The Weekly Times - TWT - 24th July 2019

10 THE WEEKLY TIMES Wednesday 24 July, 2019
Business Chamber supports
New Heart of Ryde concept
BY OUR CIVIC ROUNDSMAN
THE INFLUENTIAL Riverside Business Chamber has given
in principle support to the New Heart of Ryde Civic
Centre development concept.
The Weekly Times was granted exclusive access to Thursday’s
high level meeting between Chamber Chairman Tony Abboud and
City of Ryde Mayor Jerome Laxale in the Mayoral suite where Mr
Abboud confirmed he will submit an endorsement for the concept
this week.
The concept is to create an iconic,
community owned building on the
site of the existing but empty civic
centre site and will include a replacement
of the current concert hall with
a community based performance
space that can also be hired for large
and small civic and private functions,
performances and conferences.
“In my 39 years (in business) this
is the best scheme I have seen,” Mr
Abboud said.
Mr Abboud also said he supports
the “exciting initiative” of The Weekly
Times Managing Editor John F
Booth AM to have the ground floors
of the proposed civic building used
by local MPs and government based
organisations that include Medicare,
Centrelink and Service NSW.
‘Support one stop
shop concept’
“I absolutely support this one
stop shop concept, this has been
designed for this and there is
every reason why they should be
here,” he said.
“And not just government agencies
but community based agencies because
there will be synergy here.”
Mayor Laxale said the Council can
approach real estate agents and
government agencies to offer this
space, if the concept plan if endorsed.
“I would especially love to see our
local MPs come here,” he said.
Mr Abboud would also like to see
the building design be an iconic one
that would be unique to Ryde.
“When I grew up in the 1960s the
current civic centre was the iconic
building and it was known as the top
of the hill in Ryde, which gave us the
name Top Ryde,” he said.
Mr Abboud said he did not support
the ill fated Civic Hub concept for the
site that was promoted by the previous
Council, led by Mayor Colonel
Pickering, because this failed concept
was driven by the needs of privately
owned, on site high rise apartments.
“We did not like it for a whole range
of reasons,” he said.
With the new Heart of Ryde concept
to be 100 per cent community
owned and occupied, it has his tick
of approval.
“As well as being an iconic building,
you want something people will
connect with and a sense of community
ownership is very, very important,”
he said.
“If it is owned by a third party you
have to enter into a commercial
lease and what happens when these
leases expire?”
He said the sense of “connectivity”
needs to link the proposed development
to Top Ryde City Shopping
Centre, where the City of Ryde Library
is located.
“There needs to be connectivity for
people and cars, for adequate parking
and the two existing footbridges
that are being improved will further
integrate both sites.”
On a personal note, Mr Abboud
said he is especially excited with
proposals for the adjoining performance
space.
Riverside Business Chamber Chairman Tony Abboud and City of Ryde Mayor Jerome Laxale are
pictured in the mayoral suite on Thursday where Mr Abboud confirmed he will submit an endorsement
for the New Heart of Ryde concept this week. TWT on-the-spot PHOTO
He said it should be large
enough for conferences and
events such as the TWT sponsored
annual business awards.
“It is silly that some nominees
for these awards cannot attend
the event because there is not
enough space for them at the
current venue in Epping,” he
said.
Mayor Laxale said he hoped the
venue would be large enough to
host a local government conference
and major school functions
such as the Epping Boys High
Night, which currently rents the
Sydney Town Hall.
Mr Abboud was more cautious
when asked if the proposed performance
space should be large
enough to hold Sydney’s major
drawcard events.
“You do have to draw a line
somewhere and you cannot
over build but then you cannot
under build either,” he said.
“You need to take into account
function, space and comfort as
well as the needs of a digital
world and it must also be aesthetically
pleasing.
“Of course, the eco look is part
of today’s mantra with star ratings
(for sustainability and energy
efficiency) and I assume
this new building will meet these
parameters.”
A politically savvy businessman,
Mr Abboud knows that
the proposed New Heart of
Ryde development will not get
through Ryde City Council without
a political debate and he
had these words of encouragement
for the Mayor.
“We wanted this council to
take leadership and this council
is doing that,” he said.
City of Ryde Library staff dressed as comic book characters are pictured with local children dressed as comic
book characters at the City of Ryde Library on Thursday. TWT on-the-spot PHOTO.
Little heroes make friends
at Ryde comic book day
CHILDREN from across the City of Ryde packed out the Ryde Library last Thursday to
meet their favourite cartoon and comic book characters.
Known as the “Comic
Con-Versation” the
comic themed event
saw hundreds of children
dress up as their
favourite comic character
to celebrate the
best of comic culture.
“There were plenty of
activities that kept the
children entertained
throughout the day
including a virtual reality
superhero experience
which proved
extremely popular,”
Library staff said
“City of Ryde Deputy
Mayor Simon Zhou
and Clr Penny Pedersen
judged the winners
of the superhero
and comic character
costume competitions.
“Our Comic Con-
Versation was part
of a large range of
events held as part
of our extremely successful
school holiday
program.”
Never smile at a crocodile ! Yiran Chen of Ryde comes face to face with a cartoon
crocodile at the Comic Con-Versation at the City of Ryde Library on Thursday. TWT
on-the-spot PHOTO