It's no surprise that most people (99 out of 100) who completed our survey are opposed to high rise development.

But which new developments are liked, makes interesting reading.

Read our full analysis of the survey results.

Renewing the Sydenham to Bankstown Corridor: A prospectus for Inclusive Renewal was published by City Futures Research Centre in July 2018. We love it! 

These are short extracts, for the full report click on the cover.

"... It is not too late to reboot the planning of the corridor by a visionary renewal process that will benefit the communities who already live and work here, as well as provide much needed new housing and quality neighbourhoods for the new population who will arrive in the next twenty years.

"What cannot be allowed to happen is the wholesale displacement of the existing community and its replacement with sterile neighbourhoods that have been seen in comparable locations across Sydney. These planning blunders will be with us – and those who live in the outcome – for decades."

"There needs to an honest and open discussion between politicians, policy makers and communities about the kind of city we are and what we want to be."

Their research supports what Save Marrickville asks:

• We want sympathetic well designed development and density with proper transition zones.
  Not over development or imposing high rise.
• We would like planning control to be given back to council and the community.
• We feel it is critical that our heritage and local character are preserved.
• Marrickville’s industrial land should be preserved.
• Infrastructure needs to be planned first before rezoning.
• Affordable housing quotas must be in place.

Darcy Byrne, Inner West Council mayor via Facebook 27 July at 18:01

In a colossal win for the community we have just defeated Mirvac’s proposal for 35 storey skyscrapers in Carrington Road Marrickville

The State Government has agreed to hand back control of planning in the Sydenham to Bankstown corridor to our council and local community.

We’ve fought long and hard to put an end to developer driven planning proposals in this corridor, and today we are thrilled to take back control of planning for the Sydenham, Marrickville and Dulwich Hill communities.

I congratulate the State Member for Summer Hill Jo Haylen and local activists, including the Save Marrickville and Save Dully community groups, for their determined and successful advocacy to achieve this result.

Special thanks to Anthony Albanese MP for helping to negotiate this excellent outcome with the Government. I thank Planning Minister Anthony Roberts for listening to the community.

Today’s decision puts an end to Mirvac’s ridiculous proposal for a 35 storey high rise development, with 2600 units in Carrington Road. This really is Marrickville, not Mirvacville!

Their plan would have destroyed more than 1,000 jobs and resulted in the forced closure of a whole cluster of businesses that are central to Sydney’s creative industries.

Our new plans will be developed by the community, not multinational developers.

Darcy explained later: The Carrington Road proposal from Mirvac was entirely predicated on that site being rezoned under the Sydenham to Bankstown Urban Renewal Corridor Strategy. That strategy will now not be gazetted and has no legal status. The existing Marrickville Environmental Plan which is an industrial zoning is the law. Mirvac's Carrington Road proposal is dead.

As reported on 9NEWS

..................................................

RESPONSE FROM SAVE MARRICKVILLE

This is a huge win for democracy and is thanks to everyone who raised their voices - came to rallies, meetings, wrote reports, talked to their neighbours, posted on social media, put up signs - and spoke up for this neighbourhood, which we all love. You guys rock!

This campaign has never been about stopping all development, just overdevelopment. We love our community and happily welcome new people to it... but for Marrickville to continue to be a great place to live and work, the community needs a real say on planning and development.

Marvellous things can happen (especially before elections) but the battle’s not over yet ... we know that high density development is still on the agenda across Sydney, and plenty of communities are still facing loss of heritage, amenity, nature and public space, as well as noise and air pollution...

So a big cheers to everyone who helped win this one, keep your Save Marrickville signs up and watch this space!

Anthony Albanese MP, Jo Haylen, Darcy Byrne, Colin Hesse - Greens, Clr Mark Drury - Inner West Council - Labor, Councillor Pauline Lockie - Inner West Council, Mat Howard Save Dully AG, RIPA Sydney, Save Our Suburbs, Sydenham to Bankstown Alliance, Greater Sydney Commission, GreaterSydney.Community, Marrickville Heritage Society and MadeinMarrickville

The Greater Sydney Commission invited community groups and the Inner West Council to meet with them on 22 May 2018.

Save Marrickville was represented by Heather Davie and Paul Mortimer, who reported that they “felt genuinely heard” by the commission.

At the meeting, community representatives put their concerns regarding development to the commission and asked that preservation of character and industrial land be given greater emphasis.

Save Marrickville also requested that the Inner West Council and the local community be given much more involvement in decisions on local development.

A copy of the Marrickville Character Study published by the Save Marrickville group, was presented to the Greater Sydney Commission. Check it out here.

Save Marrickville are organising a community meeting to let you know about our work and the developments (ha!) so far. Sign up to receive an invitation by email.

Rod Simpson (Greater Sydney Environment Commissioner), Darcy Byrne (Mayor, Inner West Council), Peter Olive (Sydenham - Bankstown Alliance), Heather Davie (Save Marrickville) and Morris Iemma (Greater Sydney Commissioner).

Also present were Greg Woodhams (ED City Planning GSC), Paul Mortimer (Save Marrickville), Mark Skelsey (Save Dully) and David Birds (Inner West Council Manager Strategic Planning).

Publications and submissions

Posted by Save Marrickville · May 12, 2018 4:25 PM

The Wolli Creek Valley might have been an 8-lane freeway, but it was saved by Sydney's longest conservation fight.

The valley is inner south-west Sydney's environmental gem – a tranquil haven in a busy city, preserving an irreplaceable remnant of the pre-European landscape.

For 40 years a struggle over Sydney's future has been fought out here, a struggle that isn't yet over. It's been a battle between freeways and public transport; between open space and over-development; between urban sprawl and consolidation; between high-carbon and sustainable futures.

