CATH NEWS REPORT:t Local councillors, the chamber of commerce and a vocal arts community have voiced widespread opposition to the Church's plan to buy the old King's School site in Sydney's western suburb of Parramatta, said a report in the Parramatta Advertiser.
''The old King's School site is an icon in Parramatta, a treasure that has to be preserved,'' Mr Oldfield told the meeting. ''The site should always be accessible to the public and should stand as a reminder of growth, opportunity and vision for not only Parramatta but for NSW.''Chamber of Commerce president Trevor Oldfield told a Save the Old Kings Site meetingorganised by the arts community last week, that the notion of the site ''in the hands of a private organisation is absurd".
Both the arts community and Parramatta Council share a vision for the site to be an arts precinct, with galleries, artists' and performing arts studios, community arts organisations, indigenous cultural centre, retail art space and cafes.
At the the meeting members of the arts community argued that creating a public space for artists was as therapeutic as any formalised counselling service.
''The arts contributes to the wellbeing of the community,'' one of the group's leaders, musician Peter Fenton, said at the meeting.
The report said that the Lord Mayor John Chedid's positive view of church ownership of the site would not have widespread support on council.
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