The so-called Parramatta North heritage arts precinct will incorporate a housing development of 6,000 apartments and restored heritage buildings that are among the most important in Australia.
The 146 ha site bound by the Parramatta River and O’Connell St contains Cumberland Hospital, dating back to 1847, the Female Factory, built in 1821, the controversial Parramatta Girls Home, which closed in the 1970s and the Norma Parker Detention Centre for Women.
It also includes Pirtek Stadium, the old Kings School and the old jail.
It has yet to be decided what “adaptive reuse” will mean for the heritage buildings, but coffee shops, galleries and museums are all possibilities.
There also will be space for the performing arts somewhere on the site.
The project received a push recently when Premier Mike Baird announced it as a state significant site, which means it is being prioritised.
After intense community consultation, which is continuing, the government is set to submit a rezoning application to Parramatta Council so housing development can progress. Even so, completion of the project could take 10 years.
It has been a pet project of Parramatta State MP Geoff Lee since he was elected in 2011.
Mr Lee pressed for a master plan for the site, before UrbanGrowth NSW took over the project with the aim of making it happen faster through the commercial component of housing on the periphery of the site.
It is envisaged that the precinct will boost heritage tourism in Parramatta as well as providing much-needed housing.
“This is a great opportunity to build on Parramatta’s attraction for heritage tourism but we have to be realistic - there is no way the government has the money to restore the site for tourism,” Mr Lee said.
As a site of female incarceration since the convict era, the heritage site is sensitive and has some fierce protectors such as Bonney Djuric, who had been a Parramatta Girls Home inmate as a teenager.
While wanting the heritage buildings restored and open to the public, Ms Djuric is a supporter of the state government plan, if the housing component is not too intrusive.
“At least something is happening, although there is a long way to go,” Ms Djuric said.
“People are saying it will be like the Rocks in Sydney but I would prefer it was like Port Arthur in Tasmania, which has been making a lot of money for tourism.”
Vocal heritage protector June Bullivant has welcomed community consultation and broadly supports the plan, but also is worried about the density of the housing.
“We don’t want to see large residential buildings overshadowing this sensitive site,” Ms Bullivant said. “But we have to be realistic and realise that it will not happen without a commercial component.”
