Powerhouse Parramatta

I object to the Powerhouse Parramatta project because:
1. I oppose the demolition of the beautiful historic Willow Grove and St George Street Terraces which are a significant part of the beautiful historic nature of Parramatta. I note that the Government’s own report indicates:

“Willow Grove and St Georges Terrace are one of a kind in the Parramatta CBD and their loss would have a significant impact on the community's connection with heritage"
2. I wish the Powerhouse Museum at Ultimo to remain. I have enjoyed many a visit and it’s contribution to our culture and education is significant.
3. It would be more appropriate for historic Parramatta and cost effective to creat a museum and cultural destination at the historic Cumberland Hospital Precinct in North Parramatta.
4. Saving Willow Grove and the St George Street Terraces would allow the existing Parramatta Council vision for a public square alongside the river to become a reality.

Note that I have never made any political donations.

I’ve lived in proximity to Parramatta much of my life and taken friends, family, interstate and overseas visitors to Parramatta. All have responded that they value it’s historic nature.

I wish to see it preserved for future enjoyment and generations.

I object to the Powerhouse Parramatta project because it is absolutely criminal to ruin Willow Grove and St Terraces

I object to the Powerhouse Parramatta project because it involves the demolition of Willow Grove and the St Georges Terraces.

I have lived in Western Sydney all of my life and I went to school in Parramatta. I love walking past all of the colonial buildings and seeing our history alive and well., and I would like my grandchildren to have the same opportunity.

We need to keep our historical buildings and the history they contain.

I acknowledge a world class museum will be a good thing in Western Sydney but not as the expense of these buildings.

Please , please, please, move to keep these buildings.

I have never made any donations to any political parties.

I object to the Powerhouse Parramatta project because..

The government itself says ;
"Willow Grove and St Georges Terrace are one of a kind in the Parramatta CBD and their lose would have a significant impact on the community's connection with heritage"

So why is it hell bent on destroying it??
As a young country we have little enough of historic significance and the wanton destruction of these properties will only add to that paucity.

It is time..past time, that we stopped the destruction of our heritage.

My name is Olivia Linas. I am 28 years old and have lived in Parramatta all my life. I strongly object to the Powerhouse Parramatta project and urge you to do everything in your power to protect the buildings that have long proceeded all of us alive today.
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> I am appalled that government is allowing for the destruction of some of the few remaining beautiful heritage buildings in Parramatta. These buildings are not only one of the few aesthetically pleasing buildings that remain, but also contribute to the rich cultural heritage of Parramatta.
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> I am truly baffled that architects could not find one single way to leave these buildings undisturbed and find a way to incorporate them INTO the powerhouse plans. Surely keeping these buildings that tell of history and architecture belong IN a museum of learning. It makes no sense to bulldoze history just to build another building to house objects of history on the bones of another.
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> As a child, one of my earliest memories of my own neighbourhood was admiring the beauty of Willowgrove as we parked nearby. I was horrified to hear of the plans for its demolition. I urge you to abandon these plans. Parramatta is fast becoming a suburb I am ashamed of, rather than a home I am proud to belong.
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> Please do the right thing by Parramatta.

I’m writing to let you know that I object to the Powerhouse Museum at the Willow Grove site because I believe there hasn’t been enough community consultation or wide spread coverage of the demolition of both Willow Grove and St George’s Terrace.

I’m sure you know that with wider coverage of this, you would see objections from all of Sydney, across the State and the Nation.

I’m sure if you stood infront of these buildings for a moment and asked yourself if it was the right or best thing to do – you too would object.

I have not made any reportable political donations.

I am a relatively new resident in Parramatta (from Northern Beaches originally) and have seen firsthand the disparity of decision making processes in affluent Manly versus Parramatta and surrounds.

I would like to know where else I can voice my opinions on this matter and whether any face-to-face community consultations are taking place.

I object to the Parramatta Powerhouse project because it is a waste of taxpayer money, and will involve the unnecessary demolition of important local historic buildings including the 'Willow Grove' building and St George's Terrace on Phillip Street. These are one-of-a-kind, important buildings in Parramatta, and their loss would have a major impact on the heritage in the area for its community.

I urge the NSW Government not to proceed with this unnecessary and damaging project.

I have not made any reportable political donations. I have no objections to my name being published with my submission.

I object to the state governments Powerhouse Parramatta project which plans to flatten Willow Grove and St George’s Terrace on Phillip Street Parramatta.

