Bank Street Park
The NSW Government is prioritising delivery of community benefits early in the renewal including a new 1.1-hectare park at Bank Street.
A new waterfront park
A new 1.1-hectare park will be created in the Blackwattle Bay Precinct. The park will surround the southern pylons of the Anzac Bridge. The site provides a rare chance to create a new waterfront park that will celebrate its First Nations culture, iconic harbourside location and maritime history.
Consultation with the community and stakeholders will continue as the design for the park is developed.
Consultation on the new park was held from 22 August until 25 September 2022. The process for future consultation is shown below.
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.
Park features
The new park will include the following features:
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
To keep up to date on the Blackwattle Bay Precinct and opportunities to Have Your Say, please register for project updates.
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
Shaping new waterfront park at Bank Street
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, there will be a new 1.1 hectare waterside park at Bank Street, Pyrmont.
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.
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.
Open for feedback
We welcome feedback until 22 March 2023
- Click here to have your say and complete the online survey.
- Visit us in person at the following drop-in sessions:
- Sunday 5 March 2023, 11am - 1pm, Union Square Pyrmont
- Sunday 12 March 2023, 11am - 1pm, 1-3 Bank Street, Pyrmont
Important note: the locations have been chosen to be in convenient spaces close to the site, however, are subject to weather conditions. Please check this webpage ahead of inclement weather conditions for alternate dates.
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 hysd with 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.
Have your say
We invite you to help shape Bank Street Park. The three design concepts are discussed in the Phase 2 Consultation tab.
We welcome feedback until 22 March 2023.
- Click here to have your say and complete the online survey.
- Visit us in person at the following drop-in sessions:
- Sunday 5 March 2023, 11am - 1pm, Union Square Pyrmont
- Sunday 12 March 2023, 11am - 1pm, 1-3 Bank Street, Pyrmont
Important note: the locations have been chosen to be in convenient spaces close to the site, however, are subject to weather conditions. Please check this webpage ahead of inclement weather conditions for alternate dates.
Following consultation, a preferred design will be developed and will likely include different elements from Concept 1, Concept 2 and Concept 3. We want to know what you like and what you would change about each of the design concepts.
