NEWS SHEET

MARCH 1986

149P O B O X 5 7 B A I M A I N 2 0 4 1 the balmain association FOUNDED 1965

Jl ROUND BcmVlAIJWA Second Record of an Historic Suburb w ▼

And Some Of Its Buildings

Photographs byDouglass Baglin and Gordon Clarke

Compiled by Debby Nicholls

Published by The Balmain AssociationBalmain 1986

Produced by the Balmain Association to provide the "book about Balmain" which so many people ask for at the Watch House andat bookstores. GEORGE NEGUS has kindly accepted an invitation from the Association to help us launch "AROUND BALMAIN" on:-

14 MARCH 1986, 6 P.M. AT THE WATCH HOUSE, 179 DARLING STREET, BALMAIN.ALL WELCOME - LIGHT REFRESHMENTS - BUY A COPY AND HELP THE CONSERVATION OF THE WATCH HOUSE.

The 56-page book contains over 100 pictures, both past and present, of houses, churches, schools and other publ ic bui ld ingsi n t h e a r e a t o g e t h e r w i t h b r i e f d e s c r i p t i o n s . T h e b o o k i s a v a i l a b l e a t $ 9 . 9 5 f r o m t h e B a l m a i n A s s o c i a t i o n , P. O . B o x 5 7 ,B a l m a i n 2 0 4 1 .

NEXT MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION WILL BE ON WEDNESDAY 2ND APRIL 19867.30 P.M. AT THE WATCH HOUSE, 179 DARLING STREET, BALMAIN

EDITORIAL

The Conimunity Liaison procedure by the Department of Housing(Housing Commission) has now reached the end of its firststage. Opinions of various residents and organisations arebeing collated into a de facto "Environmental Impact Study"by a firm of consultants. In the near future this statementwi l l be made avai lable and the latest p lans for the Mort BayDevelopment wi l l be on publ ic d isp lay.

I t i s i n te res t ing , to say the leas t , t ha t the Dep t . o fHousing has employed this process before commencing work atMort' Bay. On one hand Community Liaison can be seen as avalid attempt to gain feedback so that the final resultswill be acceptable to as many residents as possible. On theo the r hand some res iden ts have seen the p rocedure as anelaborate hoax to al low the Department to claim the development is going ahead with the blessing of the community.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Community Liaisone x e r c i s e i s t h a t i t i s t h e b u r e a u c r a t s , n o t t h e p o l i t i c i a n swho have gone to the community. One recent weekend membersof the ALP tried to disrupt a public meeting (of the MBAG),at another public meeting (of the East Balmain ResidentsAction Group) our elected representative declared that thesystem al lowed him to be " l i t t le more than a glor ifiedc l e r k " .

Take advantage of the Community Liaision procedure. Event h o u g h t h e b u r e a u c r a t s a r e d e t e r m i n e d t o r e - s t r u c t u r eBalmain, perhaps they are the only people who are willing,o r a b l e , t o l i s t e n t o r e s i d e n t s .

N o r m a n B u l l

P R E S I D E N T

The following submission by Mr. Peter Melser of the firm MSJKeys Young shou ld have been pub l i shed in ou r l as tn e w s l e t t e r .

STATEMENT FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING

C o m m u n i t y L i a i s o n b e g a n w i t h a s e r i e s o f i n t e r v i e w s w i t hcommunity leaders and residents interested in the Mort BayDevelopment. These initial meetings led to a number ofconclusions which guided the design of the Community Liaisonprocess. Many of the major concerns of residents have beeniden t i fied , l i s t ed and fo rmu la ted as i ssues f o r exam ina t i on .

I n f u t u r e , w h i l e f u r t h e r i s s u e s w i l l c o n t i n u e t o b e i d e n t ifi e d , t h e e m p h a s i s i n t h e l i a i s i o n p r o c e s s w i l l m o v e t od iscuss ing the bas is and ways o f address ing these res identconcerns through design and other aspects of the developmentproposal. This process will therefore become a joint resident and Department of Housing assessment of the social andother effects of the Mort Bay Development.

