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119 ADDISON RD 'FERNDALE'
DA/2020/0729 - DEMOLITION APPLICATION 
Ferndale sits glumly awaiting its fate. The fourth DA in 6 years has recently been submitted in an attempt to obliterate it from Marrickville's streetscape. In the residents battle against the various developers, some claims have been made that endow Ferndale with a provenance so tantalising and so extraordinary that their veracity needed to be put to the test. Along the way, the early provenance of the land that Ferndale stands on became more than extraordinary. The hands that held it were an A-Z of colonial royalty. For everyone who lives on the strip between Stanmore and Addison Roads, this one is for you.
2 WOODCOURT ST 'MAPOGA'
DA201900187 - DEMOLITION APPLICATION 
This unassuming 19th century cottage was the home of Marrickville's first political giant. Edward Davis Millen threw himself into Australian life in a very public manner from the day he stepped off the boat from England. His personal life story is one of bravery and determination. His public life story is intertwined with Australia's political and social history as it weaves through the birth of Australia's political party system, Federation and the Great War.
27 PREMIER STREET
DA201900204 - DEMOLITION APPLICATION APPROVED 
Built in 1885 this tired but formerly grand villa is now facing demolition. Read the story of the families who lived here and how prolonged neglect destroys our streetscapes by stealth. This old beauty has links to Queen Victoria and was the home of a former Mayor of St Peters but has been used as a rental for nearly 100 years and now faces the wrecking ball.
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387 - 389 ILLAWARRA RD
DA201900287 - DEMOLITION APPLICATION 
A church, a home, a retail strip. This section of Illawarra Road represents a way of life that has almost disappeared from Marrickville. A time when people and businesses co-existed in harmony, New York style. But time marches on and now the Church and house are facing the bulldozer in order to make way for a shiny modern boarding house. But do new boarding houses meet a social need? Do they provide low-cost housing solutions? This is not so much a story but an investigation into who is really living behind the walls of the latest development fad. Drawing on current research from the University of NSW and statistics from the ABS, Dept of Planning and Dept of Fair Trading, the answer to those two questions might surprise you. And just a warning - this article is not for the faint hearted. It contains some very heavy data but at the end you will be able to make a better informed decision about whether destroying Marrickville's heritage buildings to make way for this new way of living will create a better Marrickville, or whether the creeping sanitisation of our suburb is destroying its social value irreversibly.
209 LIVINGSTONE ROAD
DA201700180 - DEMOLITION APPROVED AND IMMINENT 
Popularly known as the SES building, this building had quite a history before it became home to our emergency heroes. It is the site of a battle between Cyril Cooper and the Marrickville Council over the use of land as a dairy. After nearly ten years Cyril lost the fight and we are about to lose the last significant remnant of Marrickville's prolific dairy industry.
29 WOODLAND ST 'GERALDINE'
DA201900302 - DEMOLITION APPLICATION 
'Geraldine' is the first recorded house that Jack Blamire built. While searching for the story of this house I found an incredible family. Their struggle to maintain their family unit was mirrored by the destruction of a way of life for Marrickville's brickmaking families. Not only did this family face their own internal battles, but they watched a country fall apart around them. A laneway near Marrickville Station and a few houses are all that stand to honor their legacy. I hope, I really hope I have done justice to their story.
They have humbled me. |