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About the Glebe Society
Action Groups |
Brelco Building, 48-64 Wentworth Park Road
This Art Deco industrial building next to Glenmore Meats was an engineering works built in the 1920s by the Sutton family. Like many commercial and industrial buildings in Glebe its significance was not noticed by the first researchers, who concentrated mainly on domestic and civic architecture.
Quite fortuitously John Sutton, son of the founder, is a friend of my sister Patricia, and when I contacted him over another matter he produced a mass of material related to the engineering works, mainly photographs, which were copied under a scheme then operated by Leichhardt Council. I believe these were transferred to the City along with other items of local history.
As a result I was then able to ask for this building to be listed as a Heritage Item. The design of its roof, in particular, is believed to be the first of its kind in Australia. The company made the first mechanical petrol bowsers. (These were later superseded by American-designed electrically operated ones, with which we are now familiar.)
Until recently the Brelco building was owned by the Department of Housing. In 2000 Leichhardt Council approved a residential conversion with 31 dwellings and 34 car spaces. In May this year the current developer applied to demolish and reconstruct the west and north walls. The Society has written asking for as much as possible to be retained, and for the original forms to be respected.
Nag's Head Hotel, 162 St Johns Road
This is the latest Glebe pub to apply for an extension to its premises, in this case to expand its gaming room (poker machines) into the pizzeria next door. The proposal has attracted a lot of objections from nearby residents, and as on previous occasions The Society is supporting them.
Tramsheds, Harold Park
The Society has paid Ted McKeown considerable sums to undertake research on this important site, now proposed for residential development. Ted has done the research, partly into titles and partly into financial transactions and changes in legislation, with characteristic thoroughness and attention to detail. The Society has passed his research on to the City, and no doubt the City's lawyers will find it very valuable if and when the proposal goes to Court.
Coal Unloader, Bridge Road
There is some discussion about what to call this industrial structure, but I will stick to the one we are familiar with for the time being. It was the site where coal was unloaded to supply the Pyrmont Powerhouse (now the Powerhouse Museum) that generated electricity for inner city trams.
Members of the Bays and Foreshores subcommittee met with representatives of the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority on Thursday, 12 May. The Planner, Shayne Watson, described a proposal for Stage 1 Development Application that reinstated the gantry removed without consent some years ago, and proposed a largely transparent structure within the wooden framework and projecting one storey above.
As a result The Society has written to SHFA asking for the structure to be made a Heritage Item, for it to be correctly restored, for the visual link between Wentworth Park and the foreshore to be retained, and for a substantial waterfront walk to be created.
Bicentennial Park
Today, as I was writing in the Park (a very attractive spot in the cooler months) I noticed a firm called McDermotts drilling and collecting soil samples, presumably for analysis. As if this were not entertainment enough, I was treated to the spectacle of a tree-climbing dog (it looked like a Labrador).
- Neil Macindoe
Queries? email: planning@glebesociety.org.au |
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