GREENS SAY HERITAGE VALUES ARE BETRAYED
By Sarah Sharples
Published February 24, 2015
THE NSW Government’s sale of the historic Bidura block in Glebe to developers has been slammed by Balmain state Greens MP Jamie Parker, who said it was the latest betrayal of the city’s heritage values.
Bit by bit, we are losing public land, which is of historical significance to all Sydneysiders and should be kept in public hands,” he said.
“Instead of preserving this site for the benefit of the community, we’ll see more overdevelopment. Development on the Bidura block will monster the heritage buildings, undermining their important status.
“This privatisation is part of the government’s fire sale of heritage buildings in Sydney.”
The block on Glebe Point Rd was sold last year for more than $33 million to two property developers, Lina Jin and Yuelai Zhou, who own ACC Development.
They plan to demolish the former children’s court at Bidura for apartments, and keep two other heritage-protected buildings on the site, Mr Parker said.
But Minister for Finance and Service Dominic Perrottet disagreed.
“Selling the site at Glebe Point Road means we can use the $33 million to invest into infrastructure, rather than having it locked away in maintaining buildings.
“The history of this site is important and is being preserved – regardless of ownership, the heritage of the historically important ‘Bidura House’ will be retained. This is legislated as part of the City of Sydney’s local environment plan,” he said.
“Our asset recycling program takes under-utilised assets and diverts funds to where they’re most needed – to things like new roads and rail.”
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