Decision details

Moved by Councillor Scott, seconded by the Chair (the Lord Mayor) –

It is resolved that:

(A)      Council note:

(i)         climate change is already impacting Sydney and it will become more severe;

(ii)        if current global warming continues, the frequency of extreme-heat days in the City of Sydney local area will increase from three days a year in 2015 to 15 days a year in 2070;

(iii)      higher temperatures will increase the likelihood of fires in Sydney;

(iv)      by 2030, there will be approximately 1.7 million people in the City each day, with an additional 56000 housing dwellings by 2036;

(v)       the City currently has hundreds of buildings needing to be assessed for flammable cladding;

(vi)      Redfern Fire Station is situated around suburbs with buildings that have dangerous flammable cladding; Glebe (2), Alexandria (11), Newtown (2), Darlinghurst (8) and Redfern itself (3);

(vii)     Redfern Fire Station responded to 1,300 incidents in 2019, and this will increase with dangerous climate change and increasing City populations;

(viii)    in December 1899, the Sydney Morning Herald celebrated the first Fire Station in Redfern, alongside the newly built Courthouse and Police Station;

(ix)      the old Courthouse was handed over to the Metropolitan Fire Brigades, and a new station was built on the site for one-thousand-six-hundred and eighty-nine pounds, opening in 1900;

(x)       Redfern has had a permanently staffed Fire Station for 120 years;

(xi)      in 2019, Redfern Fire Station celebrated the very first all Indigenous platoon of permanent firefighters at Redfern and their story and connection to the community was featured by SBS News; and

(xii)     despite significant population growth around Green Square, Waterloo, Redfern, Roseberry and beyond the NSW Government is not proposing any additional fire stations or firefighters to service our fast-growing city; and

(B)      the Lord Mayor be requested to write to the NSW Treasurer, the Honourable Dominic Perrottet and Minister for Emergency Services, the Honourable David Elliott to:

 (i)     ensure that future planning of NSW fire stations and services align with population growth;

(ii)      encourage Fire and Rescue NSW to work with the City of Sydney in determining suitable locations of future fire stations in the local government area;

(iii)     seek a commitment for State funding to ensure all NSW Fire Stations in the City of Sydney, such as the Redfern Fire Station, remain open and permanently staffed;

(iv)    seek a commitment for Redfern Fire Station to be restored to improve heritage, form and function for City communities; and

(v)       encourage the diversification of the culture of NSW Fire Services to be more inclusive and reflective of the changing Australian population, particularly with respect to the recruitment and promotion processes.

The motion, as varied by consent, was carried unanimously.

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