Moved
by Councillor Scully, seconded by the Chair (the Lord Mayor) –
It
is resolved that:
(A)
Council note:
(i)
pubs are significant community and cultural assets and are highly valued
by our community members as village social centres;
(ii)
hospitality venues including pubs have suffered under the lock out laws
and the lockdown in response to Covid-19. The city’s economic output fell
approximately 15.8 per cent and jobs in our local area fell by about 12.4 per
cent in Q2 2020;
(iii)
Action Area 3 of the City of Sydney’s Covid Recovery Plan is to
“strengthen community cohesion to build the resilience of local communities” in
the wake of loss of social connection through isolation, distancing closure of
community facilities, cancellation of events, and community forums;
(iv) the
historic 127 year old Green Park Hotel in Darlinghurst, a well-known and loved
institution for the LGBTQI community in particular, has recently been sold by
Solotel to neighbouring St Vincent's Hospital to make way for a mental health
facility. St Vincent’s Hospital are an important stakeholder in the
Darlinghurst area, and they have been a long term supporter of the LGBTQI
community;
(v)
the community was not given the opportunity to
have input into the pub’s future and there is now an active campaign to save
the pub;
(vi) recently,
the City resolved that it would protect the site of the Empire Hotel (excluding
buildings and other structures) based on the social and historic significance
associated with its former use as Les Girls. Although this site has been
altered and it’s use subsequently discontinued, the significance of the role of
this site in the community has been recognised in the Darlinghurst Road
Development Control Plan. These planning controls were embedded so that the
historical use be interpreted, through a new food and drink premises or
entertainment premises on the ground floor, as well as in architectural forms
that echo the historically significant site. Therefore, any redevelopment would
need to reflect the historical and social significance of the Les Girls site to
ensure that the social significance of the site and its place in the community
is preserved. This could be interpreted as setting an important precedent for
the protection of the social use of certain premises that might have a unique
significance;
(vii)
the United Kingdom’s Localism Act 2011 states that councils are required
to maintain a list of ‘community assets’ nominated by community groups or
parish councils, with the community groups given the opportunity and time
to bid for the community asset if it is to be sold. This has led to community
groups forming entities that have successfully nominated pubs, meeting rooms,
community halls, parks, sporting fields and the leading London LGTBIQ nightclub
Heaven being listed as assets of community value. This is an approach which
supports grassroots organising and community control of important assets, such
as pubs, empowering communities to nominate, own and manage community assets
directly. Buildings or land are considered to be of community value if:
(a)
an actual current use of the building or other land that is not an
ancillary use furthers the social wellbeing or social interests of the local
community; and
(b)
it is realistic to think that there can continue to be non-ancillary use
of the building or other land which will further (whether or not in the same
way) the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community; and
(viii)
the historic 127-year-old Green Park Hotel in Darlinghurst, a known
institution for the LGBTQI community, has recently been sold by Solotel to
neighbouring St Vincent's Hospital to make way for a mental health facility.
The community was not given the chance to have input into the pub’s future and
there is now an active campaign to save the pub; and
(B)
the Chief Executive Officer be requested to:
(i)
report on the heritage status of pubs in our Local Government Area via
the CEO Update, so Councillors and the community can have more information for
further discussions;
(ii)
investigate the impact of adopting the UK model of community assets to
identify and protect the use of significant community assets, and to report
back via CEO Update on the feasibility of adopting this approach in Sydney; and
(iii)
investigate tools which might be applied to the protection of
significant community assets, including their use, taking the Green Park Hotel
into consideration for the protection of use.
Carried unanimously.
S129264