Local news – 248

Coasting for respect 

Local high schools and primary schools participated in a range of activities with a message of ‘respect’ for White Ribbon Day last week.

A particularly innovative campaign was run by the Inner West Domestic Violence Liaison Committee which encouraged school children in Inner West local council LGAs to make art approaching the issue of gender violence.

These artworks were then printed on drink coasters and distributed to licensed venues in Burwood and Canada Bay for White Ribbon Weekend, November 24th to 25th , to be used by local patrons.

While alcohol use does not cause violence against women, regular alcohol abuse is one of the leading risk factors for intimate partner violence.

Rozelle Village proposal falls flat 

The development proposal to turn the former Balmain Wests Tigers club in to a ‘vertical village’ has been abandoned by Rozelle Village developers. The once-iconic homeland of the NRL Wests Tigers on Victoria Road will be re-zoned by Leichhart Council according to instructions of the State Government.

The re-zoning will  see the club site being used for a combination of commercial and mixed use development. Limited contribution to traffic congestion and the protection of local businesses will be the main criteria for a successful proposal for the site.

No music for Parramatta Road renewal

The NSW Government’s announcement of the Parramatta Road urban renewal plans has been met by controversy at Leicchardt Council. The plans include a goal of creating 50,000 new dwellings and jobs along the corridor and names Tarverners Hill, Leichhardt and Five Dock as part of eight ‘urban renewel precincts’ where planning and zoning rules “may change in the future.”

Leicchardt Mayor Rochelle Porteous has ridiculed the plans, calling it, “another expensive, sugar-coated PR exercise to disguise the Government’s intention to removal of local planning controls from local councils .”

While former Leichhardt Mayor, Darcy Byrne, has called for a return to recommendations of the joint Marrickville and Leichhardt Council Off Broadway report suggesting Parrammatta Road become an entertainment and cultural quarter.