Wolli Creek Regional Park

Some important background information

The Wolli Valley contains extensive bushland, much of it of high conservation value. It is associated with one of the few remaining creeks in inner Sydney with banks that have not been extensively engineered or channeled. In combination, they represent a heritage of natural values unique in a wide region from the fringes of the Parramatta River to those of the Georges and from the coast to as far west as Prospect. They form a brilliant complement to the parklands and sporting fields of the nearby Cooks River Valley. How have they survived?

The Wolli Valley was saved from most building development in the colony's early days by its rugged terrain and by being off main lines of Sydney's expansion.

From 1949, it was preserved (but neglected) because of a major road reservation under the County of Cumberland Plan – eventually known as the M5E corridor.

The 1978 road proposal was for an eight-lane freeway as a surface road from Redfern to Liverpool via the Wolli Valley. Community objections championed by the Wolli Creek Preservation Society led Premier Wran to appoint the Kirby Inquiry to examine the proposal.

In 1980, the Inquiry recommended against the road on economic, social and environmental grounds, and in favour of the retention of Wolli Valley as open space. The Government did not adopt the recommendations but took no action to proceed until 1987, when the Unsworth Government revived the proposal.

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In 1988, the Greiner Government, following campaign promises to do so, announced that the road reservation had been lifted. Nonetheless, it released an EIS for a surface road through the valley. When this EIS was rapidly discredited, the government retreated from the proposal. Further efforts by the RTA to promote the idea were countered by community support for the New Southern Railway (since built).

In 1994, under a Carr Government, the RTA brought out a new M5E EIS, featuring a long tunnel under the valley. Revised in late 1996 to link the M5W with the Eastern Distributor, this essentially was what was finally built, but with the substitution of the now notorious 'superstack' in the bottom of the Wolli Valley, at Turrella, for the originally proposed three ridge stacks. At the time, these stacks were seen to threaten the ALP's hold on the seat of Rockdale.

In 1998, with the tunnel plan adopted, and as a campaign commitment, the Carr Government announced the prospective establishment of a Wolli Creek Regional Park, overtaking an earlier private member's bill by Clover Moore, promoted by the Wolli Creek Preservation Society. However, the government's proposal did not include the creek itself, nor its southern bank outside the East Hills rail tracks.

With the building of the M5E tunnel (opened in 2002) and the lifting of the Wolli Valley road reservation, the development of this limited park of 60 ha seemed imminent. But approval of a Plan of Management for the park, issued in draft form in 2000, was long delayed. In its absence, public agencies holding parcels of land within the proposed boundaries of the park, withheld transfers to the Parks and Wildlife Division of the new Department of Environment and Conservation. In the interim, despite Parks and Wildlife, Council, and community efforts, too little could be done to consolidate ownership, integrate management and move forward with the restoration of the unique natural heritage represented by the valley.

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By 2003, the Division held just 8.9 ha. Many feared that until the lands were transferred, the form of urban consolidation favoured by the Carr Government would see parts of the remaining Wolli open space given over to high-rise development like that around Wolli Creek station. As well, with major expansions mooted for both Sydney Airport and Port Botany, there would again be pressure to expand road capacity at the expense of the Wolli Valley, with the prospect of a second tunnel and more unfiltered stacks, or even, finally, a surface road destroying the valley.

But it was not until March 2004, at a public meeting organised by the Wolli Creek Preservation Society, that Ministerial approval of a final Plan of Management was announced. With some reservations, public landholders within the proposed boundaries indicated that they were ready to move on these transfers. A commitment to recruit extra staff to speed up land transfers was not met by the Department of Environment and Conservation until the close of 2004.

Outstanding issues raised at the meeting included:

• access across Sydney Water land near the historic sewer crossing (the SWOOS)
• the future status of the former site office land for the M5E tunnel at Bexley North
• the funding to ensure that Parks and Wildlife will be able to manage its new holdings
• the future of local development controls over land close to the park, in light of weakened environmental controls proposed by the State Government.

Attention in late 2004 turned to include the future of the creek itself. The Society asked questions of the many agencies implicated in its management and presented responses at a public meeting in November.

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Major matters arising from the process included:

• fragmented responsibilities mean that there is no coherent overall management of the creek
• the Henderson St weir is a barrier to fish passage upstream for spawning – but nobody knows who ‘owns’ it! - options includes a fish ladder, removal or breaching of the weir
• the proposed RTA cycleway immediately on the banks of the creek is sharply at odds with the creek concerns of both DIPNR and Fisheries
• there are opportunities for cooperation between RailCorp and Parks and Wildlife for the management of the southern creek bank for natural values complementary to the park
• there are few data on the stream health of Wolli Creek
• little attention has been paid to the nature of the discharge to the creek from the M5E stack
• street rubbish in the stream and bank vegetation remains a major eyesore.