Bank Street Park
The redevelopment of Blackwattle Bay offers an exciting opportunity to build an inclusive and iconic waterfront destination that celebrates innovation, diversity and community.
As part of this redevelopment, The NSW Government is prioritising delivery of community benefits early in the renewal including a new 1.1-hectare waterside park at Bank Street, Pyrmont.
A new waterfront park
Surrounding the southern pylons of the Anzac Bridge, the new Bank Street Park provides a rare chance to create a new waterfront park that will celebrate First Nations culture, its iconic harbourside location and maritime history.
Consultation with the community and stakeholders will continue as the design for the park is developed.
Park features
There are many infrastructure needs that will be delivered in Bank Street Park. These have been identified in the Pyrmont Peninsula Place Strategy and Blackwattle Bay State Significant Precinct Study.
The new park will include the following features:
Outdoor multipurpose court
Inclusive play space
Outdoor fitness station
Water access for recreational water craft
Storage for dragon boats and kayaks
Public amenities
Marina operations space and kiosk
A new harbour foreshore walkway that connects to Rozelle Bay to the west and Woolloomooloo to the east
Continuing consultation
Since late 2014, consultation has been underway for the revitalisation of Blackwattle Bay Precinct, including new open space in the precinct. This feedback along with community consultation in August and September 2022 has formed the basis of a design brief for Bank Street Park. We have heard your views on the opportunities, challenges, and priorities for a new park in the precinct.
The park design will continue to be developed in consultation with the community to ensure that the preferred design reflects the needs and desires of future park users.
The process for designing and delivering Bank Street Park is shown below.
Project timeline
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Phase 1 Consultation: Visioning
Public consultation for the design brief
What we have heard so far
Community and stakeholder consultation was undertaken between August and September 2022, to help inform a design brief for Bank Street Park that reflects community needs and aspirations.
From the Phase 1 consultation, we heard the following priorities for the park:
Connection to Country and First Nations representation
A welcoming and accessible park that caters to different users and activities
Quality amenities to support park users
Consideration of the needs of boating users and water sports
Mixed views around the future of buildings at 1-3 Bank Street
A green place of respite
Connection to the water and enhanced views
A distinct identity for the park
Phase 2 Consultation
Design concepts verifying community priorities from Phase 1 Consultation
Three design concepts have been developed for the park, which have taken into consideration community priorities from Phase 1, site constraints, identified local infrastructure needs and the need to provide a space that can be enjoyed by all.
Each of the concepts comprises various elements, in different locations. The preferred park design may be a combination of different elements of all three concepts.
Phase 2 consultation occurred from 23 February until 22 March 2023 to test three design concepts, and options for a play and youth space.
Video: Introductions to the 3 concepts
Explore Bank Street Park on our precinct map
Existing site
Three way slider
First Nations-led design
Bank Street Park design concepts centre around the following conceptual design principles, aligned to our First Nations consultation process:
Healing Country: maximising green spaces and Indigenous planting including species endemic to the area. There is opportunity to highlight Tjerruing (callicoma serratifolia or blackwattle) that protects the freshwater as it flows into the garigalo (saltwater).
Revealing Country: telling stories of Country through Indigenous art, language and cultural interpretation. Themes will be further developed in consultation with First Nations people and may include reflection on pre-colonial site conditions and Indigenous cultural associations, truth telling addressing the impacts of colonialism, and recognising Black Diggers, tying into the site’s associate with the ANZAC bridge above.
Caring for Country: ensuring the park is a socially and environmentally sustainable development that supports contemporary Indigenous cultural practices as well as being a safe and welcoming place for all, with a particular focus on creating and great space for women. Providing visual and physical connectivity to the water is also a key outcome of the park, reinforcing the need to design, for, of and with Country.
What we heard - Phase 2 Consultation summary
Thank you to everyone who participated in recent engagement for Bank Street Park. We appreciate the generous contributions from community members across Sydney.
