Reg Murphy Centre
March 8th, 2008A proposed sell-off of an Eastern Suburbs community centre by the City of Sydney Council has prompted Greens Councillor, Chris Harris, to throw his support behind a community campaign to save the much loved facility.
“The Reg Murphy Community Centre in Elizabeth Bay should be upgraded and enhanced for the local community, not used to line a developer’s pocket,” Councillor Harris said today.
“I totally support the local community in their efforts to maintain the centre for the people of Elizabeth Bay, Potts Point and Kings Cross,”
“This centre, which has provided 40 years of continuous community use, and caters for all age groups from children to the aged, has suddenly been declared surplus to community needs. Currently bookings for the centre can be described as medium to heavy so I fail to see how it can be considered to be surplus to needs.” he said.
The Lord Mayor says Council was responding to the wishes of residents who attended a meeting late last year. She said the majority of the people attending the meeting supported programs at the Reg Murphy Centre to be relocated over time. However a meeting on Saturday (23 February) attended by around 100 members of the City East Precinct Committee, Potts Point and Kings Cross Heritage Conservation Society and 2011 Residents Association, condemned any proposal to sell the centre and called for the Council to upgrade and maintain it for current and future needs.
“If the Reg Murphy site does have unused development potential that is compatible with surrounding buildings to the South and West, it would be better to use this in a way that benefits the community rather than simply delivering development profits. I would prefer that the City of Sydney looks at using that potential to create affordable housing apartments above the community centre.”
“We know that the state government is failing to provide affordable housing for people who work in the service industries in the city and people on low to moderate incomes. This is a way that the city could make an innovative and positive contribution to affordable housing.” said Cr Harris
Below is a link to a Cross Arts Project YouTube site taken at the public meeting at the Rex Centre on February 23rd.