PETER MELSER

THE OPEN UNIVERSITY CONCEPT

A SUMMARY

The concept of the Open University may be described asthe using of radio, te levis ion, fi lm and audio & videoc a s s e t t e s t o m a k e Te r t i a r y E d u c a t i o n a v a i l a b l e t o a m u c hlarger number of people.

Is there a need for an Open Universi ty in Austral ia?

In January the Sydney Morning Herald reported that30,000 young people in N.S.W. alone, who were very capableof undertaking Tertiary studies would not get a place because there just weren't enough places available. Apartfrom these young people there are many others who would liketo study part time to improve their qualifications. In theUnited Kingdom, where the Open University has functioned form o r e t h a n 1 5 y e a r s , 6 0 , 0 0 0 s t u d e n t s a r e u n d e r t a k i n g p a r tt i m e Te r t i a r y s t u d y. A b o u t o n e t h i r d o f t h e s e s t u d e n t s a r eteachers whose own c lassroom teaching benefits great ly f romthe upda ted , i n te res t i ng and a t t rac t i ve l y p resen ted ma te r i a l

which they receive. So the benefits of the Open Universityspread widely and help in the constant battle to hold thea d o l e s c e n t a t t e n t i o n i n c o m p e t i t i o n w i t h t h e t h r i l l s , b a n g sa n d v i o l e n c e o f c o m m e r c i a l t e l e v i s i o n .

It has been suggested that the Headquarters of the OpenUnivers i ty in Aus t ra l ia cou ld be loca ted a t Mor t BayBalmain. What would th is mean for Balmain? The Open University runs as an enormous mail order operation, thus theHeadquarters is a campus without students. Academics andtelevision technicians co-operate to produce the materialtransmitted by television, radio and mail. Many academics,fi lm and te lev is ion peop le a l ready l i ve in Ba lmain . I fanyone would like to have more details on how the OpenUniversi ty is dai ly coming closer to being a real i ty inAustralia they are welcome to contact me on 810-2727 between8 pm & 9 pm on Wednesdays.

Having the Headquarters of the Open University inB a l m a i n w o u l d a l s o b e a w a y o f h e l p i n g t o a l l e v i a t e t h esocial difficulties of unemployment, youth boredom and druga d d i c t i o n w h i c h a f fl i c t o u r S o c i e t y t o d a y . T h i s w a y o fhelping can be achieved without overstraining the limitedphysical resources of our small peninsula. In the early1970s town planners were proud of the statistic that one-third of the people who lived in Balmain worked in Balmain.Boat building and small engineering works have declined inthe past ten years but Film, Television and Education arethe Industries of the Future. Perhaps one day one-third ofthe people who live in Balmain will again work in Balmain.

ROBIN JONES

BALMAIN THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME?

W h o c a n b e s u r e o f t h a t ? T h i s p i e c e h o w e v e r d e a l s w i t hevents a l ready p lanned or under considerat ion.

First some background. Balmain was in decline before 1918.Water Board records show that out o f 7 ,394 ra teable b locksthere were 6,995 houses and 397 vacant blocks.

Wi th the adven t o f the Harbour Br idge and the garden c i t yc o n c e p t - c l o s e l y i d e n t i f i e d w i t h t h e f £ u n i l y c a r, m i g r a t i o nas in other major world cities, was to the north shore ori t s equ i va len t g reen pe r ime te r.

The value of property in Balmain dropped to not much moret h a n t h e v a l u e o f t h e l a n d i t s t o o d o n ! C o n v e r s e l y t o t h eoutwards spread of population industry developed as morec o s t e f f e c t i v e , i n t h e c e n t r a l a r e a a n d t o o k a d v a n t a g e o fcheap land, i .e . D ickson Pr imer.

