15 December 2015

For more than 50 years, Gladesville Bridge has formed a vital link for motorists travelling to and from the city across Parramatta River.

And now the iconic concrete arch, which carries more than 81,000 vehicles daily, has joined its famous big brother, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, as an official Sydney icon.

Today, Gladesville Bridge became only the fourth infrastructure project in Australia to receive the highest engineering award available – official recognition from the American Society of Civil Engineers as an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark

“The Gladesville Bridge has officially joined the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Western Australian Goldfields water supply project and the Snowy Mountains Scheme as being recognised for engineering excellence in this country,” a Roads and Maritime Services spokesperson said.

read more: http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/about/news-events/news/roads-and-maritime/2015/151215-gladesville-bridge-recognised.html

 

Here one must say that most of the great engineering such as the Gladesville Bridge, The Spit Bridge and the Sydney Opera House, were the work and devotion of Labor Premiers, especially Joe Cahill:

McGirr, enfeebled by Labor's near-defeat in 1950, resigned as Premier in 1952; and Cahill assumed the role, having beaten Robert Heffron in the party's leadership contest. Cahill held the position until his death in office. He won the state elections of 1953, 1956, and 1959. It was in November 1954 that he first began to champion the idea of an opera house in Sydney, though the building was not completed and opened to the public until 1973. (A plaque within the building commemorates his activism in this regard.)

Cahill's political skills, his determination to avoid another Lang-style split in the party, and (in particular) his government's close alliance with Sydney's Catholic Archbishop, Cardinal Sir Norman Gilroy, ensured that Labor in New South Wales avoided the devastating divisions which forced the party out of office in Victoria, Western Australia, and Queensland during the 1950s split. No earlier premier of New South Wales had remained in power as long as Cahill did (except for Sir Henry Parkes, who served a total of 13 years in the post, but discontinuously); and no later premier would manage to surpass the length of Cahill's tenure until Sir Robert Askin in 1972.

A heavy smoker, Cahill suffered increasingly poor health during 1959. He died at Sydney Hospital of a myocardial infarction in October of that year, and was buried at Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney. Heffron succeeded him in the premiership.

Cahill's wife, two daughters, and three sons all survived him. One of his sons, Thomas James Cahill, was similarly a Member of the Legislative Assembly.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Cahill

 

Now, the public works of the new Liberal (CONservative) NSW government is to demolish good stuff, rebuild new and ugly boxes to fill the holes and sell good public buildings for a song. 

 

Here I shall provide some ammunition to stop the sale of the Powerhouse Museum to developers. The building was granted to the UTS, University of Technology Sydney, when still the New South Wales Institute of Technology, possibly with a 99 year lease to house its large collection of antique machinery, including one rare Watt steam engine. I believe that the UTS should fight tooth and nail through the laws of the land to stop this desecration of a fine building to be sold by the Baird Liberal (CONservative) government for a peppercorn price to mates in the building and developing of rabbit warrens with hubcaps. UGLY. 

 

 

 

 

"The easiest way to do it is to have a single developer with deep pockets do everything," says Mant. "But the result is that the whole of the western side of the CBD is Lend Lease-ville.

"And when you give one developer a monopoly right as leasing manager, he's only going to be judged on the profits returned. He's not going to take a chance on an exciting new restaurateur or coffee shops that aren't Gloria Jeans."

Indeed, Lend Lease and partners have won about $3.5 billion projects in the area, through, the state government notes, a competitive tender process to enact the government's vision for the area. 

The multinational will build not just the convention-entertainment-and-exhibition centre complex opening this year but also "Darling Square", a nearby new neighbourhood with thousands of apartments and retail space – opening in stages up to 2020. It also has won the contract for the Sofitel next door. The combined value of the projects is $1.9 billion. 

Shaun Carter, the President of the Institute of Architects, argues the new Darling Harbour will rise on the bones of whatever heritage was to be found in the area's first design.

The previous exhibition centre, which won Mr Cox the Institute's Sulman prize for architectural excellence, has been torn down for the mega-centre.

