By Megan Gorrey
Labor politicians are at loggerheads over plans that would allow 2500 homes north of the historic Parramatta Female Factory as a federal MP urges the state government to halt the proposal amid a long-running campaign to add the precinct to the World Heritage List.
The Minns government this month released an indicative masterplan to rezone 42 hectares of land known as Parramatta North, a site earmarked to take advantage of the new light-rail line and a future university campus linked to the Westmead health and innovation district.
Parramatta state MP Donna Davis, a former mayor, said the proposal to overhaul the “under-utilised” tract of government-owned land represented a “great opportunity”, and it would create a “substantial buffer zone” around the nearby Female Factory precinct.
But Parramatta federal MP Andrew Charlton is urging the government to “press pause” on the housing proposal until a potential World Heritage Listing for the site is finalised in 2029, saying: “This location is a mistake.”
NSW Lands and Property Minister Steve Kamper said concerns the plan would jeopardise the listing were “not logical” and the government could not wait four years to deliver homes in a housing crisis.
The differing views between the area’s representatives underscore tensions felt in suburbs across Sydney as governments attempt to strike a balance between increasing density and preserving heritage.
The planning or rezoning proposal for Parramatta North abuts, but does not include, the Parramatta Female Factory precinct, built in 1818, where thousands of convict women were held on arrival in the NSW colony.
The masterplan separates the site into different zones or uses, with provision for taller buildings up to 24 storeys around the light-rail stops and health precinct, and residential blocks to the north.
It also incorporates The Green, an existing 8000 square metre sports ground. The public exhibition period for the plans has been extended to February 24.
Davis said the proposal would protect the Female Factory or “cultural precinct”, large trees and about 30 significant heritage buildings while locking in more than 21 hectares of open space.
“Our government recognises we are in the midst of a housing crisis that is leaving our next generation with nowhere to live,” she said.
“We need to deliver a mixed-use precinct that respects the past whilst planning for the future … That’s what I will continue to constructively advocate for.”
Charlton said he feared the plan would jeopardise the push from state and federal governments to get the Female Factory on the UNESCO World Heritage List, noting the government was “rezoning right up to its very edge”.
“It’s got the capacity to be a tourist attraction like Port Arthur, to have the cultural significance of The Rocks, and that vision is being lost for a knee-jerk reaction to put housing into Parramatta,” he said.
Charlton said Parramatta was already “doing the heavy lifting on dwelling approvals”, and it had “approved the most housing of every single local government area in this financial year to date”.
“I understand there are significant constraints on the state government in terms of funding the heritage preservation, but I want a solution that preserves the heritage core for future generations.”
The federal Labor government added the Parramatta Female Factory and Institutions Precinct to Australia’s list of tentative World Heritage items in 2023, the first step towards a full listing. A preliminary assessment was submitted to UNESCO for review in November.
North Parramatta Residents Action Group spokeswoman Suzette Mead pointed to Germany’s Dresden Elbe Valley, which lost its World Heritage listing after local authorities built a much-debated road bridge.
“It’s what’s occurring outside [the Female Factory] that is going to have implications. We’ve said it for a decade – the heritage should inform any future use of the site, not development inform the future of the heritage.”
Kamper said the government had cut building heights to three storeys directly north of the precinct, and he had “not seen any evidence this rezoning would negatively impact” the listing process.
“The Colosseum is next door to six storeys. Westminster Abbey and Hall has eight storeys over the road. Hyde Park Barracks has 20 storeys over the road. Each of these sites is World Heritage listed.
“The idea that we can’t put a modest development of three storeys adjacent to the cultural precinct without damaging the heritage value is not logical.”
Business Western Sydney executive director David Borger said heritage precincts and housing could co-exist, and developing the site would capitalise on the $2.9 billion Parramatta light rail investment.
Borger, a former Labor housing minister who chairs the Housing Now lobby group, said authorities needed to prioritise well-located homes in a housing crisis.
“We have to breathe new life into heritage precincts, and that means ensuring they’re accessible and there’s housing around them.”
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