Local MPs and Parramatta Heritage Centre members are furious that work has begun to turn one of Australia’s most important buildings into an IT centre.
The Parramatta Female Factory, now part of Cumberland Hospital, is the oldest surviving female convict structure in Australia.
To Parramatta Heritage Centre curator Gay Hendriksen it is an irreplaceable piece of women’s history.
Parramatta Federal MP Julie Owens called it ‘‘incredibly important’’ and said to not preserve it would devalue women’s contribution to Australia.
But when The Sun visited the site last Monday work had already begun on the third-class sleeping quarters building despite assurances that the renovations had not yet been approved.
The Sydney West Area Health Service which runs the site said they had already displayed mandatory notices warning of the construction.
But Ms Owens said she was almost certain no notices had been placed up.
Curiously, late Tuesday afternoon a spokesman from the Department of Planning’s Heritage Branch said the work that had begun on third-class sleeping quarters building was not in breach of the Heritage Act.
Ms Owens said she had been unable to get clear answers from the department and called for work to cease.
‘‘I am a member of parliament and I can’t find out what is actually happening.
‘‘I was told this morning (Wednesday) that Parramatta state MP Tanya Gadiel had been briefed [about the renovation] but I rang her and she said she had not.
‘‘I don’t know whether they [the SWAHS and Department of Planning] tried to do it quietly or whether they had not been competent . . . [but] if a tour group hadn’t been going through the site a couple of weeks ago and seen the work being done we wouldn’t even know about this.’’
Ms Hendriksen said the proposed installation of three commercially sized airconditioners, as well as cabling and ‘‘a cage and false ceiling installed for the data room which is anchored to walls’’ would destroy parts of the building forever.
Bonny Duric, who founded the Parramatta Female Factory Precinct Association; Parragirls, said the site held a personal importance to her and other women whose own history was tied to the site.
She was one of thousands of girls who spent their childhood at the precinct.
‘‘If this building application is successful it will be a high security site and access will be impossible because of the confidential nature of its use.’’
Ms Gadiel did not return The Sun’s calls by deadline.
THE STATS:
1 in 5: It is estimated that one in five women convicts went through the Parramatta Female Factory.
2432: A petition to save the third-class sleeping quarters and Turnkeys apartment building has obtained 2432 signatures
$1.5million: The Sydney West Area Health Service is proposing to spend $1.5 million on the renovations
200,000: About 200,000 women from the forgotten and stolen generations passed through the Female Factory
Questions have been asked about why the precinct, regarded by many as the most important women’s historical site in Australia, has not been nominated forWorld Heritage listing.
This site was critical to the development of Australia and forging the Australian character. These women went on to help make the nation as pioneer mothers, business women, farmers, teachers and so much more.
— Gay Hendriksen
The choice of sites nominated for World Heritage listing is not the responsibility of SWAHS. Only the Australian Government can nominate Australian places for entry on this list.
— SWAHS spokeswoman
This site has not received the kind of attention that I think it would have if it it was in The Rocks or the city. State governments make recommendations to the federal government for listings.We have not received any.
— Parramatta MP Julie Owens
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