We look forward to continuing to engage with community and stakeholders to create an inviting, unique in character, socially inclusive Bank Street Park.
What happens next
Following consultation, the design consultants will review the feedback and progress further studies to develop a preferred concept design.
Additional environmental investigations will need to be prepared for consideration in the detailed design, including water quality, heritage and traffic. The final design will need to address these findings.
An environmental impact statement will be prepared on the preferred concept design to assess construction and operational considerations.
These documents will form part of a State Significant Development Application, which will be submitted to the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE). The DPE will place the application on public exhibition before assessing and determining the application. The community will be invited to provide feedback on the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and preferred concept design during the public exhibition period.
FAQs
The new park is 1.1 hectares in size, similar to the Sydney Football Stadium field.
Consultation on the wider Blackwattle Bay Precinct plan has occurred over many years.
The Bank Street Park consultation began in 2022 where community feedback helped create priorities for the park.
A kiosk or café
Open green space and gathering places
Recreation space for children and young adults
Fitness equipment for all ages and abilities
A Marina operations space
Dragon boat and kayak storage
And a cycleway and bike parking
A continuous waterfront promenade along Blackwattle Bay
Yes. Culture Capital has been engaged to prepare a Public Art Strategy for the precinct, including Bank Street Park
Bank Street Park design concepts centre around the following conceptual design principles, aligned to our First Nations consultation process:
Healing Country: maximising green spaces and Indigenous planting including species endemic to the area. There is an opportunity to highlight Tjerruing (callicoma serratifolia or blackwattle) which protects the freshwater as it flows into the garigalo (saltwater).
Revealing Country: telling stories of Country through Indigenous art, language and cultural interpretation. Themes will be further developed in consultation with First Nations people and may include reflection on pre-colonial site conditions and Indigenous cultural associations, truth-telling addressing the impacts of colonialism, and recognising the Black Diggers, tying into the site’s association with the ANZAC bridge above.
Caring for Country: ensuring the park is a socially and environmentally sustainable development that supports contemporary Indigenous cultural practices as well as being a safe and welcoming place for all, with a particular focus on creating and great space for women. Providing visual and physical connectivity to the water is also a key outcome of the park, reinforcing the need to design, for, of and with Country.
Infrastructure NSW will lodge a State Significant Development application with the Department of Planning and Environment. This development application will include information about the park design and an assessment of environmental impacts. Community consultation will help design a preferred concept.
Pop-up Park
While planning progresses for the Blackwattle Bay Precinct, the Bank Street Pop-up Park will be built on the public land of the future Bank Street Park, giving the local community early access to the precinct.
The temporary park will give locals and visitors a place to play, exercise and relax. It will be the first part of public open space made accessible to the public as part of the revitalisation project.
Park features
Basketball half-court
Fitness equipment
Line-marking games (hopscotch, handball)
Areas for child friendly scooting
Seating zones
Native plantings
Perimeter fencing for safety
Illustrative plan
Pop-up Park construction
Starting in mid-August, construction of the Pop-up Park is expected to be complete by mid-Spring 2023. View the recent Works Notification below for construction information.
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Pop-up Park documents
FAQs
The Pop-up Park will be located within the portion of public land where the future Bank Street Park will be located, at 5-19 Bank Street, Pyrmont. It measures approximately 19m wide along Bank St, and 43.5m along the western boundary adjacent to the existing Blackwattle Bay Marina building.
The temporary park is expected to be complete by mid-Spring 2023 and will remain available for the wider community to enjoy while the Bank Street Park project progresses.
We recognise the next steps to progress the Bank Street Park through to construction will take time, with further community consultation later this year, with Design Excellence and State planning processes to be completed before the procurement of a construction contractor.
The Pop-up Park provides extra public open space to be used by the community while this occurs.
The park is open for community use.
Please contact Infrastructure NSW:
Phone: 1800 931 109 (toll free)