I object to the Powerhouse Parramatta Project because it involves the demolition of socially and historically significant buildings such as Willow Grove House and St George's Terraces. Once bulldozed, these buildings cannot be brought back and an irreplaceable part of Sydney and Parramatta's history will be lost. An increasing number of beautiful buildings that tell us about the past and remind us of where we came from are disappearing. I strongly urge you to consider preserving these treasures for future generations.
I do not have any reportable political donations to declare.

I write to object to the planned destruction of Willow Grove and St Georges Terraces as part of the Powerhouse Parramatta project.
We are residents of the Parramatta Council area and have been for 35 years. We spend a lot of our leisure time in and around Parramatta, walking, cycling, shopping, meeting friends, dining out and watching football. It has been a joy to watch Parramatta develop over these years into a vibrant CBD with a strong indigenous history and colonial heritage and as a thriving business, theatre, sport and retail centre. We appreciate all these components.
I was not an opponent of the Powerhouse moving to Parramatta, especially when considering how many people live in western Sydney and the lack of cultural institutions here.
However I was genuinely shocked when I realised that the Powerhouse move meant the demolition of Willow Grove!
Likewise St George terraces where we have previously dined in delightful restaurants.
It has always been fascinating to walk past Willow Grove over the years and stop and gaze at it and wonder about its history. We have been to Council functions in the front garden, with fairy lights dancing in the trees. Beautiful!
So much of Parramatta is now office buildings and incredibly tall residential towers. Willow Grove gives us glimpses of a very different time in Parramatta's history. It is a gem.
Every building of heritage value left in Parramatta is precious.
It is not too late to reject this Powerhouse plan.
Please.
Once these buildings are gone, they are gone forever, and part of our history with them.
Thank you for receiving my submission.
Meryn O'Brien

Dear Sir,
I object to the proposal to relocate the Sydney Power House Museum to Parramatta and the design for a new museum which destroys the heritage buildings Willow Grove and St George’s Terrace. Please see below the Dept of Environment’s assessment of the contribution WillowGrove makes to the community, our heritage and the story of the State’s development.
This ill conceived plan is creating misery in both Parramatta and SYDNEY. Please build an appropriate Museum in Parramatta at a location not prone to flooding and which builds on the strength of the existing collection including the thousands of objects in storage. Please leave the existing Powerhouse where it is, enabling its unique collection to be preserved for the benefit of current and future generations. Please do not squander public monies on a project design with such obvious errors and disadvantages for the people of SYDNEY, Parramatta and NSW.
I do not contribute to any political party.
Sincerely
Sally Taylor
https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=2240440

I write to express my objection, incredulity and disgust in respect to the State Government’s plans to relocate the Powerhouse museum to Parramatta. The entire project is a disgrace and a betrayal of the people of Sydney and its visitors. It is blatantly obvious that it is all about money and nothing to do with community wellbeing. It is time for this government to start listening. The existing museum is highly valued by the community and the design of the new ‘museum’ in Parramatta is but a pale shadow of the it.
John Stephenson.

I object to the Powerhouse Parramatta Project for the following reasons:

Proposed demolition of Willow Grove and St George’s Terraces. Jack Mundy has been applauded for saving many significant historic sites yet they are still being destroyed.
Parramatta has already suffered many loses, including recently The Royal Oak Hotel and old established trees. Please do not demolish these historic houses! They can never be replaced once they are gone.

Building on yet another significant Indigenous site when so many have been historically disrespectfully been ruined.

The exorbitant cost when the economy is in such bad shape due to Covid. Now is not the time to waste money.

The old Powerhouse should be retained. It is an iconic building, easy to get to by public transport and the exhibition is already there.

Moving such large and delicate objects is a major concern.

There will be a loss of jobs at the Ultimo Powerhouse and business in the surrounding area will be affected.

There are problems with safely housing precious exhibits in satisfactory museum conditions in the planned Parramatta Powerhouse.

Please build a museum in Western Sydney on another site that doesn’t involve the destruction of more of our heritage buildings. Also, leave the existing Powerhouse where it is at its significant site, as there is no valid reason to move it.

Yours faithfully
Jenny and John Hilditch
(National Trust members)

I object vehemently to the Powerhouse Parramatta project on several levels and request the whole project be re-assessed.

I find it obscene that the Power House Museum at Ultimo will close next week, when no final decision has been announced on the proposed replacement building. We (the public) are being sent mixed messages as to the final draft of the replacement building in Parramatta, and what will or won’t be demolished to accommodate it. It appears Willowgrove and St Georges Terrace must be demolished in order to accommodate a building of sufficient size to fulfil the many proposed requirements of the new building.

There has been no public consultation on this matter and I (one of many), am furious that our heritage will be sacrificed to accommodate the ill-thought-out proposal to move the iconic Powerhouse Museum from its present site to a flood prone, inadequate piece of land. We of the Parramatta region, take great pride in what is left of the heritage of the “second city” in NSW. Retention and incorporation of this heritage must be part of any future development in this city.

