NSW:Unions NSW called on to act responsibly over Currawong

AAP General News (Australia)
02-15-2006
NSW:Unions NSW called on to act responsibly over Currawong

By Samantha Baden, Industrial Reporter

SYDNEY, Feb 15 AAP - Unions NSW must ensure the sale of an historic Sydney workers'
holiday camp does not threaten its heritage value or its availability to union members,
a protest group says.

Accessible only by water, the Currawong camp is a 23-hectare bushland and beachfront
property on the edge of the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park at the northern end of Pittwater,
near Palm Beach.

Unions NSW, the owner, last August called for expressions of interest in Currawong,
which comprises nine fibro cabins, one homestead and a conference centre.

The waterfront property was bought in 1949 to commemorate the creation of the 40 hour
week and to provide a low-cost holiday destination for union members.

However, Unions NSW says it needs to sell the property, valued at more than $11 million,
to fund the fight against the federal government's industrial relations changes.

Friends of Currawong (FoC), the protest group that fought the attempted sale of the
site seven years ago, is now calling on Unions NSW to ensure whoever buys the property
protects its heritage and environmental value.

FoC co-convenor Shane Withington said he was worried the land would be sold to a developer
and workers would be excluded from the site.

FoC wants the NSW Heritage Office to approve an application by Pittwater Council, lodged
in 1999, to include the property on the state's heritage list, which would protect it
from development.

"There's no doubt that this is a priceless piece of Australian culture that deserves
to be preserved and protected in every way and if the heritage office can't see that then
heads should role," Mr Withington says.

"I'm pretty sure your average rank and file unionist would much rather have Currawong
than flog off this priceless asset and then throw it into the coffers of some advertising
agency."

The FoC said it accepted the property was now on the market, but wanted to see it sold
responsibly.

"What we have said to (Unions NSW) is we are asking (it) to be pro-active, and to actually
meet with (Pittwater) Council and to work out a publicly responsible solution to the management
and disposal of this property," FoC co-convenor Jo Holder says.

Ms Holder said the ideal situation would be for the NSW National Parks and Wildlife
Service or Pittwater Council to manage the property as a low-cost destination that would
recognise its heritage and cultural value.

"All we want to see is ... its significance to the union movement and working people
is preserved," she said

A Unions NSW spokesman said a number of expressions of interest over Currawong were
being assessed.

Comment was being sought from the NSW Heritage Office and Pittwater Council.

AAP smb/was/evt/bwl

KEYWORD: CURRAWONG

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