Leafing through David Liddle's "Balmain Book" and the otherexcel lent book by Tony Stephens and Annet te O'Nei l l"Larrikin Days", an image will emerge of a hard working,hard fight ing, egal i tar ian and mari t ime community. TheSecond World War and proximity to Cockatoo Dock brought theprospect that one stick of Japanese bombs could straddleBalmain, so this accelerated the exodus.

Many houses stood empty until the influx of migrants aftert h e w a r .

My house for example was occupied by the Navy as offices forthe ship repair yard 'Poole & Steele' but at War's end stoodempty. Now the reverse trend of settlers mainly from then o r t h s h o r e , a l s o s e e s a c h a n g e i n t h e i n d u s t r i a l s c e n e ,triggered mainly by containerisation. This requires mainroad access, pushing many medium size factories out toSilverwater, now more central to the Sydney conurbation andnetwork of f reeways.

Container isat ion is forever embossed on Balmain and spel ledthe end of most ship repair waterfront industries, releasingforeshore land and shr ink ing the workforce. CockatooIsland, Goat Island and Sydney Harbour Ferries together withWhite Bay and Glebe Island terminals employ much of theremain ing workforce.

R e n ta l a cco mmo d a t i o n a va i l a b l e sh ru n k t o o n e p e r ce n t i n

2

Sydney as a whole and less in this area, besides a dramatici n c r e a s e i n n u m b e r s o n w a i t i n g l i s t s f o r p u b l i c h o u s i n gcurrently by eight thousand to forty four thousand threehundred and two. There are est imated to be fif teen thousandyoung persons homeless in Sydney even with 98 youth accomm o d a t i o n c e n t r e s o v e r c r o w d e d a c c o r d i n g t o Yo u t h a n dCommunity Services.

T h e r e i s n o w a n d p r o p e r l y s o , a g r o w i n g c o n c e r n o n t h ew a t e r f r o n t a b o u t t h e i n r o a d s m a d e a g a i n s t w h a r f a g e , t h i s h a ssu r f aced i n t he he l i po r t i s sue .

Taken together with this is the policy of Leichhardt Counciland o ther inner c i t y counc i l s to encourage l i gh t i ndus t ry tos tay on . Much o f Le i chhard t i s zoned fo r l i gh t i ndus t r y.

No government o f any comp lex ion w i l l change th i s . I t constitutes good town planning practice and reduces daily mobi l i t y o f t h e w o r k f o r c e . P r o p e r a n d e n f o r c e d e n v i r o n m e n tc o n t r o l s m a k e t h i s d e s i r a b l e , s i n c e a c i t y p o r t h a s m a n yo t h e r f u n c t i o n s t h a n m e r e d o r m i t o r y s u b u r b s !

The c i ty-west l ink road wi l l improve egression f rom Balmain,a t t h e s a m e t i m e a c c e s s t o R o z e l l e B a y w i l l i m p r o v e b yreduced traffic through the Crescent. For this reason thebicentennial park should be developed as planned.

A regional park needs good access from a substantiallyp o p u l a t e d a r e a .

The proposal to re-site M.S.B. workshops on part of what wasgenuinely once a park is evident ly to release Goat Is land asa n h i s t o r i c s i t e i n t i m e f o r t h e b i c e n t e n a r y .

I n p r a c t i c e a b o u t a s m a n y S y d n e y s i d e r s w i l l v i s i t G o a tIs land as now v is i t For t Den ison un less i t ' s a regu la r fe r ryc a l l . E v e n s o i t s e e m s e r r a t i c t o e s t a b l i s h m a r i t i m e w o r ks h o p s a t R o z e l l e B a y, w h e n t h e N a v y a r e t o m o v e o u t o fGarden Island with much the best workshops and a dry dockbu i l t i n the 19AOs regarded as the la rges t in the sou thernhemisphere!

C lose r to home the re a re a s t r i ng o f i ndus t r i a l s i t es wh ichone way o r ano ther w i l l be re -deve loped. As these con fo rmto what were planned approaches to a proposed second harbourbridge they need to be watched.

