Parks, pools and public squares
The Council has always taken great care of the beautiful parks, playgrounds, pools and other public spaces in the Sydney area – it’s one of the key services we provide to our ratepayers.
More than that, we see these facilities as the cornerstones of community. That’s why we’ve been pulling out all the stops to give residents, workers and visitors endless opportunities for recreation, relaxation and exercise in the great outdoors.
Since 2008, we’ve been upgrading the small parks and playgrounds in our villages. There’s about 330 in all and each year we completely revamp a number of them, replacing play equipment, landscaping gardens and improving the basics (footpaths, seats and fences) – always asking the locals for their thoughts on the design concepts before work starts.
We’re upgrading major parks too, including Rushcutters Bay Park, Sydney Park (the biggest in the area), Redfern Park and the Victoria Park Playground. We’ve even created new parks – the old Water Police site in Pyrmont was transformed into Pirrama Park and the derelict Paddington Reservoir was reconstructed into a sunken garden.
In April 2011, the first section of our $18.3 million refurbishment of the 7.5 hectare Prince Alfred Park opened. Work on the new pool at Prince Alfred Park is well underway. This high-tech complex will feature a stainless steel pool where the shell of the old one once was and be powered by green infrastructure.
This cool new pool will complement our top notch facilities at the Ian Thorpe and Cook + Phillip Park Aquatic Centres as well as family favourite the Victoria Park Pool and the historic Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool, which offers breathtaking views of the Harbour and has also had a major makeover.
On an even grander scale, we’d ultimately like to convert the areas around Central, Town Hall and Circular Quay stations into three outstanding public squares linked by a light rail service along George Street …. Now, wouldn’t that be nice?
Towards 2030, we’re putting the ‘public’ into public spaces to:
- provide places where people can relish the great outdoors
- make communities stronger
- re-connect people with the nature
- offer residents, workers and visitors endless opportunities to exercise … and relax.
Sydney 2030: green, global and connected. Go to the strategic directions.
