Research Topics Topic 3 RED Strategy & Redfern Waterloo Draft

Research Topics – Topic 3 – RED Strategy & Redfern Waterloo Draft.

David Bonouvrie Third Year SID 0411193

This is a summary of the research gained into the principles of the RED strategy, and draws comparisons to the draft Redfern Waterloo Built Environment Plan (stage 1). The research material was gained through a number of local sources. The draft for the Redfern Waterloo built environment Plan, Stage One, was released in February 2006, and is available from the Redfern Waterloo Authority Web Site. Redwatch is an organization, which among other things, has compiled a backlog of announcements, plans, speeches and forums, involving the RED strategy. Clover Moore is the local independent Member of Parliament for Bligh, and has an active role in the Redfern Waterloo Area. Her comments and opinions have also been useful in gaining a clear understanding for the scope of the RED strategy, and how it relates to the community, and also compares to the Built Environment Plan.

The Redfern Eveliegh Darlington & Waterloo (RED) Strategy was conceived by the Redfern Waterloo Partnership Project in early 2003. The Government agencies responsible for the outline and implementation of the strategy are the department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources, as well as the NSW Premier’s Department.

According to the 2004 version of the Redfern Waterloo Partnership Project (RWPP), the RED strategy was to provide a ‘Ground plan and guidelines for revitalizing Redfern, Eveliegh, and Darlington and Waterloo.

According to the RWPP, the main aims of the strategy are to improve local business, shopping and amenities, the creation of employment, an expansion of housing and an improvement of public transport facilities.

They (RWPP) described the RED strategy aims as a ‘Holistic approach’ to address problems such as ‘urban renewal, economic revitalisation, and improvements in Amenities’. The strategy was then divided into seven major parts, on which to be focused.

The RED strategy was meant to be developed using a series of extensive consultation processes, which were to take place at key stages of development.

However, at the December 2003 community forum, Redfern, a proposed program for consultation, which outlined details of future consultation processes for the RED strategy, and was also presented to the community by the RWPP, was subsequently withdrawn by the government agencies, and to date no such consultation has taken place.

This was the beginning of the end for the RED strategy, and was the catalyst for the formation of the Redfern Waterloo Authority (RWA). The RWA are now the chief controllers of the Draft Redfern Waterloo Built Environment Plan.

The Redfern Waterloo Authority’s operational area covers the entirety of the suburbs of Redfern, Waterloo, Eveliegh and Darlington. This was the same district covered by the RED Strategy. In terms of control of the area, the RED strategy was simply overtaken by the heavily government backed RWA.

The Redfern Waterloo Plan consists of three stages; Built Environment Plan, the Human Services plan, and the Employment and Enterprise Plans. Currently Stage one of the built environment plan has begun, with the release of the draft plan by the RWA.

The purpose of the built environment plan is stated under the draft as existing to ‘improve the physical environment and provide more opportunities for housing and businesses, supported by improved transport, access and infrastructure’. These general statements of improvement are undoubtedly similar to those addressed within the RED strategy. With the release of the Draft plan in February 2006, the Built Environment Plan received much press coverage, and was deemed to be a successful approach to tackling the area’s built environment problems. However, The RED strategy had existed previously, for three years, and with many similar strategies. The differences in the general overview of the two plans are difficult to discern.

As stated earlier, the consultation process that was employed as part of the original RED strategy was abandoned. However, as stated in section 1.2 of the Built Environment Plan Draft, the plan is to ‘Provide a basis for community consultation’. One may be tempted to ask how this round of community consultation will differ from those practiced during the RED strategy.

In comparison, the draft Built Environment Plan differs from the RED strategy because of its heavy focus on the expansion of the district into the greater Sydney metropolitan area.