Graythwaite | save our heritage

The battle for Graythwaite has entered a new phase and we desperately need your help like never before.

Despite enormous community support and a fantastic scheme to save Graythwaite involving the RSL, the Commonwealth Government, North Sydney Council and St Vincents and the Mater Hospital, the NSW Supreme Court has ordered that Graythwaite be sold. We very strongly disagree with the Court's decision which ignored the spirit and intent of Sir Thomas Dibbs's gift of Graythwaite and focussed solely on a narrow interpretation of just one sentence in the Deed of Gift.

If allowed to stand, this would be an absolute tragedy and Graythwaite and its irreplaceable values would be lost for all time.

We are determined to do everything in our power to firstly try to overturn the Court's decision and secondly, if it is allowed to stand, to vigorously encourage the Commonwealth to stand by its $25 million election pledge to save Graythwaite.

You can help...

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We now need as much political pressure on the Commonwealth as possible to honour its election promise to save Graythwaite, together with supporting pressure on the NSW Premier to acknowledge the greater public interest in this issue and to constructively deal with the Commonwealth.

Please write or email to the Commonwealth ministers below expressing your absolute dismay that a vital part of our ANZAC history and the largest area of parkland near the North Sydney CBD could be lost for all time and asking the Commonwealth to honour their election pledge to spend $25 million to save it. A draft letter to this effect can be found here.

The relevant Ministers are:

Kevin Rudd, Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600 Or go to his website to leave a mail message click here then click on 'continue' at the bottom of the page to go to the mail page	Peter Garrett Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600 email Peter Garrett
Alan Griffin Minister for Veterans Affairs Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600 email Alan Griffin	Senator John Faulkner Special Minister of State Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600 or email Senator Faulkner

Please also to write to the New South Wales Premier, Nathan Rees, again expressing your dismay at the State Government's plans to sell this priceless public asset and asking him to sell it to the Commonwealth. A draft letter can be found here
His contact details are: Nathan Rees Premier GPO Box 5341 Sydney NSW 2001 email The Premier

The Graythwaite Estate is one of the hidden gems of Sydney. Located at 50 Union St North Sydney [map] the Estate consists of a magnificent three storey Victorian sandstone mansion set in six acres of landscaped gardens. It has expansive views across Sydney Harbour to the Royal National Park and the Blue Mountains.

With its sweeping lawns, towering figs and rainforest glades, it is almost impossible to believe that such a magical place is just an easy five minute walk from the heart of the North Sydney CBD. In fact, in terms of its size and proximity to the CBD, the only comparable property in Sydney is Government House.

No one would think of building medium density housing or allowing commercial development in the grounds of Government House, but that is precisely what NSW Health envisages for Graythwaite [map].

Not only is Graythwaite the only remaining large area of parkland close to the North Sydney CBD, but the Estate is also a unique and priceless part of our heritage. Dating from the 1830s, it was entrusted to the State in 1915 by Sir Thomas Dibbs. His extraordinary gift was made in the immediate aftermath of the terrible news of Gallipoli reaching our shores. He wanted his home to be used as a convalescent home for the wounded Anzacs. Graythwaite is a living link to Gallipoli and all that it means to our national identity.

To read some of the sad stories about the ANZACs who lived and died in Graythwaite and how it was used as an ANZAC Hostel for the most incapacitated of those who came back from the Great War read this piece by well known historian, Associate Professor Melanie Oppenheimer.

In 1994 NSW Health initiated a process to sell-off Graythwaite for development. Concerted public opposition and the looming state election saw these plans temporarily shelved. With the property no longer suitable for use as a nursing home, in 2001 NSW Health again started steps to sell Graythwaite.

In March 2006 the Northern Sydney and Central Coast Area Health Service commenced action in the Supreme Court to enable it to sell Graythwaite for development. The first part of this court case was decided in August 2008. The Court found that the current use of Graythwaite, as a nursing home for patients with no prospect of recovery, was not consistent with the use for which Sir Thomas Dibbs gave the Graythwaite, namely convalescence. This was despite Graythwaite having been used since 1919 as a nursing home for persons with no prospect of recovery. As a consequence, the Court determined that the Graythwaite Trust had failed in its present form. ailed in its present form.

The Court then commenced a second round of proceedings to determine the best use for Graythwaite as close as possible to the purpose for which it was given. Two such schemes were proposed to the Court.

One, by NSW Health, proposed the sale of Graythwaite, the proceeds to be used for a rehabilitation facility at Ryde Hospital to replace an existing facility at Greenwich. This proposal would create not a single additional rehabilitation bed and ignores all of Graythwaite's values. It is simply a grab for cash.

TThe other proposal, by the Australian Government and the RSL, proposed that the full purpose and spirit of the Graythwaite Trust be fulfilled by the grant by the Commonwealth of $15 million to the RSL for use for the provision of care services to veterans, that the grounds of Graythwaite be leased for a peppercorn rental to North Sydney Council for use as a regional park for the North Sydney CBD, that the Commonwealth provide $5 million for the restoration of the Graythwaite mansion and that St Vincents and the Mater Hospitals construct a new rehabilitation facility adjacent to the Graythwaite mansion and the adaptive reuse the mansion as part of this facility. This proposal was supported by the RSL the Commonwealth, North Sydney Council, St Vincents and the Mater Hospitals and the Friends of Graythwaite.

On 20 November 2008 the Court found in favour of the scheme proposed by NSW Health solely on the basis that it would help more 'distressed' citizens than the proposed Mater facility. This was despite the fact that the Mater's beds would be in addition to all existing beds, whereas the State scheme merely replaced existing beds without a single new bed being created to treat 'distressed' citizens. It also totally ignored the spirit of the deed wit hits obvious concern for the welfare of veterans.

Apart from appealing the judgement what we need to do now is to get the Commonwealth to honour its $25 million election pledge to save Graythwaite and to encourage the NSW Government constructively engage with the Commonwealth to create a win-win outcome for all involved.