Hav ing ta l ked to someone a t Transfie ld P ty a t the t ime to fthe b r idge scare , I do no t th ink a fu tu re government l i ke lyt o r e v i v e t h a t s c h e m e !

from Macquarie Street, however something of that sort couldemerge when Darling Harbour is complete.

My own project, Rozelle Festival Arena well supported in theprofession, was also well received by the BicentennialAuthor i ty and we gave an accred i ted cost ing for s tage one,o f two po in t five m i l l i on . Howeve r t he B i cen tenn ia l Au tho rity is bound by a statute that the land must be owned by thel o c a l a u t h o r i t y. L e i c h h a r d t t o w n p l a n n e r s o b j e c t e d o n t h eg r o u n d s t h a t i t w o u l d a f f e c t n a t u r a l l a n d f o r m s o n t h eforeshore - in fac t the s i te is a recent ly manufac tured landf o r m !

There was a lso object ion on grounds of t ra ffic - the adjo ining Le i chha rd t Ova l sees c rowds o f f ou r teen thousand and

Bearing in mind that the eleven hundred seat theatre wouldcater mainly for the Aboriginal and Islanders Dance Theatre(who received standing ovations on their overseas tour and arave press), together with the Australian Theatre for YoungPeople - neither of which has a regular home stage.

B e s i d e s t h i s R . F. A . w o u l d p r o v i d e a fi n e v e n u e f o r D e p t .'Eds, ' Drama in Educat ion Programme - these chi ldren wouldb e b u s e d i n - p a r k i n g o b j e c t i o n s a r e a n o t h i n g !

Overseas visi tors would remember Sydney for a fine performance of Aboriginal and Is landers Dance Theatre in Iron Covel o n g e r t h a n a n h o u r i n t h e e l e v e n m i l l i o n d o l l a r s S p a c eThea t re - a g lo r i fied p lane ta r i um, o r t r ans i t on t he equa l l ycosmet ic 'D izzy Land ' monora i l !

B u t t h e P r e m i e r ' s D e p a r t m e n t a n d o u r o u t s t a n d i n g l y g o o dgovernment archi tects, have the scheme on file.

T h i s t h e n i s t h e b a c k g r o u n d o f c h a n g e a s I s e e i t . M o r epublic housing in Bal^in will not much affect the politicalc l ima te bu t i t w i l l save ou r h i gh schoo l and hosp i t a l - wewi l l never have an Olympic pool or s ix spor ts ovals but theDawn Frazer Pool and the two sports fields at Balmain HighSchool are available and even Concord has no golf course yetBalmain produced Jan Stephenson!

A n d a l s o f o r t h e f u t u r e l e t ' s r e p l a c e c o n f r o n t a t i o n w i t hc o m m u n i c a t i o n .

D E N N I S G R A F T O N

So White Bay Power Station next to the coal loader which wasextended as a stop gap measure and the Lever & Kitchen sitec o u l d o r w i l l b e v a c a t e d . I h a v e r e a l d o u b t s a b o u t t h e c o a l

l o a d e r, M . S . B . r e g a r d i t a s a p r o fi t a b l e o p e r a t i o n , b u t t h epower stat ion as I have often repeatd is a pr ime si te for ano x y g e n p r o d u c i n g g r e e n a c t i v e r e c r e a t i o n a r e a a n d n e e d e d i nR o z e l l e Va l l e y.

T h e L e v e r & K i t c h e n s i t e w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n o f i t s o f fi c e sw h i c h w i l l r e m a i n a n d t h e N a t i o n a l Tr u s t c l a s s i fi e d ' C o p r aS h e d ' , s h o u l d i n p a r t b e r e t a i n e d f o r l i g h t i n d u s t r y, t h ecompany wi l l make over i ts northern car parks as an extens ion of Whi te Bay Park (a t least in par t ) .

T h e s i t e a l w a y s o f c o n c e r n , A m p o l i s a l s o t o b e v a c a t e dt h o u g h K u r n e l l i s r a p i d l y b e c o m i n g a m a j o r t i m e b o m b .These noxious plants are blooming there in greater numbers.

