I object to the Powerhouse Parramatta project because :

1. the site is inappropriate… too close to the embankment for heavy objects and no proper tests have measured the site/object ratio.

2. the site is too smaLL FOR the objects

3. the original decision to use the current powerhouse site was determined by the fact that the site itself - the built structure - would become a part of the museum collection (as in the case of the . Everleigh Art Space).

4. in heritage terms the term ‘what is of social value’ is applied when considering `the role of the present society to value and save the past, for the present and beyond.' Therefore - the powerhouse museum must remain inside the original power house as the site, the built environment structurally, plus the contents are all part of what we know as the powerhouse museum.

5. The final point I would like to raise is, in the mid nineteen eighties when the bicentennial authority began to consider the powerhouse site for a museum the demographics of the population were extremely different to the social demographics that exist in the neighbourhood today. In the year two thousand and twenty we almost total gentrification of the land space surrounding the museum with international award designed apartment buildings, blocks of cinemas, gentrified lane ways full of cafes and artists spaces and ultra modern gardens built over disused railway tracks - a la New work and aqua sports centres. I would imagine that the changed nature of the built environment has altered the statistics of the population by two hundred percent within the last decade. Or more. This is now a bright, enjoyable, new social hub housing the kind of citizens who I predict would value highly a museum like the powerhouse to exist in their vicinity.

Regarding the Parramatta museum: yes it also needs a grand museum/ arts centre. Parramatta urgently needs to throw off its mantle and become a vibrant, and exciting second city - sitting nearby another site called Sydney.

best

Margaret Helman
(deputy director of the NSW Bicentennial Authority of New South Wales - 1985-1987)

I object to the proposed Powerhouse Parramatta project because the winning proposal involves demolition of Willow Grove, its garden and St Georges Terrace.

Parramatta is a place of remarkable character and in recognition of this character the proposed museum would benefit from another siting or a serious attempt at adaptive reuse of the site.

Local architects with proven skills in sensitive design and adaptive reuse of heritage buildings should be given the opportunity to submit other options.

Development Controls appear to be somewhat ad hoc in parramatta and not based on design quality that recognises the city centre’s essential character.

Bigger is not better. Parramatta Town Hall and Anglican Cathedral have been rendered as toys in the absence of relative scale of current development.

The vertical explosion on the former David Jones site speaks of the future potential to render the riverside a "creek in a canyon”.

The Catholic Cathedral is diminished by the football arena, and local kids have lost their pool for many summers.

Give Parramatta’s heritage a chance to continue to be respected in this very important town centre. Don’t copy Sydney.

The Willow Grove Precinct offers a reprieve of calm and beauty in the midst of the development explosion that is occurring.

Don’t turn the river in to a gutter by erecting more buildings that do not offer relative scale.

Don’t let disinterested corporate money destroy what is here. Propose a desired future character and get interested local money on board.

Create a better River city and respect Parramatta’s precious character.

I would like to notify you of my objection to the Powerhouse Parramatta Development which involves the demolition of two heritage listed buildings in Parramatta (Willow Grove and St Georges Terrace).

I object to the Powerhouse Parramatta project because.I believe the two buildings you wish to teardown are an essential link to our heritage and therefore our sense of belonging to Parramatta.
I want to be able to show my grand children as I have my own children, the graceful architectural features, and scale of placing a building on land that we can walk around and admire.
I believe the Powerhouse museum should stay where it is in Ultimo. It is there for a reason , showcasing the industrial history of machines that built our city.
Please reconsider, once gone you can never replace Willowgrove. I do not have any faith in the building standards of modern buildings that the proposed building will last 10 years, let alone 100+.
I was a member of The Powerhouse and regularly took my sons to the delightful exhibits and sanctury it provided busy boys with enquiring minds.
I now want to avail my grandaughter the same experience. She will hear stories about her fathers favourite exhibits and activities.
This facility provides intergenerational connections to the Powerhouse and the comfort and wellbeing of the familar in a city that is constantly being demolished.

I object to the Powerhouse Parramatta project because, to facilitate this project, involves the permanent removal of historical buildings, Willow Grove and St George’s Terrace.

As a citizen who lives and works in Parramatta, I am connected to our city’s heritage though these beautiful structures which are a reminder to us all, of our early years and history and should remain standing for many future generations to enjoy.

It is inconceivable to me that alternative sites, which would avoid the need to demolish buildings (such as the Cumberland Hospital grounds), have been rejected and disregarded.

I request that you consider a solution for Parramatta’s proposed Powerhouse project. The people of Parramatta do not want these two beautiful heritage buildings destroyed.

I object to the Powerhouse Parramatta project because..
I believe this is an important part of Parramatta's heritage
Our history and its links to earlier times needs to be preserved..in this case St George's Terraces and the grand Willow Grove residence
I have no affiliation with any group, but rather I'm a very concerned person who wishes for preservation of historical buildings
Originally from the Penrith area ,I worked in Parramatta for many years, and still feel the connection to it's colonial past
Please preserve..

I object to the Powerhouse Parramatta project because I have long enjoyed visiting the Historic sights of Parramatta including the old cemetery , Old Government House, James Ruse Cottage etc.. I also have loved the precinct where Willow Grove is and St Georges Terrace. I particularly love Willow Grove because it is where I was born, my Mother travelling there by taxi from a 5 acre farm at Castle Hill on 11/4/1945 to give birth to me. Yes please have another museum at Parramatta but not at the expense of our historic buildings, we have so few. It is so lovely to ride the rivercat to Parramatta and stroll through these streets (depending on the tides of course where we transfer to the bus).

Thanking you for your time

I object to the Powerhouse Parramatta project because it is part of Parramattas Heritage. Knocking down old buildings which are part of history is a national disgrace.

I’m greatly alarmed by the NSW government’s Powerhouse Parramatta project because a better solution is staring at you in the face and yet it’s not being acted on.

We have a historical area around the Cumberland hospital precinct in North Parramatta that has a new light rail nearby that needs restoring and with some money and vision could be transformed into a vibrant and buzzing precinct for arts, culture and museums that Parramatta desperately deserves.

In doing so the (in name only) Powerhouse relocation can be downsized due to it being in a flood prone area and Willow Grove saved - very important as we need all the preservation of history we can get.

What worries me is that developers are leading this discussion and not creative people and residents who will look back in future and ask how did we ever let this happen?

I need to add my voice to those objecting to the demolition of Willow Grove. Why destroy such a beautiful building?

I have never made a political donation.

I do not want my name made public.