Powerhouse Parramatta

To whom it may concern,

We must not destroy our heritage. As a young country we are destroying our history and part of our story as a nation. Older building such as Willow Grove and St George’s Terrace are one of a kind and cannot and should not be replaced.

Please consider that The Old King’s School
in Parramatta was also recently refurbished as a new public school, the difference being efforts were made to keep the original structure of the building and it’s beautiful features.

I object to the Parramatta Powerhouse in place of our heritage buildings because we have so much to lose. These places are not only structurally appealing but hold many memories to earlier life in Parramatta and to early settlement as a whole.

As a school teacher, I wonder what will remain to teach children about the past if we have already destroyed most of it? History is an integral part of the curriculum, especially local history and heritage.

We must think of ways to care for and protect heritage sites instead of destroying them!

Save Willow Grove and St George’s Terrace!

Dear Sir,

I'm writing to express my objection to the destruction of Willow Grove and St Georges Terrace at Parramatta.
We seem to have lost so many properties that are part of our history, please help preserve this one.
We want a city with character and soul not one that's cold and has no heart.
Please preserve these beauties.

I object to the Parramatta Powerhouse Museum being built because of the planned demolition of Willow Grove and St George Terraces. These heritage buildings should be preserved and if the government can backtrack on the Powerhouse, Ultimo decision, then morally it should do the same for Parramatta heritage buildings. Willow Grove and St George Terraces must be preserved under any circumstances.

I wish to add my voice to the others imploring the NSW state government to preserve the historic Willow Grove & St Georges Terraces.

I find it deplorable that the NSW government would demolish these buildings of significant historical and cultural significance within not just Parramatta, but the surrounding area as well.


I really do not understand how a building that has a heritage listing, will not be retained.

The government itself in its own report states “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"


Parramatta Council has a wonderful vision for a public square alongside the river which incorporates Willow Grove and the St Georges Terraces which is sensitive to the historical significance of the area.

It also provides for green space which is fast disappearing or being overwhelmed by the increase in high rise and other high density development.


Keep the Powerhouse Museum at Ultimo and instead create a museum and cultural destination within the historic Cumberland Hospital Precinct in North Parramatta.

Once buildings like these are gone, there is no bringing them back.

Please rethink this decision.

Save Willow Grove and the St Georges Terraces.


I have not made any reportable political donations.

I would like to register my objection to the demolition of these beautiful old historical buildings. How can a Government justify this to destroy our history to display other historical items. It doesn't make sense. So please register my objection to this destruction.

Dear Sir

The state and federal government have a duty to save and protect what is left of our dwindling heritage. As someone who went to school at OLMC Parramatta, I can tell you the damage the local council has done and private certifiers have done in removing our 2nd Settlement Heritage is beyond vandalism.

Tougher laws need to come into place and an individual heritage conservation commission set up to preserve, restore and protect what we have left of our colonial history.

Other cities around the world go out of their way to conserve with historical artefacts and buildings. In Australia we are backwards in that regard and property developers and all tiers of government seem to operate in checked and often within the loopholes of the law. The destruction of a 140 year old home before council could meet to restore the heritage order on it in Kiama is a case in point.

Stop heritage vandalism now

There will be nothing left

To destroy the homes in relation to the powerhouse in parramatta it is a disgrace .
You’ve been trying to destroy the amazing history for years I’ve protested about the Lennox bridge where you bored a hole through the bridge for the use of bike riders. Shocking .
I’ve protested about the female factory
What next??
Turn the Gaol in to a museum
Plenty of room there.

Please let commonsense reign. That this beautiful old mansion is even being considered for demolition is appalling. Too much of Sydney’s history is gone forever; don’t let this house be a casualty too.

Stop demolition of “WILLOW HOUSE

We are writing to express our disapproval of the proposal to destroy buildings that we consider should be retained, not only for our present generation but for those of future generations.
We feel that it is vital that we respect the past settlers of this country and show how much we have progressed. As residents of Parramatta for over 55 years we feel that the demolition of Heritage buildings should be avoided at all costs.

Re the endangered Heritage Houses at Parramatta.
I would never in my wildest nightmare have thought I would ever side with the CFMMEU. However the proposed destruction of the historical heritage properties as above, for the construction of a light rail line & so-called Power House museum, that will doubtless in a few years go the way of the overhead rail & Sydney trams, has prompted me to put my name to an objection to this destruction. I accept that Armenia may have nothing that would prompt such patriotism, but in Australia we are proud of our heritage history and the blood, sweat and tears that went to build our country to what it is today! Once those properties are destroyed they can never be resurrected, and the 200 year old history is gone forever!! It is therefore an enormous insult for some Gladys come lately of so little appreciation of what is important to the people of NSW, to propose to pull these properties down for such fadish reasons

I cannot object strongly enough to the planned destruction of Willow Grove and St Georges Terrace. There is no way this would be allowed to happen if they were located in more affluent parts of Sydney but it appears that anything goes in Western Sydney. These are an important part of our history and once they are gone, they are gone forever. I certainly wouldn't want to be the one responsible for allowing the destruction of such a rare and beautiful part of our cultural legacy in Western Sydney and having to justify to future generations why these irreplaceable treasures of our history were destroyed when there were better options available.

