‘Rats in the camp’: Fury as mayor replaced amid fight over $20 million crater

Ryde Liberals have been accused of betraying voters after they replaced the sitting mayor halfway through his year-long term and pressed ahead with plans for a $14 million temporary park in the hole where a new civic centre was supposed to have been built.

Trenton Brown assumed the mayoralty unopposed on Tuesday night when former mayor Sarkis Yedelian stood aside in an agreement political opponents called an “abuse of the system” and a cynical attempt to strengthen their position for September’s election.

The Ryde Central site on Wednesday.Credit: Janie Barrett

Ryde residents will for the first time directly elect their mayor, and Yedelian will not contest that election. He said it was therefore not right to finish his term.

But Labor councillor Penny Pedersen said it was “not fair to our community that we’re changing mayors again”, branding the Liberals’ move “appalling”. “It’s like a revolving door,” she said. Her Labor colleague Bernard Purcell said it was a “cynical exercise” to advantage Brown ahead of the public vote in six months’ time.

Independent councillor Roy Maggio said he had been betrayed, and could no longer call Yedelian a friend. “Your word was your word,” he said. “All you Liberal councillors are rats in the camp.”

Brown said his priorities were to protect jobs in Macquarie Park (against the state government’s plans for more build-to-rent housing), improve the council’s workplace culture and secure more social infrastructure from the state.

New City of Ryde mayor Trenton Brown, and the man he replaced, Sarkis Yedelian.Credit: Sam Mooy and Ryde Council

He also wanted to deal with the “Ryde civic centre debacle”, a saga in which the council referred itself to the Independent Commission Against Corruption and left ratepayers with a $20.5 million hole in the ground (and no civic centre).

The council demolished the old civic building in 2021, but cannot afford the $113 million rebuild. The new site was supposed to contain the council chambers, community rooms, offices, childcare, shops, a public plaza and a cultural facility with up to 700 seats.

Last May, the council asked the ICAC to investigate tens of millions of dollars in developer contributions it had redirected to other purposes. That included $35.5 million transferred to the “Ryde Central reserve” – the civic centre – when only $12.5 million should have been transferred.

In November, councillors voted to defer the civic centre project until it could find the finance, and voted against selling the site to developers. They also oppose building the centre as part of a joint venture with a developer, as they do not want residential apartments on the site.

The site is next to the Top Ryde shopping centre and a residential complex.Credit: Steven Siewert

Earlier this year, the Liberal majority agreed the hole in the ground should be filled urgently, and asked staff to examine options for converting it to public open space.

At a February 27 meeting, staff reported it would cost $14 million to fill the hole and provide a park. That was on top of the $20.5 million spent on the project to date.

Councillors asked for a more detailed cost breakdown, which has not yet been provided. But they resolved that the site “cannot be left in its present state” as it is a health hazard.

On Tuesday, the Labor minority attempted to rescind the February 27 decision, and accused the Liberals of doing nothing to advance the Ryde Central project for two-and-a-half years.

‘It is ridiculous to think we want to spend … $14 million to fill in a hole and possibly dig it back up again. This is not a good idea.’

Ryde Labor councillor Bernard Purcell

“Filling in the hole is a waste of time, energy and money,” Purcell said. “It is ridiculous to think we want to spend anything of $4 million-plus, possibly $14 million, to fill in a hole and possibly dig it back up again. This is not a good idea.”

Yedelian, the outgoing mayor, slammed his opponents for having no means to pay for the civic centre. “Nothing comes from the sky, the ground. We have to find a financial source to build this without residential on it,” he said.

Maggio called it “groundhog day” and urged his colleagues to shelve their objection to apartments. “If you don’t put residential on there, you won’t get your amenities that the community need. This civic centre won’t happen without a source of funding by another organisation.”

The project has long attracted claims of politicisation. In 2020, then Labor mayor Jerome Laxale, now the federal member for Bennelong, was accused by Liberals and one of his own (now-expelled) Labor colleagues of using the redevelopment as a tool to boost his profile.