Callan Park: Draft bill proposes 50 year commercial leases

A Sydney mayor and planning Minister Rob Stokes are in a war of words over a proposal to give businesses half a century tenancies on parts of a much-loved park.

A beloved inner west park could be opened up for commercial interests with 50 year leases in what a mayor describes as “selling it off to the highest bidder”.

Lilyfield’s Callan Park could soon be home to restaurants and other businesses for the next half a century if a proposed bill passes through parliament in three weeks’ time, despite the concerns of locals.

The move has angered a group of campaigners and Inner West mayor Rochelle Porteous who likened Greater Sydney Parklands’ (GSP) control of the city’s green spaces to “a wholesaler”.

However, Planning Minister Rob Stokes has hit back stating the park is not for sale, adding the plan is the best way to protect the green space for future generations.

Friends of Callan Park, a community group, has been vocally opposing changes to the park with other locals for the past 20 years in what they said was multiple attempts down the years to commercialise their favourite green space.

Greens mayor Rochelle Porteous.

“This bill doesn’t just impact Callan Park it impacts everyone (in Sydney),” Mayor Porteous said.

“Greater Sydney Parklands has gathered together the most iconic parks in Sydney and wants to manage them as ‘job lot’ and to commercialise all of them and expand uses on the parks.

“Basically it’s what you would do if you were a private corporation. It’s like wholesaling your parks with a promise with more parks in western Sydney.”

A draft exposure bill released to the public on October 1 would allow GSP to grant commercial leases for the park’s heritage buildings to be used for restaurants and other businesses if state MPs vote it through next month.

Those leases, however, can only be approved once the Planning Minister consults with a community trust, according to the draft bill.

The 60-hectare heritage listed site in Callan Park could soon be open for business. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Cr Porteous said she was concerned the turnaround from October 29 to potentially going before parliament in November was too fast to fully take the community’s point of view into consideration.

“There is no halfway house in terms of changing the act if you allow for profit organisations into the park you’ve allowed it be privatised,” she said.

“If you allow 50 year leases on iconic buildings you’re allowing the leases to go to for profit.

“We know Doltone House is one that has indicated interest and we know another function centre would be one option for the Kirkbride building.”

The move by the mayor to mount a campaign starting with a meeting on Thursday night was slammed by Planning Minister Rob Stokes when contacted on Tuesday.

“Callan Park is not for sale,” he said. “There will be no loss of green space. In fact, we’re in the process of removing dilapidated non-heritage buildings to create even more green space through our $14 million investment – the largest investment at Callan Park in living memory.

“The current legislation has not facilitated the restoration and use of Callan Park as a parkland for everyone. We need to protect the park from development and privatisation, but open it up for heritage restoration, re-use and community activation.

Planning Minister Rob Stokes. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Nikki Short

“The best way to protect an asset is to use it. If we just leave the Callan Park Act in place as it is now and no one uses the buildings, it will result in privatisation by neglect. All we’ve seen is the public locked out of heritage buildings that are left un-used and crumbling. We can and must do better.

“It’s outrageous that Inner West Council have decided to use ratepayers’ money to fund a campaign based on false information about the future of Callan Park.”

Mr Stokes said changes to the act would allow run-down buildings left idle for years to finally find tenants.

“Our plan would see these buildings opened up to the public for the first time in decades. Some uses allowed under the proposal include a sports clubhouse, artist studios or galleries, small bars, local restaurants, cafes and music festivals like laneway festival.

“But no future tenant has been willing to invest the millions required to restore the heritage buildings without certainty and security of tenure. A ten-year lease makes it almost impossible to stack up, which is why no one has taken up a lease of these buildings to date.”