Ryde ratepayers could be charged ‘thousands’ if Civic Centre redevelopment is stopped

A last-minute order stopping planned demolition work could cost Ryde ratepayers “tens of thousands of dollars”, the Mayor has claimed.

General photos showing the Ryde Civic Centre which is set to be demolished. Picture: David Swift

The Mayor of Ryde has claimed a last-minute order to stop planned demolition work on the “iconic” Ryde Civic Centre could cost local ratepayers “tens of thousands of dollars” if signed contracts for the $108m redevelopment aren’t upheld.

Mayor Jerome Laxale said it was “a real concern” an eleventh-hour injunction issued by Heritage NSW on Friday evening could see ratepayers foot the bill if the conservation body decides to give permanent heritage protection to the 1960s-era building, scuppering decade-long plans for a $108m redevelopment of the site into a new community facility.

Heritage NSW issued the interim heritage order suspending work at the site for 40 days ahead of planned demolition works beginning on Monday morning,

However Clr Laxale said the project – which received approval from the North Sydney Planning Panel late last year – was so far advanced that multiple contracts had been signed for the demolition and redevelopment of the 1960s-era modernist building.

Urban Taskforce CEO Tom Forrest, who lobbied Heritage NSW to protect the Ryde Civic Centre just days before demolition was scheduled to start. Picture: David Swift

If Heritage NSW decided to list the building, Clr Laxale said the authority “could be open to damages running into tens of thousands of dollars”.

He said he was pushing for a meeting with the heritage body as soon as this week in order to reach a “quick resolution”.

“There’s no way we’ll stand for Ryde ratepayers picking up the bill for that,” he said.

The last-minute intervention from Heritage NSW came after lobbying from developer advocacy body Urban Taskforce, who accused the council of “hypocrisy” and claimed they had purposely let the building become run down.

“Council has, for reasons known only to them, not proposed this building for heritage protection. While the Heritage register is full of buildings, fountains, and power sub stations in the city of Ryde, of far lesser cultural and architectural heritage significance, somehow Ryde Council has let this building slip through,” Urban Taskforce CEO Tom Forrest said on Monday.

Clr Laxale accused the group of making a “cheap and nasty political point” by pushing for the heritage protection.

Highlighting the ongoing rift formed by proposals to knockdown the modernist structure, the council’s deputy mayor Peter Kim welcomed the intervention by Heritage NSW.

“If we did our due diligence then, we would not be in this mess. But I welcome the Heritage Council Chair‘s stop demolition order of the Civic Centre,” he told The Telegraph.

“We now have an opportunity to fully assess the heritagebility of the Civic Centre by an independent heritage consultant based on its merits and not on politics.”