"WillowGrove and St George’s Terrace are one of a kind in the Parramatta CBD and their loss would have a significant impact on the community's connection with heritage”
This is living history and we need our history to go forward into the future.
I have not made any donations to any political party.

Yours in heritage conservation

I am putting forward a submission concerning the historic “Willow Grove” and “The Terrace” building earmarked for demolition at Parramatta to be replaced by the Powerhouse Museum which is poorly planned to be situated in a flood zone area.

It is such a significant classic design with the heritage to the community and we cannot afford to lose this sort of architecture with how it was built. It would be the most tragic loss of such a building and its history which has many unique features and is most inspiring.

There is no way that this should face demolition because it is irreplaceable to its character. With the re-development it will spoil the atmosphere with bland and monstrous architectural designs that often replace these historic buildings; it only just shows. The developers must be sympathetic. When it goes on for it to be refurbished.

Please consider retaining the classic with its architecture while undergoing re-development. The idea to repaint the façade to a colour that is most inspiring.

We had so many sad and tragic losses over the years now missing significant buildings.

The new Powerhouse Museum will go on the site of 2 historic properties bulldozing them away. History will be gone!! It is in an inappropriate position to have this re-developed.

I look forward to your response.

Please notify me what action will be taken?

Yours Sincerely,
Paul Vonwiller

I object to the project because it involves the unjustifiable loss of heritage objects which are not just significant in and to Parramatta, but to the nation. This loss is avoidable.

I object to the Parramatta Powerhouse project and I am writing to you to put forward my reasoning for such a stance.

The destruction of the heritage building of Willowgrove is foremost in my mind. The building has formed a key aspect of recent events during Parramatta community projects such as the Parramatta Lanes Festival. Spending time in the grounds of Willowgrove with my family and many others has been a fond memory. When I realised Willowgrove was slated for demolition I was appalled.

The building itself is stunning and is a reminder amongst all the recent high rise developments that Parramatta had a Victorian era past. The architecture of the building reminds those walking by that Parramatta has historical links. I recently found out that Willowgrove was a maternity hospital during the first part of the 20th century, making it a valuable site for social history research.

Perhaps you don't know but the classic novel Seven Little Australians is set in Parramatta. Willowgrove is the last example of that style of architecture that the family in the novel would have romped around in, and again, to destroy the building would be an irreplaceable loss for cultural reasons as well.

Finally, the Powerhouse site in Ultimo should be protected. Removal of the museum to Parramatta means the Ultimo site is in danger as well. The Powerhouse should stay in the city. Perhaps a new museum for Parramatta - one that accommodates the history of the Female Factory, may be well placed and architecturally woven on that site in Northern Parramatta.

I have not made any reportable political donations apart from a limited $20 student membership of the Australian Labor party once in my life.

I look to you sir, in your role, to protect the heritage of Parramatta, and in doing so, also protect the sites of Willowgrove and the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo.

I object to the loss of Willow Grove and it’s surrounding land based on its value as an irreplaceable historic building with surrounding gardens. There is a lack of value for historic buildings in the Parramatta area.

I strongly OBJECT to development of the 'Parramatta Powerhouse Museum'.

What is described in the EIS is a cut-down version of the real Powerhouse Museum, and applying the same name to it would be inappropriate. Sydney already has the Powerhouse Museum (which is strongly associated with Ultimo) and the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre; both are located in repurposed power station buildings. Using the name Powerhouse for a brand new edifice at Parramatta would be confusing and nonsensical. A new museum for Parramatta should be designed around a distinctive identity and hence should have a new name.

It is appalling that the State Government wants to sweep aside heritage buildings in order to build an 'iconic world-class' museum. Willow Grove is assessed in the heritage report as having significance under several criteria, but not for its 'historical associations', 'social value' or 'representativeness'. In fact, Willow Grove has very strong historical associations and social value; its role as a maternity hospital in the 1930s and 1940s means it is representative of many small hospitals where midwives and obstetricians delivered babies before (and during) the 1950s, when this role began to shift to large hospitals; these large, impersonal institutions later created 'birthing centres' within to replicate the experience provided by small maternity hospitals. What is of more value to a society than safely bringing new citizens into the world? While St Georges Terrace has never served such a vital purpose, the lives of the people who lived and worked there over generations must have made a notable contribution to the city, even if they were not rich or famous. Perhaps Sydney Living Museums could be invited to take them under its wing, a far better solution than allowing MAAS to destroy them.

