HERITAGE BUILDING THE OLD BOOT FACTORY, SPRING ST BONDI JUNCTION, IS UNDER THREAT OF DEMOLITION AFTER A MAJORITY VOTE BY LIBERALWAVERLEY COUNCILLORS FOR DEMOLITION AT A COUNCIL MEETING ON 16APRIL 2013.
CONSIDERED TO HAVE BEEN A DECISION REACHED WITHOUT PROPER AND DUE PROCESS DUE TO:
• Recommendation from Director of Corporate & Technical Services, Bronwyn Kelly,considered only from the perspective of how much it will cost rather than its intrinsic heritage value
• No proper Heritage consultation undertaken
• No community consultation
• Sudden appearance of this item on the Council Agenda and vote taken in haste
• Alleged plans for extensive redevelopment of this area under way as has been mentioned by the Mayor in 2011 however currently denied.
SUBSEQUENT ACTIONS
• Rescission motion at the Council Meeting of 16 April 2013 brought by Crs Paula Masselos(ALP), Ingrid Strewe (ALP), and Dominick Wy Kanak (Greens)
• Residents informed the rescission motion to be heard at the Development Control Committee meeting on 23 April NOT at the next meeting of full council on 21 May 2013 as isthe usual procedure
• PowerPoint presentation made to residents (at their request) on 19 April 2013 by Director ofCorporate & Technical Services, Bronwyn Kelly (and emailed to councillors) – the presentation is perceived as negative and with a financial bias at the expense ofconsiderations around the heritage status of the building
• On 23 APRIL 2013 a Letter of Objection to the process sent from Graham Quint,Conservation Manager, National Trust, to Tony Reed, General Manager, Waverley Council
• Also on 23 APRIL 2013 Dept of Local Government contacted as to the legislative correctness of hearing this rescission motion at a DCC meeting. Subsequently when the DCC Meeting opened it was established that the Dept of LocalGovernment had contacted the General Manager and the Rescission Motion was not able to be heard at the DCC Meeting.
CURRENTLY:
• A SPECIAL MEETING TO HEAR THE MOTION WAS CALLED FOR MONDAY 29 APRIL 2013 AT6:00PM- The Liberal/Independent majority voted against the recisson motion instead paving the way for urgent demolition of the Boot Factory. Council will now act as owne, applicant, assessor and decision maker on their own DA.
• Graham Quint Conservation Manager, National Trust has advised that this issue has beencirculated to the heritage advisors network and to the National Trust technical committee.They are having their Board Meeting on 24 April 2013, about this issue.
• Further issue for consideration: Council is required to prepare a DA under its LEP Section5.10 clause 2. A decision to demolish pre-empts a DA assessment. A DA should cover all theissues relating to the building and proposals for the site. If Council does not do this andupholds its decision to demolish, it is applying very different standards to itself than what itis obliged to apply to any other land owner.
• Question as to why there is this pressure by the Liberal Waverley Councillors to keep this matter in rush through mode.
19 APRIL 2011
Council Meeting – 19 April 2011.
1104.12.4
Future of the Boot Factory (A10/0580)
Report dated 4 April 2011 from the Director, Corporate and Technical Services about the future of the Boot Factory.
MOTION (Sloan / Betts)
1. That Council:
(a )Note that external expertise has been engaged and has completed work on development of adaptive reuse options for the Boot Factory.
(b) Note that options for adaptive re-use of the Boot Factory offer some attractive design concepts.
(c) Note that the adaptive reuse options, while conceptually attractive, do not at present pass the risk assessment tests to be applied under the NSW DLG’s newly released Capital Expenditure Guidelines, which are now a compulsory consideration for councils under Section 23A of the Local Government Act.
Technical, financial and QBL risks are quite high compared to benefits to be gained.
(d) Note that further community consultation is an option for refining and confirming financial, QBL and risk return results but that such consultation, if it is desired, should be preceded by identification of more feasible options for funding preferred renewal proposals as commercial rental returns will not provide a viable source of funding for loan repayments.
(e) Note that, in effect, this means that the soon to be convened Investment Strategy Working Group may need to be briefed to include the task of identifying a viable funding source for the more expensive concepts in its brief for development of the next Investment Strategy.
(f )Note that Option 5 would be a viable option for a short period only and that option 6 is the only option with a positive return result at present.
2. That Council instruct the Investment Strategy Working Group to consider and report on whether there are viable funding sources for the more expensive concept designs for renewal of the Boot Factory including a commercial repairing lease.
3.That the plane tree root system be assessed and mapped by a qualified arborist and root pruning recommended as necessary to prevent harm to the building.
AMENDMENT (Wakefield / Main)
That the Motion be adopted subject to the deletion of clause 1(f).
THE AMENDMENT WAS PUT AND DECLARED CARRIED.
THE AMENDMENT NOW BECAME THE SUBSTANTIVE MOTION AND WAS PUT AND DECLARED CARRIED.
DECISION: That the Substantive motion be adopted.
5 MAY 2011
Boot factory Future Funding Still in Limbo, Wentworth Courier, 5 May 2011
16 April 2013
Counci's agenda contained a recommendation to demolish the Boot Factory.
Councillors Masselos, Strewe and Kanak fought very hard last night to save the Boot Factory from demolition. But to no avail. Consequently we moved a rescission motion at the end of the meeting in an attempt to try and save it.
23 April 2013