Rail heritage at risk in Eveleigh

Eveleigh currently houses the largest surviving railway engineering workshops in Australia which date back to the steam era. Several buildings within the site have been re-developed and there are fears that further changes may threaten existing heritage values. 

“The NTA is concerned about the proposals for multi-storey development. We urge the retention of those workshops and a continuation of their role in training skilled apprentices and in rebuilding our state’s steam engines,” NTA Executive Director Tina Jackson said.

With the fate of the Large Erecting Shop (LES) resting in the hands of Railcorp, it is not yet certain whether the historically significant site will be sold off for commercial development or handed down to the Redfern Waterloo Authority (RWA) to be adaptively re-used.

Currently, the LES is one of the few heritage pieces on the southern side of Eveleigh that is not already under the umbrella of Australian Technology Park. In a recently submitted Built Environment Plan, the LES is to be added to the Park which was zoned to be up to 12 stories in height.

“The government seems to be trying to get rail heritage out of Sydney,” REDWatch spokesperson Geoff Turnbull said. “Basically, it means that places like the LES and the paint shop have come into the firing line.”

Mr Turnbull believes that economic factors are the main driving forces behind the potential shift. “I think the rationale is that these are very expensive inner-city lands and it is better to be used for something else. Of course, one of the issues is, if you’re going to have active rail heritage, it needs to be somewhere that people can actually have access to it.” 

The importance of active heritage conservation has long been advocated by academics and historians. University of New South Wales associate professor Lucy Taksa believes the State Government should make a greater effort to preserve the existing “intangible heritage” in Eveleigh.

“There has been lip service given to heritage in terms of adaptive re-use,” Dr Taksa said. “However, that adaptive re-use is focused on commercial redevelopment and maintaining only the built fabric – only the shell. So anybody moving into the area doesn’t actually have any connection with the past and the social value of the site. Basically, we’re talking about the recolonisation of a site without adequate resources being given to making the heritage accessible to the broader community,” she said.

Dr Taksa argues that the NSW Government is “out of step” with governments elsewhere in the country. In Queensland, the State Government has provided $20m towards redevelopment of Ipswich Railway workshops which contain a functional museum, alongside an operational railway workshop where heritage work continues. 

“The Labor Government in NSW has had since the 1990s to do adequate heritage interpretation but there have been virtually miniscule heritage funds provided for a design plan or signage. So whilst people can say, ‘Oh wow, what a beautiful building’ and admire the romance of the industry, there is no sign of the people who once occupied that site,” Dr Taksa said.

The RWA is currently undertaking preliminary feasibility work on the LES in the event that Railcorp hands over the site in the future. While RWA Chief Executive Officer Robert Domm said it is too early to determine what the adaptive re-use options may be, he explains that the 12 storey zoning is there to ensure consistency with the adjoining Australian Technology Park.

In terms of the sale of surplus lands in North Eveleigh, Mr Domm states that heritage safeguards already exist in the State Environmental Planning Policy which was amended to give effect to the RWA’s Built Environment Plan. “Further safeguards will be put in place by the RWA’s concept planning for the site, which will occur prior to sale.”

Source: South Sydney Herald July 2007 http://www.southsydneyherald.com.au/