Powerhouse Parramatta: CFMEU places green ban on Willow Grove, St George’s Terrace
The battle to save Parramatta’s heritage has escalated after one of the nation’s most powerful trade unions declared a ban on demolishing two heritage-listed buildings.
Parramatta
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A stoush over knocking down two of Parramatta’s heritage-listed buildings to make way for the new Powerhouse Museum has escalated with the construction union placing a “green ban” on their demolition.
In a show of defiance, the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union declared it will refuse to knock down two buildings, Willow Grove and St George’s Terrace in Parramatta CBD, so the $645 million museum project can be built.
CFMEU NSW secretary Darren Greenfield said: “These green bans mean no work can be done to destroy these historically significant sites.
“If the Berejiklian government wants work on the museum to proceed they need to sit down with the local community, listen to what they say and come up with a plan that preserves these buildings.”
Willow Grove is an Italianate 1870s property that was once used as a maternity hospital between 1919 and 1953, while St George’s Terrace is a row of two-storey terraces built in 1881.
He said the union had campaigned for years to save the two buildings and supported
North Parramatta Residents’ Action Group, the National Trust of Australia (NSW) and the Historic Houses Association.
“As shown by the recent success of the green ban on the Bondi Beach Pavilion, the CFMEU won’t stand by while local communities are ignored and important heritage sites are destroyed.
“The Berejiklian Government has ignored the local community and refused to look at alternative designs that incorporate these two heritage buildings in the design.”
However, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she was determined the new museum would be built in western Sydney.
“The Powerhouse Parramatta project will proceed,’’ she said.
“One third of NSW’s population is in western Sydney and they deserve to have an iconic cultural institution.”
Western Sydney Business Chamber executive director David Borger said heritage had to be considered as well as the need for the region to have a “tier-one cultural institution’’.
“We love our heritage and it’s always a challenge when a new proposal is floated to replace a heritage item,’’ he said.
But the former Parramatta lord mayor has long been an advocate for a museum in Sydney’s “second city’’.
North Parramatta Residents’ Action Group spokeswoman Suzette Meade said the community had tried to reason with Ms Berejiklian for four years without success.
“Over this time we’ve offered solutions but they have been ignored,’’ he said.
“We will not stand by and watch as more local heritage is destroyed.
“The Berejiklian government bulldozed Parramatta’s war memorial pool, then it was the historic Royal Oak Hotel — a hotel older than Perth.
“This hotel was knocked down in the dead of night. Premier Berejiklian should be under no illusion; if the destruction of Willow Grove or St Georges Terraces commences people will be prepared to put their bodies in front of machinery.”
Parramatta Council backed the government’s push for the museum relocation.
“Council remains supportive of the relocation of the Powerhouse Museum to Parramatta – Western Sydney’s first major cultural institution,’’ a spokesman said.
“Council is due to meet this week to consider its submission in response to the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Powerhouse Parramatta.”