Let us compare Willow Grove to the nearby Lancers Barracks. The former is seen by the Government as unworthy despite its strong history of caring for women and babies, while the latter is protected from development by its glorious history of preparing men for war. And where is the plaque listing the names of women who died in childbirth, analogous to the plaque naming men who died in combat or training accidents? Why not save Willow Grove and tell its stories within, rather than razing it and telling its stories for a few weeks in a museum that boasts it will have no permanent displays?

Layers of Parramatta's history have been destroyed, replaced by unattractive high-rise buildings. The poor decision to impose a building with overlarge footprint on the riverside site is the source of the desire to destroy even more of that history. Retaining and interpreting Willow Grove in the CBD as representative of small maternity hospitals would provide a strong link to the nation-building stories of mothers from an earlier era that could be told in the Female Factory; Parramatta needs such links to be created so that its heritage ceases to be piecemeal and thus undervalued.

Powerhouse Parramatta is described as 'a new state cultural institution', when in fact it would be a much reduced version of an existing cultural institution. A museum is not just a building and should not just be seen as a means to attract tourists to boost the local economy by spending money on food and accommodation.

The proposal is for 'a world-class museum and an innovation and creative industries precinct in Western Sydney, focused on science and innovation'. Unfortunately this huge ambition could not be met by the design concepts that follow later in the report.

Why include boutique serviced apartments for favoured visitors in a city location? Surely the private sector is best placed to provide accommodation and associated services, and it would be inefficient and unfair for a government institution to compete with local businesses. Does the MAAS Act allow this? While a student dormitory sounds like a good idea, it would be unoccupied for many weeks of the year, and thus be a poor investment for the museum.

It is stated that the design 'has been assessed against the relevant criteria in Clause 7.10 of the Parramatta LEP, confirming that the proposed development achieves design excellence.' Whether the design achieves excellence should instead be assessed by considering how well the buildings would work as a museum. One example of inappropriate design is Presentation Space 1, which would be fine as an events space, with one huge side planned to open up to the outdoors. However, it is unsuitable for the very large heritage objects that are proposed to be displayed there, as the floor is below the Probable Maximum Flood level and the space would be subject to extremes of temperature and humidity even in the absence of floods.

The proposal to sound 'alarms and alerts' to warn patrons of rising floodwaters is an unsatisfactory solution to the problem of the museum's inappropriate location. Local floods arrive rapidly over land as well as via the river, so any forecast or sudden occurrence of heavy rain would trigger alarms and wreck visitors' plans. Think of a long-planned school visit, a poor weather forecast or unexpected downpour, and parents and teachers scrambling to cancel the excursion or to pick up distressed children from the museum.

In the Design Excellence Report, there is no detail about how sustainability could be achieved, just waffle: it 'will be realised through focused ESD initiatives involving building design that considers optimised building envelope, renewable energy generation, waste management, and climate change projections.' ESD should have been fundamental to the design, not left to engineers to tidy up with add-ons in the future; the EIS should not be approved without full information on how these issues would be resolved. How can the building envelope be optimised when the design includes vast expanses of north-facing and west-facing glass, shaded only by areas of hard-to clean white latticework? Where is the roof or wall space for solar energy generation? Where is the study that shows it would be a suitable site for generating wind power? And have climate change projections really been considered for this flood-prone site?

Re transport: 'For patrons and visitors to Parramatta arriving by ferry, Powerhouse Parramatta, by way of its positioning, urban design and visual presence, can also serve as the gateway to the broader city. From all directions, the development functions as an urban filtering device, enriching the public domain experience of both visitors and passers-by.' However, visitors who 'arrive' by ferry at low tide will disembark at Rydalmere and enjoy a bus trip as their gateway experience, and those who catch the ferry might not want to detour via the site before being 'filtered' into the CBD. Perhaps the concept is to count pedestrians on their way south (and north), in order to achieve projected annual visitor figures of one million (or the latest overblown estimate, two million).

The plan to provide no onsite parking ignores the needs of disabled people, including those who travel in specially fitted minibuses with their carers. Time and patience are needed to help them move from the bus to customised wheelchairs and vice-versa, and having the bus remain on site allows flexibility in the timing of departure, for example if a client is distressed and the visit needs to be cut short.

