Geoff Turnbull

Bio:
Geoff Turnbull is the spokesperson for REDWatch, the residents group that covers the inner Sydney suburbs of Redfern Eveleigh Darlington and Waterloo (REDW). He has held this role since REDWatch was established in 2004 and maintains the REDWatch website which has documented government initiatives in the area since the early 2000’s.

Geoff has lived in Lawson Street Redfern since 1978 and has run a small import export company in the area since 1990. He undertakes his community work on a voluntary basis. With his wife Lyn they produced the emailed Redfern Waterloo Issues Update for several years. He has been contributing articles to the South Sydney Herald since 2004 and mainly focuses on planning, policy and social equity issues.

Geoff has served on the Redfern Waterloo Authority (RWA) Built Environment Ministerial Advisory Committee (BEMAC) (2005-2011), was a member of the Redfern Waterloo Heritage Taskforce (2010 and 2011) and since 2009 Geoff has also been the REDWatch representative on the Roll Up Redfern committee. He has held executive positions in the former Redfern Waterloo Chamber of Commerce and been a member of advisory committees for the AHC’s Pemulwuy Project and for Redfern Legal Service as well as campaigns to save Eveleigh Heritage. Geoff is on the Management Committee of The Factory Community Centre where he is currently Secretary. He is active in the Groundswell Coalition and the Lift Redfern Campaign.

115 POSTS
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Stopping heritage rot

Geoff Turnbull -
Six years after the Redfern-Waterloo Authority gazetted key heritage buildings at Eveleigh, essential conservation maintenance is being planned for the Chief Mechanical Engineers (CME) Building and the Scientific Services Building. The third heritage building in this precinct, the deteriorating Telecommunications Equipment Centre, is not mentioned.
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New councillors for City of Sydney

Geoff Turnbull -
City of Sydney’s Lord Mayor since 2004, Clover Moore, has been returned as Lord Mayor with 51 per cent of the mayoral vote, down from 56 per cent in 2008. Apart from Clover Moore only Robert Kok and Irene Doutney will return from the previous council, while Robyn Kemmis returns to council after a term’s absence.
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Volunteer stories

Geoff Turnbull -
RedWater Montage – Volunteers … the heart of our Community is a booklet with 39 stories about what people do for others in Redfern and Waterloo, and where they do it. It is also a taster that might tempt others to step in and give a helping hand on a management committee, a campaign or with some odd jobs.
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Community training

Geoff Turnbull -
The Groundswell Coalition, made up of local community services and residents, is holding the second of its community training sessions in the Challenge 4 Change Course. The course aims to help residents and community workers pick up skills that will help them be more effective in bringing about change.
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Planning consultation?

Geoff Turnbull -
Keep a close eye on what happens with community consultation in the new planning system when the government responds to submissions to its Green Paper. The Green Paper was the Government’s initial response to the recommendations of the Independent Review of the NSW Planning System. That review produced 374 recommendations, many of which, like the centrality of Environmentally Sustainable Development, went missing in the Green Paper.
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Not so neighbourly

Geoff Turnbull -
In 2010 the Sydney University Vice Chancellor met with Darlington residents and promised the University would be a better neighbour. The promised follow-up meeting never eventuated and many in the local community did not believe that the University that ate Darlington would change. This view has been strengthened in dealings over the Abercrombie Street developments.
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Redfern Station not high priority

Geoff Turnbull -
The draft NSW Long Term Transport Master Plan released in September recognises that work is required on Redfern Station, but sees it only as a medium-term priority. If you do not agree with the proposed timeframe then you should take the opportunity to say so before the exhibition closes on October 26 on the feedback form for section 3 or 4 of the Draft Plan.
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Ron Hoenig replaces Kristina Keneally

Geoff Turnbull -
Botany’s Mayor since 1981, Ron Hoenig, has been elected member for Heffron in the recent by-election with 58.9% of the primary vote. He led the Greens’ Mehreen Faruqi (23.3%), The Australian Democrat’s Drew Simmons (10.8%) and Fred Niles’ Christian Democratic Party’s Robyn Peebles (7.0%). In two-party preferred terms Mr Hoenig received 70.6% of the votes and Ms Faruqi 29.4%.
Urban Design

AHC marathon

Geoff Turnbull -
REDFERN: The Aboriginal Housing Company completed another lap in its Pemulwuy marathon with the submission in August of the Preferred Project Report. The report responds to the issues raised during the public exhibition and adjusts plans from the comments received. The Department of Planning will now make an assessment of the proposal.
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Abercrombie – both sides now

Geoff Turnbull -
Darlington will get its village upgrade in 2013, 18 years after it was proposed by South Sydney Council.
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A little bit higher now

Geoff Turnbull -
REDFERN: The owners of the GCA/TNT Towers presented preliminary concept ideas for the refurbishment and heightening of the landmark towers adjacent to Redfern railway station to interested community members at Redfern Community Centre in late July.
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2011 Census

Geoff Turnbull -
THE AUSTRALIAN Bureau of Statistics has released its first figures from the 2011 census. When compared to earlier census data the 2011 figures show population increases in the Sydney LGA up 8.2 per cent over the last five years with Redfern up 4.8 per cent and Waterloo up 25.2 per cent for over the same period. over the last 10 years the population of Redfern has increased 9.7 per cent and Waterloo a huge 206 per cent!
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Bye-bye SMDA

Geoff Turnbull -
THE NSW budget announced the demise of the Sydney Metropolitan development Authority (SMdA) and its amalgamation with Landcom into a new state-wide body called urbangrowth nSW. The new body will have compulsory acquisition powers like the current SMdA and will be in place by mid-July.
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Notre Dame fears

Geoff Turnbull -
SINCE THE University of Notre Dame (UNDA) first opened in Chippendale it has purchased several sites and expanded its campus more than five-fold. Contrary to previous undertakings, the university is now starting to encroach residential streets. estimates indicate nearly 4,000 students attend the Chippendale campus. This is well ahead of projections.
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Leamington saved

Geoff Turnbull -
SAVE LEAMINTON AVE Inc (SLA) has been seeking assurances that their homes are safe since a leaflet arrived in their letterboxes showing resumption in June 2010. After two years they have received a letter from Transport for NSW (TNSW) director General assuring them that “properties in that area are not required for transport projects, either now or in the foreseeable future”.
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Redfern Station upgrade update

Geoff Turnbull -
MEDIA REPORTS on the NSW Government’s fixing the Trains: Sydney’s Rail future on June 21 said the second harbour tunnel crossing would extend through the city and connect south of Central to the Illawarra and Bankstown lines. This is consistent with maps in the report and may help speed up the sale of north eveleigh and the upgrade of Redfern Station which should not be impacted.
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SMDA releases affordable housing details

Geoff Turnbull -
The SMDA strategy has dropped early RWA references to home ownership and concentrates exclusively on rental housing within the framework of the existing NSW...