Village News

Readers vote The Vic as Annandale’s best pub

Thank you to everyone who participated in last weeks poll! It’s hard to pin down what makes a pub special, but The Vic seems to have found the right balance. It has its own little community, while still feeling welcoming to everyone who walks in. From the entrance, which can feel like a friendly gauntlet of long-time regulars, to the posters on the wall advertising locals’ shouts for drinks/food on public holidays. And if you ask around, one detail comes up again and again, the curries crafted by the master & moustached Chef Charles.

Community poll results, 103 votes

New suburb announced just across the water from Annandale

Plans have been unveiled to redevelop the Glebe Island and White Bay port area into a new harbourfront suburb known as Bays West, with up to 8,500 homes proposed directly above and around the future Bays Metro station on the Sydney Metro West line. The site sits beside the Anzac Bridge across Rozelle Bay from Annandale and would create Sydney’s first new inner-city suburb in decades. Find out more: the NSW announcement, ABC coverage with artist impressions, and the AFR report for some political commentary. For local perspective see Ben’s wrap below.

Sydney Heritage Fleet will hopefully remain as a neighbour

The NSW Government says the Sydney Heritage Fleet will relocate to White Bay as part of the Bays West redevelopment (NSW). Earlier reporting suggested the fleet faced uncertainty about where it could operate if it had to leave its current shipyard in Rozelle Bay. The volunteer-run organisation restores and preserves historic working vessels. Current projects include SS John Oxley (a former pilot boat built in 1927) and Ferry Kanangra (Iconic Sydney ferry built 1912). Both ships are sometimes open for public tours (SHF).

The NSW Government has confirmed it will reopen the Glebe Island Bridge. For locals riding or walking from Annandale into Pyrmont or the city, the bridge will create a much more direct route. The announcement follows sustained campaigning from the community, local council and state representatives.

Milton Kent and Annandale’s aerial past

Aerial photography of Annandale’s Beale Piano Factory facing north east (Milton Kent, 1920s, NSW State Library)

After suggestions from readers Teo and Ian, I took a look at the iconic aerial photos of Annandale by Milton Kent and a bit of a dive into a few local landmarks captured in the early 1920s. Did you know that Annandale was once home to the largest piano factory in the southern hemisphere? Or that a local church’s courtyard was once a tennis court? Find out more in the full article here.

Events

Council Watch

There are no new development applications reported this week.

Real Estate

BEN’S WRAP sponsored by Ben Southwell , Cobden Hayson

This week felt like a shift. A number of campaigns were postponed or quietly pulled, yet homes that met buyer expectations saw strong competition, with some pushing 10–20% above guide. What’s changing is depth, with more campaigns now starting and finishing with one - two serious buyers rather than a handful, across 2038, 2040 & 2037, the local clearance rate sat at 61.1% for the week. Premium homes are still moving, but buyers are more considered in their approach.

Looking ahead, there’s genuine excitement around the Glebe Island transformation - it’s the kind of long-term infrastructure that reinforces why this pocket continues to hold its appeal.

JUST SOLD

Address Price Beds Baths Garages
1–3/131 Johnston Street $2.2 m 6 3 —
126 View Street $2.1 m 2 1 —
197 Young Street $1.8 m 2 1 1
12/76A Alfred Street $610 k 1 1 —

Letters to the Troll

❝

Hi Mark,

Love reading the troll. I miss Maurice, he always cheered me up on my drive to work, especially around Christmas when he would decorate the traffic lights in a festive fashion!

Maybe you could look in to who is leaving the lizard stencils around whites creek park. I posted on the Facebook group about it a while ago, and whilst many loved the lizards and wanted to know where they had come from it led to a dead end.

There was a new one on the aquaduct in recent days. I don’t know whether I have missed any, but I am up to four in whites creek alone! 

Emily

A lizard stencil on Johnston’s Creek Sewer Aqueduct, courtesy of Emily

Poll of the Week

Sincerely,

Mark (resident of Annandale)

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