In February 2011 the National Trust of Australia (NSW) registered the Fitzroy Gardens, Kings Cross, on its heritage list. The El Alamein Fountain, which stands in the Fitzroy Gardens, was part of that listing by the National Trust.
The Council of the City of Sydney was requested to submit the whole Fitzroy Gardens area to the Heritage Council for listing by them.
Instead they submitted and promoted only a small excised portion for listing by the Heritage Council, the El Alamein Fountain itself. The rest of the Fitzroy Gardens -- a gem of Australian landscape design by Australia's first professional landscape architect, Ilmar Berzins -- was not submitted.
At the time of nomination, the Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, was promoting a design "vision" that obliterated the Gardens.
Council, as first-call body responsible for heritage, should undertake its heritage duties with more rigour.
We call on the Sydney City Council to urgently heritage list the entire Fitzroy Gardens as requested by the Australian Garden History Society, National Trust of Australia and the Royal Australian Institute of Architects.
