Plans for a business start-up hub to operate out of one of the country’s last intact convict-buildings are pushing ahead, despite advice and consultation from opposing descendants.
The startup hub will be the second of its kind in the state and is set to activate the North Parramatta Heritage Core, comprising the Female Factory and other significant historical treasures.
Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said the Western Sydney Startup Hub project would cement investment, technology and innovation as the centerpiece of the State Government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy.
“This new startup hub will be an exciting step in activating the historic Parramatta North Heritage Core and is set to provide 1,500 square metres of affordable co-working space and programs to support western Sydney startups, scaleups and businesses,” he said.
“It will form part of the revitalised Parramatta North Heritage Core and will honour our past while preparing us for the future, by providing the space to create the jobs of tomorrow.
“It will draw on the successes of the Sydney Startup Hub in the Sydney CBD, which has already housed almost 500 companies, generated more than $280 million in investment and created more than 1,000 jobs.”
But after extensive calls for the space to be transformed into a museum that celebrates the rich history of the precinct, members of the Parramatta Female Factory Friends group say a hub that has no correlation to the site’s history is not the right fit.
President Gay Hendriksen said whilst they think a business hub is a good idea, there’s plenty of “more appropriate” vacant office space around western Sydney.
“We are all for for job creation and a business hub, it’s a fabulous idea, just not for the Female Factory,” she said.
“The only things that should be in the footprint are ones that are connected to the Female Factory history.
“To me this is government driven and not listening to the community.”
The Western Sydney Startup Hub is expected to open in late 2021 following a sensitive restoration of the circa 1876 Hospital Spinal Range Building and circa 1892 Kitchen Block.
Expressions of interest to operate and manage the Western Sydney Startup Hub will be open to respondents until December 18.
Troy Dodds is Parra News' Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia’s leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.