Protect the Mount Omei Arts Precinct
Petitioner:
Ms Rebecca Neill
| Member:
Kaliyanda, Charishma
| No. of Signatories:
102
| Date closed:
02/10/2024
To the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly,
The undersigned petitioners bring to the attention of the House the inaction by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service to implement a heritage assessment and future use report prepared for this Precinct in late 2016, as required by the Leacock Regional Park Plan of Management 2016.
The Mount Omei Arts Precinct includes the Modern Art Gallery which was identified in the 2016 heritage assessment as the first commercial art gallery in western Sydney. The Gallery has been associated with important artists continuously for fifty years, and as a result, is of social heritage value to western Sydney communities.
Not only have NPWS failed to implement works and planning, but they have also spent several years trying to evict Van Klaphake, son of the Gallery's founder, and author of many plant identification guides used by NPWS. Although NPWS, now claims they will protect the site and seek future use proposals following Liverpool City Council's Interim Heritage Order on Mount Omei the petitioners lack confidence that NPWS will fulfil this promise.
Therefore, we the undersigned petitioners ask the Legislative Assembly to call on the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service to undertake conservation works and planning for the Mount Omei Arts Precinct. This should include meaningful consultation with stakeholders, including the Mount Omei Arts Precinct Action Group, the Liverpool Arts Society, Liverpool City Council and the local community to prepare future use and management options for this important place in western Sydney.
