Harbour Mill in the news and school plans over ...

You may recall from earlier posts that the City of Sydney Council Depot under Harbour Mill was planned to became a new school. The NSW Government's Department of Education wanted to buy the land from the Council. This seemed like a good outcome for HM owners, because a school is better than most alternatives (other than a park, but who'll pay for that?).

This article from the SMH linked here says negotiations are now over:

"A department spokeswoman said it remained committed to building a new school in the area, but the city's position "did not reflect the value-for-money NSW taxpayers deserve".

"Despite detailed, ongoing discussions and several solid financial offers from the Department, City of Sydney refused to act reasonably in considering the educational needs of ratepayers' children in those areas," a department spokeswoman said.

"This attitude contrasts markedly with that of other local councils the Department has dealt with recently over the same issue; they have made every effort to provide land needed for schools."

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said education was a state responsibility and she was "very concerned" the government walked away from a deal that the council had expected to finalise on Tuesday.

"For many months, the City negotiated in good faith over the sale of the land so that the community would be provided with a new school," she said.

"The Minister for Education must now explain to the local community what plans he has to provide a new school in the area given the Fig and Wattle St site has been abandoned by the NSW government."

Ultimo Public School Parents and Citizens' Association spokesman Bill d'Anthes said both the council and the government had let down the community.

"I think both sides are being unreasonable," said Mr d'Anthes, who added that the second priority site on Harris Street had been sold since the negotiations began a year ago.

Mr d'Anthes said the community was concerned that the department could revert to the 2012 proposal to redevelop the existing school to create high-rise classrooms alongside apartments and shops."

In other news, the Herald on Saturday featured an article called "Flour Power" showing many flour mill developments around Sydney. International expert on mills, Nigel Grizzard, said, "Mills are often key buildings on the landscape, they represent the hard work of the past." The developer of HM, Ceerose, is quoted as saying, "It's a really distinctive design and people love the idea of helping to preserve history."

Here's the little extract from the article specifically on an apartment available in HM for $850,000. Interesting that they are spending almost a million dollars on public domain works, probably the connection to the light rail.