REDWatch

29/08/2026

Lessening Climate Change impacts in Social Housing will be the focus of the REDWatch Public Meeting Thursday 3rd September 6pm at The Factory Community Centre 67 Raglan Street Waterloo or online at http://tinyurl.com/RedwatchMeetingZoom

As fires blaze across Europe we are reminded that summer heat can create major problems. This is especially so for renters who have little control over the properties they occupy. It is especially a problem for people in social housing where a history of underspending by the landlord has left tenants especially vulnerable. The coming summer looks like it will be hot, so it is a good time to think about how we handle heat now and into the future.

The redevelopment of Waterloo South has been promoted as an opportunity to improve housing stock so it was surprising for tenants and agencies to discover recently that Homes NSW had not contracted Stockland to include reverse cycle airconditioning in the new build.

This REDWatch meeting will explore how to go about lessening climate change impacts in both existing and new social housing with the help of people who have researched this issue.

24/07/2026

Come along and meet and hear directly from the Community Housing Providers (CHPs) that will manage new social housing in Waterloo South. The three CHPs (Link-Wentworth, Birribee Housing and City West Housing) are already managing social housing tenancies for some of the public housing tenants relocated from Stage 1 in Waterloo South.

In this REDWatch meeting the CHPs have been asked to explain what is Community Housing? How does it differ from public housing? Who are the CHPs and what experience do they bring? REDWatch has supplied some questions raised by tenants and there will the opportunity to ask your own questions.

This meeting will focus on CHPs and social housing we will do a seperate session on affordable housing at a later date.

So join us to hear directly from the CHPs on Thursday August 2026
between 6:00 – 7:30 pm at Counterpoint’s Factory Community Centre 67 Raglan Street Waterloo or on Zoom at http://tinyurl.com/RedwatchMeetingZoom

02/07/2026

There will be no REDWatch meeting on 2 July 2026. There is lots to discuss but REDWatch was unable to lock either the Consortium CHPs in to talk about their experience in running social and affordable housing or Council to talk about its proposal to open up George Street Waterloo to McEvoy Street. Both said they needed more time, so hopefully by August we will have one of these. We did not see any point in just having a meeting without a speaker and focus.

More details about both these issues were covered in our latest email update which you can subscribe to by emailing your email address to [email protected]

19/06/2026

REDWatch Spokesperson, Geoff Turnbull, recently did an interview for Koori Radio about the Waterloo South redevelopment. In this interview he covers some of the basics around the redevelopment, relocations, allocations and human service supports.

You can hear a podcast from that interview at

Producer: Kirstyn Lindsay The Waterloo South Concept Plan and Rezoning housing redevelopment is now moving forward with the first stages...

05/06/2026

The City of Sydney is consulting on where new housing should go in its area. This presentation by Council staff looks at its "Housing for All" discussion paper with a focus on what that might mean for Redfern, Eveleigh, Darlington and Waterloo (the suburbs covered by REDWatch).

This recording gives residents a good idea of where and how Council might proceed to deliver more housing in the Local Government Area. Council is at the early consultation stage of this process so feedback will likely alter some aspects of how Council might proceed. There will be more opportunities to input before Council considers changing the planning controls in about 5 years’ time.

Having an early opportunities to see what is being considered helps communities have a greater say in what happens in their neighbourhoods. You can see the REDWatch meeting video presentation and response to questions at https://youtu.be/MQKlYaMzFk4

REDWatch thanks Council Strategic Planner Christine Heather for the presentation and Ben Pechey, Executive Manager Strategic Planning & Urban Design for his responding to the questions. REDWatch apologises that the introductions and Acknowledgement of Country were not recorded due to a technical error.

The City of Sydney is consulting on where new housing should go in ...

28/05/2026

For the 4th June REDWatch meeting we will focus on Councils Housing for All consultation with a presentation by Council. The City of Sydney is seeking feedback on its Housing for All discussion paper. That paper sets out where further growth should go in our Council area including in Redfern near prince Alfred Park and Waterloo near Green Square. It also seeks to encourage “more life (and living) on our high streets”, “gentle density on laneways”, “park-side living for more people to enjoy” and housing built on government owned land. It also encourages the NSW government to accelerate development on its own land and recognises the need for a diverse range of market and non-market housing.

A Council planner will explain Council’s paper and discuss what it might mean more specifically in our area of Redfern, Eveleigh, Darlington and Waterloo (REDW). You can see the discussion paper and make comments at https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/policy-planning-changes/have-your-say-on-future-homes-in-our-area

This is a public meeting and everyone is welcome. You can join the meeting in person on 4 June from 6:00 pm at Counterpoint’s Factory Community Centre, 67 Raglan Street, Waterloo or join us on line by Zoom http://tinyurl.com/RedwatchMeetingZoom.

27/05/2026

A few weeks ago, Geoff Turnbull, REDWatch Spokesperson, was interviewed by Belinda Barnett for her UrbanTalk Podcast on Community Voice and Advocacy in the Redfern Waterloo area. That podcast is now live on a number of podcast platforms including on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAy5sKpSQoI

In this podcast, that lasts about an hour and a quarter, Geoff responds to questions about the NSW planning system and community engagement from the perspective of REDWatch’s 20+ year involvement trying to ensure outcomes for community around planning decisions past and present in our area.

Being grilled about what REDWatch does and why is a bit of a change from Geoff’s usual role of asking these questions of others in community meetings. It does however give an overview of the why and how REDWatch does some of the things it has done and of some of our struggles with government and developers as well as some of our achievements.

REDWatch is one of the most well established community organisations in Sydney and has spent the last 20 years maintaining a website, sending email notificat...

18/05/2026

Sweltering Cities are holding a Redfern Renters Submission Workshop at Redfern Community Centre at 12:30pm on the 19th of May. The NSW Government is considering whether there should be Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards for rental homes in our state. The government is currently seeking feedback about what it should do. You can RSVP at https://volunteer.swelteringcities.org/redfern_renters_workshop and find out more about the issues at
https://swelteringcities.org/heat-safe-homes-nsw/

Find out everything you need to know about the campaign in NSW to win heat safe rentals for everyone.

18/05/2026

If you want to know about what is coming in Waterloo South there is an Online Information Session on Monday 18 May, 5pm to 6.30pm Visit www.waterloorenewal.com.au to register or email Waterloo Partnership at [email protected]

This info session will be also made available on www.waterloorenewal.com.au An earlier information session for REDWatch can be seen on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqLmw_IjSWg

10/05/2026

This is a video of the REDWatch meeting of 7 May 2026 where a representative from Stockland explained the Waterloo South Concept Plan and Rezoning which is on public exhibition until 2 June. You can also find links to the exhibition documents and other material on the REDWatch website at http://www.redwatch.org.au/RWA/Waterloo/stage1/260506redw

This is the link to the video https://youtu.be/LqLmw_IjSWg

On May 6 2026 the Concept Plan and rezoning for the Waterloo South redevelopment went on exhibition for 28 days. This REDWatch meeting, held om May 7, provid...