A Light at the End of the Stairs

By Nicola Smith on July 26, 2021 in News

It’s been a while.

Residents across Randwick City are at a loss as to why important pieces of construction and restoration work are being left unfinished in the local area.
One such site requiring restoration is the stairs between Albi Place and Judge Street in Randwick, which have reportedly been closed for nine years.
The stairs were cordoned off after a wall at 18 Judge Street was at risk of collapse. Since then there has been an ongoing dispute between Randwick Council and the property owner regarding who should pay for the remediation.
Randwick resident Stef Flegman has been a part of the campaign to see the works completed and says he feels disappointed by the lack of response from Randwick Council.
“It’s just a complete shock to everyone here that it’s taken this long,” Mr Flegman said.
“It’s a complete failure of local government, to me and to all the residents here.”
Despite a unanimous resolution at a Randwick Council meeting in February to advise a timeline of the works, the stairs remain inaccessible.
A second site that requires upgrading is the children’s play area at Bundock Park, Clovelly Beach, where storms caused significant erosion to the grassed area behind the park earlier this year.
A concerned Clovelly resident, who asked not to be named, told The Beast that the area was in desperate need of repairs but Randwick Council has yet to act.
“The council has been well and truly aware of it,” the resident explained to The Beast.
“They put up barriers the day after the storm came through, but they haven’t done a single thing since then and another storm has come through and made it worse.”
The areas of erosion have been marked with barriers by Randwick Council, but the Clovelly resident says that leaving it this way makes the area even more dangerous.
“We need a repair job on this decimated park. It is highly dangerous with kids riding around on bikes and playing, who very soon will go straight through a barrier. It’s so ludicrous that something as clearly dangerous as this would be left for so long,” the resident said.
The resident also told The Beast that they knew of at least three other local families who had written to Randwick Council but were yet to receive a response.
The Beast reached out to Randwick Council for comment on both issues. A Council spokesperson explained that the dispute over responsibilty for repairing the stairs had caused significant delays and that the work would be completed shortly.
“Council has been liaising with the property owner since 2013 seeking to have them repair their wall. This included liaising with the owner’s legal representative, commissioning structural reports, land surveys, stormwater and masonry investigations and issuing an order on the owner,” the spokesperson said.
“Ultimately the owner accepted responsibility for the wall and works to repair it are now largely complete.”
“Council is now repairing the stairs and upgrading the nearby Judge Street Reserve by clearing the weeds, managing erosion and planting native trees and shrubs.”
As for the playground upgrade works at Clovelly, Council explained that residents wouldn’t have to wait much longer.
“The playground at Bundock Park in Clovelly will receive an upgrade this year. We consulted with the community late last year on designs for the playground and construction will start next month in August,” the spokesperson told The Beast.
“The eroded section of Bundock Park will be repaired as part of the playground works so as to reduce any impact on residents.”
Mr Flegman feels that the incomplete remediation works are well within the council’s responsibility.
“We’re not asking for anything extra or anything special, just for our local area to be maintained and looked after the same as everywhere else,” he said.
“Randwick Council, when they put their mind to it, they do a great job, and that’s just what we’re asking for here.”