And with regard to logistics, Dirrabarri Lane is already used to provide access to several buildings, so the extra number of vehicle movements proposed to access the museum's two adjacent loading docks could cause congestion, especially when large volumes of traffic (or accidents) in surrounding streets and suburbs upset a tight schedule of truck arrivals. Provision for a second truck entry, and wider separation of the loading docks, would appear to be required.

I urge the Government and Council to consider the alternative museum plan put forward by NPRAG. It is an outstanding plan, fills a real need, would energise the Fleet Street Precinct, and would create more jobs for Parramatta residents (rather than for existing MAAS staff, many of whom would commute to work) because it is a grass-roots initiative. Instead of moving one State institution to Parramatta, the vision includes displaying exhibitions developed by several State institutions for the benefit of the people of Western Sydney.

I support the project for the Powerhouse Museum to be partially transferred to Parramatta area but strongly object to the destruction of heritage listed buildings to build a new museum. The museum is to house valued artefacts from our history, yet to house them it is ridiculously proposed to destroy forever a heritage listed house and row of terraces. Stupidity to the max. These can easily be incorperated in the new development and would enhance a new powerhouse museum site. Please reconsider and employ architects with a strong appreciation for preserving irreplaceable heritage buildings to enhance this development

I object to the project because it involves the demolition of "Willow Grove" and "St Georges Terrace". I find it appalling that you purport to preserve our heritage with a museum that, by its very placement, destroys our heritage. Find another site for the Powerhouse Museum!

I would like to add my voice to the list of people objecting to Parramatta heritage sites being demolished. I am the sixth generation of my family born in Parramatta, right back to Governor Fitzroy. Luckily my ancestor was not on duty as footman on his coach when it crashed, killing Mrs Fitzroy.

I was born at Willow Grove and even as a kid I loved walking past St George's Terraces, admiring their historic architecture. We must preserve our old buildings so that Parramatta at least has some heritage buildings left. I hope the old gaol, Mental Hospital ( where my mother worked in the 1930s) and The Female Factory are all heritage listed, so they will be there in another hundred years. Parramatta was the first settlement outside Sydney. Surely it's important to preserve its heritage , even if only for tourism.

I am against the proposed construction of a 'Powerhouse' Museum on the prosed site in Parramatta. Whilst I think Parramatta would benefit from a museum displaying and recording our history and achievements, this is not the site for such. Museum or not, demolishing Willow Grove and Saint George's Terrace cannot be considered under any circumstances. A perfectly suitable site already exits around the Cumberland Hospital and Female Factory. The stupidity of planning to demolish two magnificent specimens of our history to be replaced with a hideous structure over a 'flood plain' defies all reasoning. It's hard to imagine how this ridiculous idea ever got this far!

I strongly object to the Parramatta Powerhouse Project for a variety of reasons.

My primary objection is in relation to the anticipated destruction of valuable heritage in the Parramatta CBD - Willow Grove and the St Georges Terraces. It is abhorrent that while other parts of Sydney cherish their heritage Parramatta residents are having theirs bulldozed without taking heed of the rich historical significance of such sites. Both structures tell important stories of the local history of Parramatta and so should be cherished. If we care about the local community we should be restoring these sites and showcasing them to residents not bulldozing them.

We need to show our children and future generations where we came from in order for them to appreciate where we are going. The rapid development in the local area makes these remaining historical sites even more valuable to hold onto and protect. By preserving and taking care of our history in this way we ensure that Parramatta is in a good place to tell stories of long ago. Particularly Willow Grove, which was a maternity hospital for over three decades. How on earth can we compare a photo to bricks and mortar? The latter brings the past alive in the present.

Seeing the recent destruction of the Royal Oak Hotel makes historical relics and buildings in the Parramatta CBD increasingly rare. Why must we abolish these rare physical remnants of the past to make way for infrastructure like the new tram line? As such, it's my belief that the State government should be working hard to keep buildings like Willow Grove and the St Georges Terraces if it at all cares for the principles that Parramatta was founded upon and values today.

I along with all my local friends and family are outraged at the prospect of tearing these buildings down. It's, quite frankly, illogical in a suburb where history is a key part of its identity. There must be some way of ensuring these building survive a new museum being brought into the community.

I urge the NSW Government to protect these important buildings. Progress and history can coexist if the NSW Government is willing to make this happen.

PS: I have not made any portable political donations. I would also like my name and submission withheld from publication