And the opening of the new redevelopment will coincide with a decision to remove the Powerhouse Museum from the entrance to Darling Harbour. The site will potentially be sold and the museum moved to Parramatta.

"I'm not sure what the outcome will be," Mr Carter says. "I'm not sure a whole lot of people do."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/2016-the-year-of-a-new-darling-harbour-20160114-gm6c06.html#ixzz3xHGaLUZX
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Read my comment above:

Here I shall provide some ammunition to stop the sale of the Powerhouse Museum to developers. The building was granted to the UTS, University of Technology Sydney, when still the New South Wales Institute of Technology, possibly with a 99 year lease to house its large collection of antique machinery, including one rare Watt steam engine. I believe that the UTS should fight tooth and nail through the laws of the land to stop this desecration of a fine building to be sold by the Baird Liberal (CONservative) government for a peppercorn price to mates in the building and developing of rabbit warrens with hubcaps. UGLY. 

I will add here that The PowerHouse Museum, the old power station before it was refitted as a museum, was also the used as the set of one of the Mad Max movies... where the kids 'member "tomorrow-morrow Land"... The new development around Darling Harbour is more of a sad demolishment than an accomplishment...

 

About 150 protesters have gathered on the edge of Sydney's Centennial Park to mourn the loss of more than 60 heritage trees felled by Transport for NSW contractors last week.

The trees, which ran along the edge of Alison Road and Anzac Parade in Randwick, were removed to make way for the $2.1 billion City-South East light-rail project.

A minute's silence was held for the trees, some of which protesters say were more than 100 years old.

"Today is a sad day for many of us," Janette Brockman told the congregation.

"The tragic loss of so many magnificent trees along Alison Road and Anzac Parade ... was unnecessary and was the consequence of poor planning decisions, led by poor consultation and, we believe, self interest."

Ingrid from Randwick said birds and possums had made homes in the trees.

"These trees, that nature has taken 50-100 years to create, that have given us 50-100 years of enjoyment and environmental service, were destroyed within just a few hours," she said.

read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-16/protesters-hold-funeral-for-heritage-trees-felled-in-sydney/7093076

 

We need to bring back THE GREEN BANS...  But these days, too many workers could not care less about anything but the cash and the contracts... Heritage does not mean anything to these vandals working for the NSW Baird Liberal (CONservative) government. Enough is enough. 

Not satisfied with these local assaults on trees, the NSW government is moving to declare wholesale war on the entire state. It is intent on abolishing the Native Vegetation Act, passed by Parliament in 2003 to stop broadscale land clearing.  It will be replaced by a so-called Biodiversity Conservation Act that will apply many of the current tree destruction tools in the government's armoury to the city and the country.

Offsets are the new mantra and the weak "major projects offsets policy" will become the rule.  This states that if you can't find a "like for like" offset (inevitable in urban areas), then almost anything else will do, including developer payments to a fund or rehabilitating a mine site (when this should be entirely the responsibility of the mine owner). It's a sure recipe for the extinction of more endangered habitat.  The Native Vegetation Act, which has saved hundreds of thousands of hectares from the bulldozer and chainsaw, had scientifically based rules about what should be protected (red lights) or offset with integrity.  But no more under this new legislation – you can buy your way out.

The Baird government has argued it will establish a new fund to bring priority areas  of farmland under conservation management to offset the expected loss of key native vegetation. But not only has it failed to allocate any money, it cannot guarantee that the right land will be offered by landowners for conservation.  Their plan will disconnect our trees and enhancing biodiversity, from an effective conservation ethic.

The new legislation is expected to be released for public comment in a few months.  Environment groups are of the view this will bring the war on trees to every council and neighbourhood in the state.  This assault is in the context of so much of our bushland in the city and country having already been destroyed.  It's why scientists have found so many "threatened ecological communities" and councils go to great lengths to register significant trees.

It's time for all those who value our native bush and urban trees to unite and stop this war.

Jeff Angel is executive director of the Total Environment Centre.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/mike-bairds-war-on-trees-is-threatening-our-biodiversity-20160118-gm82af.html#ixzz3xfafUUrX 
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