04 Jul 2011 05:36:33
It's a far cry from the usual sort of attack headed off by Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, but the Australian footballer has nonetheless successfully defended against a campaign by authors including Jonathan Franzen and Fay Weldon to stop him renovating the late Australian novelist Christina Stead's childhood home.
Stead died in 1983, having written 15 novels as well as short stories. The house, in Watsons Bay, Sydney, is part of the inspiration for her best known novel The Man Who Loved Children, which Franzen gave a rave review to last year.
Schwarzer now owns the property, and local residents have been campaigning against his extension plans for the building, with Franzen, Weldon and the Australian novelists Michelle de Kretser, Alex Miller and Nikki Gemmell all joining the protest.
"Christina Stead gave the world one of the truly great novels of the 20th century, and although she moved the setting of it to America at the insistence of her American publisher, its heart is clearly in Watsons Bay. Her childhood home therefore seems to me a literary heritage site of the first order," said Franzen.
"I'm devastated to think Christina Stead's beautiful childhood home and garden could be substantially altered beyond recognition. This property should be a treasured part of Australia's literary heritage," added Gemmell, while Miller said that "Australia has few cultural sites of greater national and international significance than Stead's old home in Watsons Bay. We Australians have a duty of care to preserve this home for our future generations. If we value our literary culture, [it] should be declared a national heritage site and preserved for all time."
But despite the protests and a petition organised by local residents, local councillors voted by seven votes to five to approve the extensive building works this week, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
According to the Australian paper, the A$2.9m (£2m) proposal "sought approval to demolish non-original elements of the two-storey house, including the bay window section and garage, to build a pavilion at the front and a glass structure facing the harbour". Schwarzer's architect told the paper the footballer was "very happy" with the result.
