Campaigns & Issues
CURRENT CAMPAIGNS
Complete the Park!
Wolli Creek Preservation Society has been working since the 1990s to have the Wolli bushland protected with Regional Park status. While government has often been supportive, progress towards completion has been glacial. Before the 2023 election the ALP made a specific commitment to complete the park.
That commitment was followed up with the allocation of $13 million in the September 2023 state budget to complete the park. In March 2024, a further 5 hectares were transferred into the control of NPWS as managers of the Wolli Creek Regional Park. Premiere Chris Minns spoke of the government’s commitment to preserving green space when he made the announcements.
Acquisition of the remaining lands, owned by Sydney Water and private landholders, was still being negotiated at June 2024. WCPS continues to press for rapid completion and your support would be welcome. For more background go to history of our achievements.
Odour Control Unit
From 2017 the eastern end of the Wolli Creek Regional Park was under threat from the proposed installation by Sydney Water of a large industrial plant to control odours, and corrosive and toxic gases generated within the sewage system (a major set of sewerage pipes crosses Wolli Creek at this point). For more background go to history of our achievements. A petition against the proposal garnered over 5,000 signatures, as part of a spirited campaign against the proposal. That was effective and from March 2022 the proposal was in abeyance while other locations were explored. In mid-August 2023, WCPS received an email that told us that the “Unwin Street OCU has been closed out as a delivery project.” The threat appears to be over, but vigilance is the watchword because in mid-June 2024 we were still awaiting more formal confirmation. Sydney Water was still proposing to hold on to part of the land for the OCU, with consequences for the completion of Wolli Creek Regional Park. In June 2024 we are still hopeful that Sydney Water’s two major blocks within the Regional Park would soon be acquired with part of the $13 million allocated in the 2023 state budget.
Unwin Green Street
This is a joint proposal by WCPS and local residents to ‘green up’ an urban street and a nearby park to complete an effective link between two of our region’s most important green corridors (Wolli Creek and Cooks River).
For an illustrated summary of the project with pictures showing its importance as a link between two existing ‘green corridors’ and artist’s impressions of what it could look like go here.
For a one-page briefing on the background, context, and identification of what needs to happen and who is involved click here.
There are continuing activities to get it adopted. If interested, contact info@wollicreek.org.au or unwingreenstreet@gmail.com.
ISSUES
While not currently the subject of intense campaigns, WCPS has many issues that it monitors and takes action on when it can. A good way to stay in touch with any developments about these is to visit this website frequently or, better still, join WCPS and receive member notifications. Do register an interest with info@wollicreek.org.au if willing to be a leader, or a supporting participant, in action to address one of these issues. There are more issues than we can currently take on fully.
Below is a brief introduction to some of these issues.
Drones and model planes
The Wolli Valley is close to Sydney airport and part of the National Parks estate. Both put limits on the use of drones and model planes without specific licences for approved one-off tasks. Apart from the danger to aircraft and park users, such items are noisy and disturbing to Wolli wildlife, particularly birds. Although not allowed, they can be difficult to police and it relies on public awareness and reporting.
Track monitoring
Many people walk the Two Valley Trail (TVT) and it is the way that WCPS becomes aware of problems (and indeed rare or beautiful aspects) that arise, such as fallen trees and other track blockages, bad behaviour, intrusions into the bushland etc. WCPS volunteers can then sometimes fix the problem or alert relevant agencies to take action. If you are a frequent walker on the TVT we’d love to have you join our track monitors – the more ‘Eyes on Wolli’, the better – and we can provide you with guidance on what to be alert for. But you can also take action directly by reporting yourself – see report an issue for guidance on where to report.
Wolli industrial estates
There are industrial estates alongside Wolli Creek at Kingsgrove, west of Kingsgrove Road, and at Turrella, opposite the Turrella Reserve part of the Regional Park. Both estates can contribute contaminated run-off and rubbish to the creek. Both were established many decades ago when environmental understanding was lower and not built into planning arrangements and building regulation. There was little planning system recognition of the need for a significant riparian zone to protect the water quality and life-forms of the waterway.
WCPS monitors developments only at Turrella at present and is trying to have the riparian zone of 30m appropriate to Wolli Creek’s stream order established along the length of the estate. The opportunity ought to arise to bring better environmental knowledge to bear when there are changes in ownership, or new development applications, but the current (2023) planning system does not provide for this.
Problematic development applications (DAs)
The residential areas around Wolli are undergoing significant densification; a typical example is “Demolition of existing structures and construction of a two-storey attached dual occupancy with in-ground pool”. This increases hard surfaces (faster run-off and more flash flooding) and creates greater surface area that lacks the cooling properties of even grass; inevitably many gardens and trees are lost too, so the heat island effect increases. With the proximity of railway stations all along the valley, there is an increasing drive to high rise near to the stations. This increases densification without so much of the problems above, but puts a greater strain on infrastructure (roads, water supply, sewerage system, power lines, stormwater drainage) many of which in our ageing suburbs are under great pressure.
Dealing with these issues requires changes to the overall planning system, where WCPS can only play a minor role. But there are individual DAs, particularly adjacent to bushland, that can have seriously negative impacts in both construction and operation. It is these that we seek to monitor and respond to where we can and it looks necessary.
Other issues
This is a further list of issues in the valley that we would like to take up (as of 2023) if anyone is interested in leading (including links to where these are mentioned elsewhere on the website).