View EcoTransit's amazing documentary [1 hr 15 mins] which includes lots of Wolli footage and a history of the freeway paradigm going back to Mussolini and Le Corbusier.

Over 500 residents and friends attended the Save Marrickville rally on 24 February and we thank every one of you. Our work is just beginning and we are grateful for your support. We set off from Marrickville Town Hall and with guidance from Marrickville police, walked up the pavement to the Mirvac office where we delivered a copy of the Save Marrickville's group submission to the rezoning plan. Their shop/office was closed for the day.

Onward to Alex Trevallion Plaza for speeches from Save Marrickville spokeswoman Kelsie Dadd, Federal MP Linda Burney, Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne and Greens Councillor Colin Hesse.

This rally follows on from an earlier Inner West Council meeting of 500 people at Marrickville Town Hall, opposing development plans for Marrickville and the Carrington precinct.

Kelsie's speech:

"Affordable Housing should be automatically built into the planning process and should be at least 30% of any new development. The old hospital site in Marrickville has only designated 9 units out of 221 as ‘affordable’ (4%). This is not nearly high enough."

Read the Save Marrickville Resident Groups Submission to the Department of Planning’s SEPP 70 Affordable Housing 30/1/2018

Save Marrickville formed in July 2017 as Save Marrickville South. We didn't know each other at all, but started to meet up and discuss the proposed rezoning of our suburb.

• In October 2015 the then Minister for Planning, Rob Stokes, announced a plan to 'revitalise' the 11 stations on the Sydenham to Bankstown rail line so that the government could capitalise on the Sydney Metro SW rail line project.
  
  
• The Sydenham to Bankstown Corridor Strategy is actually a plan to rezone large swathes of Marrickville (and all the suburbs along the line) to significantly increase density, and add 6000 new dwellings to Marrickville, all without plans for critical infrastructure like schools, parks, roads and hospitals.
  
  
• We regularly meet people who are unaware of what is being proposed for Marrickville. Many people don’t know that the Marrickville population is proposed to increase by two thirds if this plan goes ahead. Please talk to your neighbours!

Save Marrickville's group submission in regards to the rezoning plan is comprehensive and documents our concerns. The first revision of the plan received 1440 submissions from the public.

• We built a Lego model  to show the scale of the highrise proposed and displayed it at information sessions held by Planning NSW, polling booths and at Marrickville Festival. You can check it out at Addison Road markets on Sundays.
  
  
• In July 2017, the revised Sydenham to Bankstown strategy was released by the Government. Not much had changed in the Marrickville plan - in fact densities had increased.
  
  
• In August 2017, the Made in Marrickville report was released by QUT, Monash and Wollongong University academics. It documents the number and diversity of businesses on both sides of Carrington Road, Myrtle Street and Renwick Street. They found 223 enterprises, supplying approx 1800 jobs. It highlights the importance of keeping the existing zoning for industrial uses.
  
  
• In September 2017, Inner West council elections were held and over development was a key election issue.
  
  
• In October 2017, Anthony Albanese MP blew the whistle on the Carrington Road precinct planning proposal when he expressed his shock in the media at Mirvac’s plans.
  
  
• Inner West council’s response to the planning proposal was made public and we discovered that Mirvac is requesting to rezone 7.8 hectares of land from the current industrial zoning to R4 high density residential and B2 local centre - this would make it impossible for many of the businesses to remain. If the zoning changes, certain types of activity will not be allowed and rents will rise, forcing people out. The buildings are 35 storeys high!
  
  
• 500 people attended a public meeting about Carrington Road at Marrickville Town Hall. The proposal is a request to change the zoning of the land and it is not yet a done deal. However, if the council refuses the zoning proposal, Mirvac can go directly to the state government for approval.
  
  
• NSW Labor and Greens have committed to scrap the Sydenham to Bankstown Corridor Strategy if they form government at the state election in 2019.
  
  

Save Marrickville members have attended public meetings about the rezoning held by Inner West Council and NSW Planning Department. We have been invited to present to these organisations in smaller meetings.

We convened a public meeting on 30 November 2017 where a motion was passed unanimously by over 120 people.

MOTION: Save Marrickville local residents will not accept the destruction of our neighbourhood through over development and high rise. Marrickville must be properly planned in the interests of the people who will live and work here, with 

• • • sympathetic development and density; 
    • local council and community control of planning; 
    • preserved heritage and local character; 
    • preserved industrial lands and employment; and 
    • planning of infrastructure first, including schools, parks, roads, affordable housing and parking.
      
      
• Our group have applied to the Office of Environment and Heritage for Carrington Road Industrial Precinct to be recognised by a State heritage listing. The precinct is an important site in the State's industrial past as well as for migrants settling in Australia after the second world war.
  
  
• We've printed two corflute posters for sale at $10 each to raise awareness and funds for our campaign. Purchase from our stall at Addison Road market on Sundays or email [email protected]

• We are preparing media releases and planning activities in preparation for the release of the final strategy and Marrickville plan. According to NSW Planning staff, that is likely to be between Christmas Eve 2017 and sometime in January 2018. 
  
  
• We will need to mobilise quickly when the new Marrickville Plan is released so please keep an eye out for Facebook posts and emails calling for people to rally. Be ready to act with us!

Save Marrickville is a group of residents taking positive action to ensure that the growth of our suburb is planned properly for our community, the environment and future residents.

• We want sympathetic well designed development and density with proper transition zones.
  Not over development or imposing high rise.
  
  
• We would like planning control to be given back to council and the community.
  
  
• We feel it is critical that our heritage and local character are preserved.
  
  
• Marrickville’s industrial land should be preserved.
  
  
• Infrastructure needs to be planned first before rezoning.
  
  
• Affordable housing quotas must be in place.

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