Save Dully Residents'
Action Group
Fight continues for Dulwich Hill
25 June 2017
Revised plans issued today will continue to cause the destruction of large swathes of the historic and diverse inner-west suburb of Dulwich Hill without adequate new infrastructure or additional open space, according to the Save Dully action group.
Under the revised plans issued by the NSW Government for the Sydenham to Bankstown corridor, Dulwich Hill streets that mix early 20th century character housing with low-rise and often affordable rental blocks will be targeted for four to eight-storey development.
Affected streets include Bedford, Constitution, Consett, Denison, Dudley, Hercules, New Canterbury, School, Terrace, The Parade, Wardell and Wicks.
In addition, one side of Riverside Crescent which has a significant number of attractive late Federation houses which will be destroyed.
“The Dulwich Hill community lodged 561 submissions to the original 2015 urban renewal plans, which was by far the highest number of submissions from any of the 11 precincts along the corridor,” said Save Dully interim spokesperson Mary O’Sullivan.
“98 per cent of the suburb’s submissions were against the plans.
“While the removal of proposed high-rise rezonings in some areas of the suburb is welcome, the fact of the matter is that large sections of the suburb will still be comprehensively redeveloped and much of the community’s feedback ignored.
“Some of our most-loved local landmarks, including our iconic and pretty Greek church in Hercules St and a gracious former maternity hospital on The Parade, still appear to remain in the developers’ sights.
“The Save Dully group nominated these landmarks in a campaign in November last year.
“What’s more, despite the surge in development, there still don’t appear to be any plans to increase local school capacity nor to provide sufficient open space.
“The areas targeted for redevelopment also have significant areas of low cost rental housing which are likely to be replaced by higher cost housing – forcing people on lower incomes out of the suburb.
“The NSW Government has used its badly thought-through changes to a rail line as a fig leaf for imposing thousands of dwellings on Dulwich Hill, with the disruptive impacts developers will unleash on our diverse local communities.”
The Save Dully group also is keen to analyse the expected additional detail in the Dulwich Hill precinct plan, and associated technical studies, to be released on Tuesday 30 June.
Under the exhibited corridor strategy released today, Dulwich Hill has been targeted for 2,000 new homes [1], compared to 2,059 dwellings in the original plans released in October 2015.
“As a result, we are confused by Minister Roberts’ comments that there has been an overall reduction in dwellings in Dulwich Hill of 1,400 and look forward to clarifying this issue as soon as possible,” Ms O’Sullivan said.
Meanwhile, the neighbouring suburb of Hurlstone Park, which has a similar urban character to Dulwich Hill, has seen its proposed dwelling yield drop from 1168 in the 2015 strategy to just 100 in the new strategy.
Attached are photos of the former 1920s/30s maternity hospital at The Parade and Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Unmercenaries at Hercules St.
For more information on the Save Dully Action Group please go to www.savedully.com
[1] See page 19 at http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/Plans-for-your-area/Priority-Growth-Areas-and-Precincts/~/link.aspx?_id=3751D069E69D470888CCD0A46217A70E&_z=z