ROSEBERY: In July the state government made changes to the housing code that could allow the 1912 Covenant, which set the character of the suburb, to be overridden. The Covenant is part of the title deeds of all blocks within the area since the time it was first subdivided as a working class industrial estate, with factories separated by parks from single-storey California bungalow-style houses with garden frontages.
That same month in the SSH, Wayne Moody from Rosebery Residents Action Group (RRAG) outlined the concerns of Rosebery residents at the “continued disregard of the original and existing covenant that sets the character of the Rosebery estate”, that has been exacerbated by the introduction of private certifiers signing off on Complying Developments (CDCs), which no longer involve Council officers.
In mid-September about 90 residents met in Turruwul Park where Lord Mayor Clover Moore and Councillors Philip Thalis and Linda Scott (president of Local Government NSW) addressed the physically distanced crowd, all expressing their concern at the potential for overdevelopment in the suburb that is under increasing pressure with the high-rise residential development of former industrial land to its north at Green Square.
At the meeting the Lord Mayor advised that Planning Minister Rob Stokes has given her a verbal commitment that he will exempt the Rosebery Estate from the new housing code. As she is yet to receive written confirmation of the undertaking, to support this call, a petition was circulated at the meeting and she indicated she’d like to invite the Minister to attend the next Rosebery community meeting.
While residents have not yet heard the outcome, Council has also referred to the Department of Fair Trading, a number of local CDC renovations that RRAG asked to be investigated for non-compliance and Council has asked for its advice about any further CDC constructions on blocks with the Covenant in place.
Minister Stokes has not yet replied to RRAG correspondence, but local member Ron Hoenig continues to monitor the situation on the group’s behalf as they continue the campaign “to protect the special character of the Rosebery Estate”.
