Mayor says significant need for young people in area
North Sydney Mayor Zoë Baker said she was ‘shocked and concerned’ about the lack of consultation over the sale of the 70-year-old North Sydney PCYC, which will be replaced by an ambulance station.
NSW Minister for Health Ryan Park confirmed on 2 November that the Falcon Street facility, one of 68 operated by charity PCYC NSW, would close within 12 months and be replaced by a purpose-built ambulance station.
While there had been rumours for months that the site, which hundreds of children attend every week for sporting and cultural activities, would be closed by the PCYC NSW state executive, there was no consultation until a public meeting on 28 September. By then, the PCYC was already in confidential negotiations with NSW Health. A Health spokesperson said the site was bought at ‘fair market value’.
Mayor Baker said the loss of such an ‘important community facility’ was a blow. “The PCYC has provided a vital role in serving generations of young people with access not only to programs dedicated to physical fitness and wellbeing, but also to mentors and relationships to support mental wellbeing.
“I was particularly shocked and concerned to find that the PCYC not only contemplated but undertook, under the cover of confidentiality, the sale of the site without undertaking any consultation with the PCYC membership, users, council or the community.”
Incoming PCYC NSW chief executive officer Ben Hobby said it was ‘committed to working with our members and venue hirers to explore alternative sport and recreation options over the coming months’.
A defining feature of PCYCs is police youth engagement officers who work with young offenders to reduce repeat crimes, with breakfast and fitness classes offered at North Sydney as a way to engage children in need. Several organisations use the North Sydney club, offering gymnastics, junior boxing and martial arts. Local schools who do not have adequate sporting and gym facilities also use the site.
One of the reasons for closure, expressed by PCYC executives who attended the September meeting, was a greater need for young people elsewhere in NSW. Mayor Baker countered this, saying: “There is significant need for recreation facilities and programs for youth in the North Sydney area. This is particularly so in the context of increasing density and population and the lack of indoor sports facilities as well as playing fields.”
Council is attempting to find ways to keep existing PCYC operators in the area, and is encouraging Ambulance NSW and Health to include a community recreation space as part of any redevelopment of the site.
