Saturday, March 12, 2011

Hatches Batches and Dispatches VII

It's time for the first issue of Hatches for 2011. The big news in town has been the long awaited commencement of work on Newtown Station, with the roof of the platform removed one weekend in February, and the remaining structure now being surrounded in hoardings and slowly removed. Sadly after waiting so long it's still not until the end of 2012 that we will get the new station.

Another issue that has been generating a lot of concern is the long running Energy Australia works; especially given the quality of streets (Wilson St for example) that apparently are considered finished. While the King Street footpath will be repaired it seems we're stuck with the little black boxes outside all the shops - the price we have to pay to get the overhead wires removed.

Wilson St EnergyAustralia Repairs


New Openings
Pie Tin on Brown St
  • Pie Tin opened in the location of the old Pretty Dog on Brown Street. In a nice touch they also added a plaque giving some history of the building - hopefully this will be a trend that is continued.
 
  • There's a new(ish) Turkish restaurant Matee in the location of the old Bhan Thai restaurant next to Moose. Finally checked it out recently - recommended.
  • The Newtown Hotel has reopened as Freaky Tiki Bar - apparently for a 'while' until renovations get under way. Given the popularity of Freaky Tiki I wouldn't be surprised if some sort of Tiki theme survived the renovations - here's hoping.
  • Funky Cafe re-opened with new owners after being closed for a while.
  • Elizabeth's Bookshops moved down the road into the old Newtown Deli (which moved further down King Street to avoid the mad rents). At the moment there are two Elizabeth's on King St, with some pretty cheap good books on sale while they move.

Development Applications

  • Sydney Uni snuck out a master plan for Abercrombie Street while no-one was looking. 
  • The Townie applied for later trading hours for their smoking areas.
  • A plan for an art-gallery on Brown Street
Reviews
  • Cafe Newtown got a review in the lateral eating blog, and the whole of South King Street got a write up on InnerWest Lifestyle, reminding me I really should finish my post on the same topic I started a year ago - before all the businesses mentioned close !
Random
  • A Newtown local nominated himself for a minor Darwin award after tagging a police car - outside the Newtown Police Station. 
  • Quartly's Mitre Ten is consolidating into the back shop (on the Whately Street carpark) after 95 years pn the same site - and 125 in Newtown. The main store apparently will be replaced by a bloody chemist - just what Newtown needs. There's a photo from the 70s here on the excellent Newtown Project site.
  • In better news, Marrickville council are voting soon to implement a smoking ban in pubic places - that could lead to the incongruous situation of no smoking on just one half of King St
  • Finally, a call to arms in the Inner West Courier to re-unite Newtown in one council - although they neglected the bit about me being reinstated on the Mayoral Throne.
You can see all the links that I have shared on Twitter via my bit.ly public timeline.
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    9 comments:

    1. AnonymousMarch 14, 2011 at 11:02 PM

      End of 2012? TWO YEARS from now???

      ReplyDelete
    2. klxMarch 15, 2011 at 10:37 AM

      another chemist... another sign that newtownianites are over (or arguably under?) medicated.

      ReplyDelete
    3. AnonymousMarch 18, 2011 at 11:31 AM

      you know what though a chemist down the st peters end of newtown would be greatly appreciated as i, personally, am very tired of having to trudge up there or to marrickville metro...there are so many chemists up there why another one?!?!?

      ReplyDelete
    4. AnonymousMarch 23, 2011 at 7:29 AM

      There is a DA with Marrickville Council to redevelop the TA Andrews funeral home on Enmore Road into apartments and shops.

      ReplyDelete
    5. amberbamberApril 19, 2011 at 7:20 PM

      Hi Mayor
      Have you heard anything about what's happened to the lovely Pastizzi Cafe on south end of King St? Closed on Monday morning, with sign saying 'under new management, staff required urgently, opening Weds 20th April..." plus legal notice regarding lessee taking over the premises...
      Very sad - best coffee in Newtown, fantastic vibe and great food.

      ReplyDelete
    6. AnonymousApril 28, 2011 at 11:40 AM

      News from Enmore Road
      Crepe Kingdom on enmore road didn't last long...
      Thai Ingredient back again looking slightly more upmarket
      Belle Property, bouyed no doubt by a $1.2m sale in Edgeware Road, has opened an office in Enmore Road
      After 30 years, Edgeware Family Practice is moving to a practice in Church St Newtown

      ReplyDelete
    7. AnonymousApril 29, 2011 at 2:41 AM

      Hi Mayor, love the blog, thanks for taking the time to keep us all up-to-date with all things Newtown.

      I just wanted to put my 2 cents worth in about the historic plaque which Pie Tin put up recently. I love it and think there should be a suburb-wide implementation at historically significant locations (later maybe city-wide!). I live in Paris atm and know the locals are extremely interested and proud of their history. As such there are hundreds of plaques all over town (i.e. http://www.waymarking.com/gallery/image.aspx?f=1&guid=99c7fba6-0f17-421b-96d1-461751845f02) which give people a link to the past.

      Why not table something like that at the next council meeting? Good idea no?

      ReplyDelete
    8. UnknownMay 1, 2011 at 9:48 PM

      Thanks for all the tips - they've been used for Hatches VIII.

      I do appreciate the plaques - Balmain does it better. If I ever make a council meeting I will raise it :)

      ReplyDelete
    9. AnonymousJuly 7, 2011 at 8:49 PM

      Do you know what happened to Rise cafe/bakery on King Street near the Dendy? And the old fish shop cafe appear suddenly empty??

      ReplyDelete

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