Developers eye the Block

Janice Hamilton

Sydney developers are licking their lips at the prospect of a 
huge chunk of valuable inner-city land coming up for grabs — 
Redfern's "Block".

Currently administered by the Aboriginal Housing Company, the 
Block is home to an Indigenous population who have a long 
traditional association to the Redfern area. It was also the site 
of the clashes in February this year between Indigenous people 
and police following the suspicious death of 17-year-old Thomas 
Hickey.

NSW Premier Bob Carr has strenuously denied claims that his newly 
announced Redfern-Waterloo Authority, which will be given 
planning powers to "revitalise" the area, is aiming to get rid of 
what is seen as a hotspot of drugs, crime and violence.

But the warning signs are there — the Carr Government has long 
been in the pocket of the developer lobby and the land, running 
between Cleveland St and Redfern Station, is prime inner Sydney 
real estate.

In his announcement of the plan, Carr pretty much gave the game 
away: "The Block is a key problem and doing something new with 
it, maybe focusing on individual home ownership, having them 
proud of their property, maybe that's the way forward".

According to the Premier the Authority will be similar to the 
former Sydney Cove Authority, which oversaw the redevelopment of 
the The Rocks area during the '70s and '80s, turning it into a 
developer's dream and converting it into a tourist and hotel 
district. The Authority is to be headed by NSW Utilities 
Minister, and former Sydney Mayor, Frank Sartor.

The current Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, will also be 
invited by the Government to be on the authority, but as to 
whether there will be local Indigenous representation is unclear 
as no actual detail of the make up of the authority or its 
strategies has been released.

Moore cautiously welcomed the Government's proposal but says it 
must be used as a chance to improve infrastructure and services, 
not just as a development exercise.

"Any new authority needs to deliver infrastructure and urban and 
community renewal", she noted. Ms Moore said that after years of 
talk the community could be forgiven for suspecting that the 
authority is to be a means for the Government to override 
existing planning processes and bypass the recently elected 
independent Sydney Council.

"Aboriginal organisations are very angry about the whole thing", 
said Naomi Mayers is the chief executive of the Aboriginal 
Medical Service (AMS). "It's just out of the blue. There was no 
consultation."

The AMS's Peter Fernando added that the State Government's 
failure to communicate with the locals was "nonsensical".

The head of the Aboriginal Housing Company, Mick Mundine, who 
administers Indigenous housing projects in the Redfern area, says 
there needs to be Aboriginal involvement in the plan, and that 
work done by his organisation toward improving the area must not 
be ignored.

The Aboriginal Housing Company has been involved in the 
development of a community social plan for the area which 
includes strategies for addressing the social and economic 
problems that have faced the Indigenous population of Redfern for 
generations.

"We're willing to work with the Government. But I put it back on 
the Government to start respecting the Aboriginal people too", Mr 
Mundine said.

The local community have made it clear that the only way the 
authority can make progress is if it addresses the fundamental 
problems facing the Indigenous community, those being chronic 
unemployment and poverty, and lack of affordable housing, health 
care and other essential services.