Do the right thing for Sydney, and Australia. Stop this wanton destruction while you can. These should be preserved for all Sydney siders and Australians to enjoy for years to come. They are irreplaceable.

see attached

The purpose of my email is to advise of my position on the proposed Powerhouse Museum at Parramatta.

I strongly support the retention of the existing Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo and the addition of a new Powerhouse Museum in Parramatta. Parramatta and Western Sydney lack cultural institutions and the new museum would be welcome.

However, I strongly disagree with the proposed demolition of Willow Grove and St Georges Terrace. I have worked in and out of Parramatta for nearly 15 years and know both buildings well. They provide charachter and through their existence demonstrate the role Parramatta has played in the early colony and its history.

I suggest that either, the buildings are retained as part of a new museum (there are plenty of examples globally where a new development preserved existing buildings) or another site is chosen. There are a number of sites in Parramatta with buildings built from the 1950's onwards that have no architectural integrity and would not be missed.

Too may buildings such as Willow Grove and St Georges Terrace have been lost. Please ensure they are retained, however also that Parramatta receives a new cultural institution it dereves.

I object to the Powerhouse Parramatta project because I was Born in parramatta I have monitored these changes.
With maturity I feel these buildings are irreplaceable.

Please choose a different plan, you only get one shoot at this.

I object to the Powerhouse Parramatta project because it is waste of money. Parramatta does need cultural institutions but this is not place for it. The living history of Parramatta is evident in the existing Willow Grove buildings and it seems unbelievable that buildings that represent the cultural history of the area are being wiped out. It is like what my father would say ‘cutting off your nose to spite your face’

Please reconsider

I object to the Powerhouse Parramatta project because.

I have walked past this building very often and woukd kive that it was opened to the public to see.

To demolish it and the Georgian terraces woukd be a devestating loss.

Any new building might last 20 or 30 years then be replaced. Willow Grove is so much older and is irreplaceable.

This is vandalism worthy of any invading army not our government working for us.

You ask any visitor to Sydney and they love visiting history in the rocks not some shiney new building.

This is dumb dumb and dumber.

I am making a submission to strongly object to the proposed development, for the following reasons:

1. It destroys important Parramatta heritage
·The proposal destroys unique surviving Parramatta heritage items Willow Grove and the Terraces in the riverside centre of Parramatta.
·These items are rare and the justification to destroy them is very weak. Destruction of the site's heritage items is not necessary to create a museum on the site.
·Any development on the site should demonstrate sound heritage management principles and practices, including protecting, preserving and promoting real and genuine heritage in place.
·Any museum on the site should retain the heritage items, and they should be incorporated into the design and function of the site.

2. It is an inappropriate site for a museum
·The flood prone bank of a river is not an appropriate site for a building to conserve important heritage items.
·The proposal has not adequately considered alternative sites, especially for its changed (not fully relocated Powerhouse) museum function.
·The proposal should not destroy Parramatta's significant in-situ heritage to accommodate heritage moved from elsewhere.

3. There is poor design and consultation
·The design of the building is not suitable for a museum and appears to be designed as a function centre.
·During the exhibition, the NSW Government has announced the museum will be retained at Ultimo which changes the whole purpose of the Parramatta museum and this proposal.
·The proposal is a "take it or leave it" choice. This is not good planning and does not address and involve the best options and outcomes.
·The design process was flawed, with inadequate consideration of the site's heritage in the proposal. The architectural design competition brief made keeping the heritage optional to competitors and the judges.
·The site's heritage items can be retained in a compatible museum. This is not an unusual or impossible design requirement, and will make a better proposal.

4. It is poor use of public funds for the high costs and low benefits
·The justification for the proposal (a relocated Powerhouse Museum) no longer exists, as the NSW Government said it will be retaining major fixed exhibits at Ultimo.
·Approval of this proposal is not good use and management of public funds and assets. The proposal should be withdrawn, refused or modified to retain the site's heritage items.
·The claimed public benefits of the proposal are less than the costs, including loss of genuine Parramatta heritage and lost opportunity for a better museum and public spaces. The proposal should be redesigned for a better conceived, better planned and more appropriately designed museum and public spaces.

Overall, a suitable museum and public facilities are best achieved for everyone - in Parramatta, western Sydney and NSW - by not approving this proposal.

Please consider my objections when determining the proposal.

Please don’t demolish this beautiful historic building
It can never be replaced

I object to the Powerhouse Parramatta project because I believe the existing Powerhouse Museum serves us very well.

My objection to the The Powerhouse Project Parramatta, is because I value heritage and there is very little heritage being left intact while developers control our city.

Parramatta has beautiful heritage buildings such as Willow Grove that must stay for our children’s and grandchildren’s understanding of our colonial and Victorian past.

I am an active member of The National Trust and am dismayed that the government is wanting to go ahead with the destruction of heritage listed buildings, for an ugly milk crate on a flood plane, after National Trust objected to the development.

I am so saddened and sickened by the ongoing destruction of our heritage.

Please listen to the people. We do not want Parramatta transformed from a heritage precinct to a developer’s dream