OUT OF THE MOUTHS: what the locals love about Balmain

By Alex May

Little old Balmain sure is loved by its locals.

Raine & Horne Balmain’s Matt Hayson says between 80 to 85 per cent of houses are sold to people who already live in the inner western suburb.
“It’s the classic little peninsula suburb with a village atmosphere and once people come, they get involved with the community and the school and they don’t want to leave,” he says.
“Now we’re also getting a lot empty nesters coming from the north shore and the eastern suburbs.”
Heyson says small houses in Balmain start in the mid $500,000s with large waterfronts fetching as much as $5 million.
Balmain has changed since its early days when the waterfront docks were bursting with industry, and the Australian Labor Party was formed in some of the 55 pubs in the suburb.
Local historian Kathleen Hamey says there are now only 22 pubs in the area still operating as hotels.
“I don’t think you’d find another suburb in Sydney with as many interesting pubs as Balmain,” she says.“Although things are changing now that it is so expensive.”
Balmain’s median house price was $814,000 at June 2004, a 1.8 per cent decrease on the six months to December 2003.

Peter and Naomi Simson

One of the Simson family’s favourite pastimes is seeing how long they can go without leaving Balmain.
The family lives in Beattie St, Peter and Naomi work around the corner in Mullens St and Natalia and Oscar go to Balmain Public School.
“Sometimes our car sits for a week or more without ever being driven,” Naomi says.
“We walk everywhere or catch the bus and I have a shopping bag with little wheels on it, which sounds terribly sad but is very useful because I can just go up to the supermarket and buy things as I need them.”
The family have lived in Balmain for 13 years, since moving from Melbourne, and now run their gift business from the suburb.
“This really is the best suburb in Sydney, so why would you leave?” Naomi says.
“The sense of community is amazing and I know I could call on my neighbours at any time to do anything for me.”
The Simsons say the village atmosphere and neighbourly kindness “ramped up” once their children were born.
“It’s escalated since we had children and the longer we are in Balmain, the more people we know,” Naomi says.
“When we walk the 800 metres to school, it’s just stop, talk, stop, talk, stop, talk, and the walk can take a long time,” she says.
Naomi says she buys everything she needs from local businesses, even if she knows it is uneconomical.
“I will use Balmain Office Supplies rather than buy cheaper elsewhere because I want to make sure that local business is supported,” she says.
“When we first moved here, we got to know all the local shopkeepers – Sid the butcher and Sam the baker – but they have gone now. If we don’t support local business, they will leave and that will be a shame,” she says.

Henry Kelly

Local lawyer Henry Kelly made Balmain his home back in 1972 – and he has been proudly propping up the local bars ever since.
“I only had one really good mate in Sydney at the time and he told me Balmain was full of old people and thugs so I said, ‘great, that’s where I’ll live’,” he says.
“Balmain was virtually its own sea port back then - there were workers here and a hell of a lot of pubs.
“The characters are still here in Balmain but the plastic people have moved in and they all wear social strait jackets and we just look out the bar window and pity them.”
Henry bemoans the gentrification of Balmain, which has seen property prices escalate and locals move out.
“Prices have gone crazy and people are confused about life and money - they haven’t worked out that there is a huge difference between being rich and having a good life,” he says.
Henry used to live in a sandstone waterfront in East Balmain -“but I soon drank it away” - and now lives in walking distance to Dick’s Hotel and the local courthouse.
“The good thing about Balmain was the battlers. I used to do every second case for free but then everyone would look after you,” he says.
“Once I needed a fridge and, boom, a brand new fridge arrived – I didn’t have time to ask where the truck was, because it had fallen off the back of it. Balmain people looked after each other.”
“At the rate of the invasion of plastic people and the old people dying off, I give Balmain about another 10 years of being interesting,” he says.
He has considered leaving Balmain – “I am sick to death of the four wheel drives and the people who complain about dog shit and roosters” – but cannot find a better suburb in Sydney.
“It’s a bit like Rome when it was invaded by the Goths and Vandals. You don’t like the Goths and Vandals much, and you will complain about them, but it’s still Rome and it’s better to live there than anywhere else,” he says.
“I would rather live in the ruins of the Colliseum than any of those modern homes or colourless Sydney suburbs.”

Kathleen and Val Hamey

The Hameys were empty nesters before there was even a name for empty nesters.
“Twenty years ago we were looking to retire and we wanted to go somewhere closer to the city where we could see shows and do interesting things,” Kathleen explains.
“We finally agreed that we would retire to Balmain, but we have been so busy since we got here that we haven’t retired yet.”
The Hameys work in the Balmain Association, the local historical society, and run walking tours of the area.
“When I came to Balmain from the St George area, I could just see the history all over the streets so I wanted to be involved and keep busy,” Kathleen says.
“The area just has so many fascinating things about it. There are the old industrial sites on the waterfront, and of course the pubs.
“People love to come here because it is just so different to the outer suburbs – there are little huddles of houses and you look up and are surprised by beautiful city and harbour views.”
Kathleen says the community spirit is alive and well in Balmain, thanks to its peninsula status.
“It’s the type of suburb you have to go to, rather than drive through, and that means everyone who comes to Balmain really wants to experience Balmain rather than stop off on the way to somewhere else,” she says.
The Hameys say the key to the community spirit is the wide variety of people that have called Balmain home.
“Sir Henry Parkes has lived here, Neville Wran and lots of parliamentarians –Dawn Fraser is the one that sticks in everyone’s mind and she’s come back here now and lives with her daughter and grandson,” she says.
“Balmain has always had influential people living side by side with the workers.”