Ampo l I am to ld , p lan to deve lop tha t s i t e on the l i nes o fthe Grafton Street development which D.A. only won approvali n t h e H i g h C o u r t . T h a t s i t e s h o u l d b e l a n d s c a p e d a s ag r e e n b u f f e r z o n e . T h i s w i l l c o m p l e t e t h e d i v i s i o n o f t h ei n d u s t r i a l e s t a t e f r o m r e s i d e n t i a l l a n d .

Removal of Ampol sets in train removal of Sydney College oft h e A r t s w h o h a v e b e e n a s k e d t o c o n s i d e r B a l m a i n H i g hS c h o o l .

Much as I like SCAZA, (was a student last year) we must vieww i t h a l a r m p r o s p e c t i v e c l o s u r e o f o u r n e w f o r e s h o r e h i g hschoo l . In 1983-4 I p roposed tha t SCAZA toge ther w i th theN . S W . C o n s e r v a t o r i u m o f M u s i c s h o u l d m o v e t o t h e o l dc o l o n i a l b u i l d i n g i n C a l l a n P a r k . T h e C o n . g o t a fl a t n o

WHAT DOES THE ASSOCIATION DO?

A f r e q u e n t l y a s k e d q u e s t i o n w h i c h c a n b e a n s w e r e d a sf o l l o w s : -

i t m a i n t a i n s t h e h i s t o r i c B a l m a i n W a t c h H o u s e ;o p e n s t h e W a t c h H o u s e t o t h e p u b l i c o n S a t u r d a y sbetween 1.00 p.m. and 3 p.m.;h a s a so c i a l e ve n i n g e ve ry F r i d a y n i g h t a t 8 p .m . a tt h e Wa t c h H o u s e ;makes the Watch House avai lable for meet ings of otherl o c a l o r g a n i s a t i o n s .p rov ides gu ided tou rs o f Ba lma in to i n te res ted g roupsa n d H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t i e s o n r e q u e s t ,p u b l i s h e s b o o k s a n d l e a fl e t s o f h i s t o r i c a l i n t e r e s t ,he lps other groups communicate wi th the communi ty bypubl ish ing up to a 1 ,000 cop ies o f th is newsle t ter,c o n d u c t s h i s t o r i c a l r e s e a r c h a n d a s s i s t s w i t h e n q u i r i e si n t o f am i l y h i s t o r i es e t c . whe re poss ib l e ,mee ts on the fi rs t Wednesday n igh t o f each mon th a t7.30 p.m.

TEAPOT STUDIOS - 354 DARLING STREET

O u r t h a n k s t o Te r r y L a n g h a m a t Te a p o t S t u d i o s f o r s i g n -w r i t i n g w h i c h w i l l b e i n u s e a t t h e Wa t c h H o u s e . Te a p o tS tud ios supp l y c rea t i ve s i gnwr i t i ng , banne rs , e t ched g l ass ,s ta ined g lass and a lso laminat ing.

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149

B A L M A I N G A R D E N C L U B

S W E E T P E A S

Origin; The sweet pea species was first discovered inSicily in 1697 by a monk. He sent some seeds to a friend inEngland in 1700. These produced a puny plant with smalldark-red flowers, but with a marked vanilla-type perfume.Some effor ts a t deve lopment y ie lded l i t t le improvement overa long time. The poet Keats is said to be the first personto call them "sweet peas". In 1870 an English gardener sawtheir potential and devoted much time to developing them.In 1908, the first flower with wavy petals appeared and thent h e r a c e w a s o n . U n f o r t u n a t e l y s o m e v a r i e t i e s l o s t t h e i rperfume in the craze for size and colours. This has happened to other flowers, notably roses and carnat ions.

M i d - M a r c h i s t h e t i m e t o c o n s i d e r p l a n t i n g s w e e t p e a s .Indeed, the old saying was "Get the sweet peas in by St.Patrick's Day" for winter and early spring flowering. Theyare a joy to behold either in full bloom in the garden, orin a vase in the house for their colour and perfume.