I do not understand the logic of the closure and removal of the Powerhouse Museum from Ultimo to Parramatta. I can only see greed as the driving force for this ridiculous project. When first proposed, we were told the move would make the museum more accessible to the people. How will moving this world standard museum to Parramatta, make it more accessible to residents of Hornsby, Sutherland, Eastern Suburbs and those in between? The result will be fewer visitors and less revenue. The obscene expense and great risk of damage to these iconic artefacts when moving, makes the whole project illogical. I read where a portal for the No. steam engine has not been allowed in the proposed building. Did the architects look at the collect before designing the building?

Why are exhibits closing now, when it will be years before the new building will be ready to receive the artefacts? The museum has been closed for months due to the virus, has just reopened to restricted access and time limit, and the main exhibit is closing four days before school holidays. I suspect a partial demolition of the building is intended in order to ensure the project is irreversible – as was done with the stadium. I would like an explanation as to why this exhibit must close now, years before the artefacts will be required in the new site, and what will happen to artefact on display in the meantime.

The Australian Museum is closed to prepare for a major new exhibit.
From next Tuesday, the main exhibit in the Powerhouse will also be closed for no apparent good reason. Where does this leave schools wanting to organise educational STEM excursions for their pupils?

The present museum site and building are perfect for a technical museum. The building was born in the steam age as are so many of the displayed items and it is within the precinct of the first Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. Why not leave it where it is, respect the few remaining heritage items in Parramatta and develop a new multipurpose museum/exhibit space on the Parramatta site.

Excuse my rage, but this matter is too important not to speak up.
Pamela Zopf

We object strongly to the Powerhouse Parramatta Project as it has been announced. Our concerns are as follows:

1.The plans for the new building do not indicate any on-site storage facility.
2. No consideration is given to the institution of the permanent collection, currently housed at Ultimo.
3. Plans indicate the proposed building will have only 25 per cent of the display area of the existing museum.
4. The plans do not indicate any spaces for collection storage or a conservation laboratory.
5. There appears to be only one loading dock.
6. The proposed building is situated on a flood plain, an area well known by local citizens to be regularly inundated.
7.The fate of the Museum’s large items is unclear; it appears there would be no room for them all to be housed at Parramatta.
8. Plans include the demolition of the Victorian Heritage buildings at Willow Grove and St. George’s Terrace. Writing as retired History and Social Science teachers who worked in the region, these building formed an invaluable component of local History and Human Geography studies for school students and their destruction would have considerable negative impact on teachers and students.

We have not made any donations to any political party nor are members of any such party, nor of any residents’ groups or association.

I object to the Powerhouse Parramatta project proceeding. The ‘ New Powerhouse’ will be totally inadequate to display the wonderful collection of artistic and historical items that have been acquired over many years, and I object to them being shoved into storage.
I enjoyed much of this collection when it was in the old Museum of Technology, and then when it transferred to the wonderfully designed Powerhouse, as have my children and grandchildren.
I object to the demolition of Willow Grove and St George’s Terraces. We have very little architectural heritage in this country and what little is left should be retained for future generations.

Yours sincerely,
Jean Williams

I object to the Powerhouse Parramatta project in its current form.
I confirm I have not made any reportable political donations.
Please withhold name from published submission

The idea of destroying Willowgrove and St George Terrace to replace them with a museum collection dating back to the same era seems ludicrous.

These are part of Parramatta's cultural heritage and should not be destroyed. Part of our legacy for future generations, to be treasured not trashed. Western Sydney deserves better.

Yes, of course, we deserve both a Museum and an Art Gallery but not 'the deal' being offered. The Powerhouse Museum should stay in Ultimo.

Consideration should be given for a museum and gallery to be sited within the Cumberland Hospital/Fleet Street site where they can be enjoyed in a beautiful setting that will be both a tourist and resident drawcard. Close to the new light rail, close to Westmead Hospital and Medical Research Centre, close to the Parramatta River and Park. So much more appealing than traffic-clogged central Parramatta.

The settings for Hazlehurst Regional Gallery and the Penrith Art Gallery are both superb. The Art Gallery of NSW is also sited within green space. This is especially required in the western suburbs which endure hotter summers.

I have lived in the area for over 30 years, coming originally from London. It has taken time for me to fully appreciate the indigenous, colonial and environmental history that is held within Parramatta's LGA and it is because of what remains that has allowed me to learn its value. We nearly lost Elizabeth Farm to development. Please don't destroy more heritage in the guise of 'western Sydney deserves'.

Make Willowgrove part of our Heritage Trail.
Give Parramatta a new museum and gallery in a beautiful location.
We deserve it.

Dear Premier,

I have no problems with the idea of an exhibition space in Parramatta

BUT

The idea of moving some or all of the wonderful exhibits at the Powerhouse to another venue is abhorrent.

The Powerhouse is well located and well founded.

It is our equivalent to the Deutches Museum as as such needs to be very accessible for visitors to our great City - SYDNEY

Moving it or some of the critical exhibits from their current location will be ridiculously expensive with a moribund outcome.

As you can see from the current outcry - including this plea - there is very little if any support for the move.

Reversing your decision will be very welcome and will exhibit your understanding of the will of the people

Do not be concerned about the pathetic criticism “Premier backs down” that some media will expound.

Its what you finally do that matters - not what the media says about it!

Yours faithfully

Jon Kirkwood