Cremorne: Telstra Exchange building likened to ‘Long Bay Jail’ as residents call for beautification upgrades

Residents on Sydney’s lower north shore have called on Telstra to address the “visually harsh” state of an old exchange building they say has the look of Long Bay Jail.

Residents on the lower north shore are locked in a battle with Telstra over the state of a decaying exchange building they say is a “turn off” for people visiting their suburb.

Razor wire and graffiti are among the concerns raised at a recent community precinct meeting where the appearance of the Telstra exchange building on Military Rd in Cremorne was given a public airing.

North Sydney Council has backed the concerns by residents by lodging a facilities maintenance service requests to the telco to improve the upkeep of the site.

The heritage listed exchange building was built back in 1946 and is still used to this day to house various components for Telstra’s telephone and internet network.

Resident Michiko de Solom, the convener of the community group, said the building had become a blight on the local landscape and was detracting from the appearance of the suburb.

A photo of the exchange building on Military Rd.

“It’s ugly and it’s covered with graffiti and it doesn’t contribute to the streetscape at all,” she said. “There’s been a lot of money spent trying to make Cremorne more appealing – there’s beautiful planter boxes, but the building is not keeping with the desired streetscape at all.

“It’s got cyclone wiring fencing and the concrete is visually harsh and if anything it’s encouraging the graffiti because it’s really neglected. It looks like Long Bay Prison.

A photo of graffiti at the site.

“When you walk past it at night it’s actually quite scary because it’s poorly lit and you feel like someone could jump out of the shadows.”

North Sydney Council has echoed the concerns, writing to Telstra to call for improvements.

In a letter to the Telco, the council’s director of engineering and property services Duncan Mitchell said: “(North Sydney Council) has recently upgraded the Military Rd corridor to create a high quality urban environment between Neutral Bay to Cremorne. In contrast, the Telstra exchange looks neglected and attracts graffiti.”

“Improving the appearance of the (exchange building will) demonstrate that Telstra is committed to maintaining its sites to a high standard in terms of appearance,” Mr Mitchell added.

North Sydney Council also wants improvements to the visual appearance of the site.

Ms de Solom said she was open to any idea put forward by Telstra to improve the appearance, such as planter boxes, trees or even a community mural being painted on the exchange.

She said the site was currently turning people away from visiting the town centre – including the average 49,559 motorists who travel along Military Rd each day.

“Even if they put in some decent plants or softened the appearance it would make the area more appealing to visitors,” she said.

In a statement, a Telstra spokeswoman said: “at this stage, we have no plans to change the appearance of this site.”

“Our primary focus is the safety and security of our sites and not the presentation, unless the exchange has been tampered with,” she said.

“We use a variety of means to protect our assets, including chain link fencing and gates to prevent unauthorised access of the site.”

“We are open to working with the council to find solutions in combating anti social behaviour such as graffiti on the site.”

The Telstra Exchange building was built in 1946 and is currently listed as a local heritage item in recognition “as a rare and complete example of an early suburban telecommunication facility built in the North Sydney area in the Post-war International style”.

Telephone exchanges are used in public telephone networks and contain various electronic components including NBN and broadband wires. They were once manned by human operators.