Situation: preferably full sun and good drainage, as theydo not l ike wet feet, though they need adequate water.

Preoarat ion: d ig up ground thoroughly and incorporate p lenty of manure, plus complete general fertiliser, or compostif available. After digging, sprinkle l ime or dolomite (2to I* ozs. to the square yard) over, and leave for a day ortwo, then rake it in. Attach some wire netting to somestakes and put in ground before planting so as to not dist u r b t h e s e e d s .

Sowing: soak the dark coloured seeds in water for a fewhours as they have a tough skin - some poeple nick the hardcovering with a razor blade. These dark seeds will producethe strong colours of maroon, purple and deep reds. Thelight-coloured seeds do not need soaking as have softerskin, and produce the lighter colours of pink, yellow, blueand white. Sow the seeds 3 to 6 inches apart and 1 inchdeep. At the ends of the row sow some 3 inches apart to usefor replacements if all do not germinate. Can be transplanted while really small, but do not actually like it.When the plants are small push in some twigs or small sticksfor the tendrils to attach themselves to accelerate theirgrowth and they will quickly pull thejnselves up to theirpermanent supports on the netting.

It is just as easy to grow the best, so buy a good brand ofseed - "Multi-flowered Mixed" is a good one. A good brandshould give 6 to 9 blooms on each stem. As they grow, cutaway any tendrils inclining to twist around flowers orstems. Actually some experts believe in removing many ofthe tendrils as giving more nourishment to flowers. Notm u c h s k i l l i s n e e d e d t o g r o w s w e e t p e a s b u t t o i m p r o v equality if exhibition blooms are required, give liquid fertiliser, disbud to get big flowers and limit each plant to 3r u n n e r s .

All legume plants, including sweet peas are considered toimprove soil by increasing the nitrogen content.

JESSICA MURRAY

THE BALMAIN GARDEN CLUB meets the 3rd Saturday in each month(except December and January) at 1.15 at the Watch House,179 Darling Street, Balmain. Good gardening library availab le for members. A l l in terested welcome.

FRIDAY NIGHT AT THE WATCH HOUSEThe Watch House is open to members and local residents onFriday evening from 8 p.m. for a B.Y.O. social evening. Thisis an ideal opportunity to meet other Balmain residents,d i s c u s s l o c a l i s s u e s , t h e w e a t h e r o r w h a t e v e r t a k e s y o u rfancy - freedom of speech a specialty - without fear ofi n c a r c e r a t i o n i n t h e L o c k - u p !

THE GLADSTONE PARK BANDSTANDBALMAIN

When and why was this Bandstand dismantled?Does anyone know?

Please phone Peter ReynoldsLe i chha rd t H i s to r i ca l Jou rna l

8 1 0 8 5 6 0 6 9 7 A 8 5 0 6 9 / 4 8 4 8

ihe balmain associationmeaning DALMAIN BIRCIIGROVE ROZELLEO U R A I M S A R E T O :

* improve the living working and recreationala m e n i t y o f o u r a r e a

• m a i n t a i n a l l f e a t u r e s h a v i n g n a t u r a l a r c h it e c t u r a l a n d / o r h i s t o r i c a l v a l u e

* compile and record the history of the area/keep a permanent collection of items of histori c a l i n t e r e s t

• seek the co-operation of everyone concernedi n t h e r e a l i z a t i o n o f t h e a b o v e

HEHBERSHIP FORM (OPEN/REHEH) PO BOX 57 BAUIAlNlOil

W M :

ADDRESS;

l E L E P H U N E : ( H O M E )ANflUAL SUU5CR1PT10H (Including News Sheet delivery inBalmain Bircligrove Rozelle)

(WORK)

Singleramily or HouseholdPctisioncr or StudentOrganization

J 4 . 0 0$ 6.00$ 1.00$12.00

Add $3.0U to above rates to have News Sheet posted,Cheques made payable to "The Balmain T^ssociation