Eveleigh: agreement must be honoured

SMH letters August 4, 2008: Brian Dunnett

The efforts of the head of the Redfern-Waterloo Authority, Robert Domm, to evict the blacksmith from the heritage Eveleigh Technology site should alarm all communities in NSW - not just heritage supporters ("Battle stations for Eveleigh," August 2-3).

There is a long-standing government agreement that the Eveleigh site be retained for heritage purposes.

In the mid-1980s the then State Rail Authority and the state government argued that the railway workshops at Eveleigh were outdated and the 4000 employees should be either retrenched or moved to more modern workshops at Chullora. Naturally these proposals, affecting so many, caused no end of debate, including among NSW unions.

Eventually an agreement to divert industrial disputation was reached between all concerned and endorsed at a mass meeting of Eveleigh employees. The terms of settlement included an understanding that heritage features of Eveleigh would be protected for future generations as an example of what pioneering NSW industry had achieved, and that it be used to provide young people with training in traditional skills (like blacksmithing), which still have a place in our society. Thus the idea for Sydney Technology Park was born ...

... Fortunately for NSW, the blacksmith, Guido Gouverneur, and organisations like 3801 Limited have respected that agreement and some of the heritage locations and items remain in good working order and still provide the opportunity for a modern, heritage-based technical park that fits in with plans for other parts of the Eveleigh area now being discussed by Sydney University and the City of Sydney.

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Battle Stations for Eveleigh