The Trust were shocked to discover the removal of a large section of heritage sandstone kerbing in Gladesville Road, alongside St Josephs College. Astonishingly, this work has resulted in the replacement of the sandstone kerb stones with concrete and it is not known what has happened to the large blocks of hand hewn sandstone which have been removed. This has drastically diminished the streetscape and setting for this landmark building. Here is our letter to Council and please write to the General Manager Lisa Miscamble at miscamblel@huntershill.nsw.gov.au if you would also like to comment.
We now have an update from the General Manager at Hunters Hill Council who wrote that ‘the works were discussed with our Heritage Adviser at the time who advised that the sand stone gutter was not heritage listed, therefore appropriate infrastructure works could be undertaken.’
However this does not explain what work necessitated their removal in the first place and ignores the fact that the kerbstones are ‘heritage’ items even if they are not ‘listed’. In fact their removal goes against the Local Environmental Plan 2012 which states that one of the ‘particular aims’ is ‘to conserve Aboriginal heritage and European heritage that influence the character and identity of the municipality’.
Fortunately since the original travesty of the removal of the sandstone kerbs in Gladesville Road, it now appears the Council have reverted to putting them back in place once the road has been repaired thus maintaining our irreplaceable heritage streetscape.
Dismantling The Powerhouse Museum
Update:
There have been some very important news reports recently criticising the proposed relocation of the Powerhouse Museum eg last weekend’s article in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Continuing issues include:
If you would like to add your voice we encourage you to:
1. Write to the Premier and your local MP – addresses at: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/members/Pages/all-members.aspx
2. Make a short submission to the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment here. https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects/project/26576 objecting to the ‘new powerhouse’ design plan and the demolition of heritage in Parramatta.
More details here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YgnQWkgn0BF7tjM8JH1a2oEfQbBzhbnS/view
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March 2020
A fresh parliamentary inquiry has been launched into NSW Government’s $1.5 billion plan to relocate the Powerhouse Museum to an inappropriate flood prone site in Parramatta, Overwhelmingly the voices of the community have advocated to preserve the current site, build a new locally influenced cultural institution at Parramatta and use the funding saved from moving the Powerhouse Museum to create regional museums and galleries. Given the project in Parramatta has now been declared a ‘State Significant Project’ we are concerned that the use of this legislation has only been enacted to enable the Government to override and ignore all reasonable opposition or community input and permit the destruction of local heritage. Here is a link to The Trust’s submission to the Premier and political representatives to which so far we have had an acknowledgement but no detailed response.