
The 19-storey plan is widely viewed as an ambit claim and residents resolved to keep the existing maximum five-storey control. Other resolutions — that called for a detailed traffic study, a stormwater upgrade, improved public transport and other community services — were passed.
The meeting was reminded of the strong history of local activism that had previously saved a school, a public housing estate, and a key park during the Green Bans era.
More information is available on the Friends of Erskineville’s website: www.erskinevillevillage.org.
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