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Wolli Creek Corridor

Chris Jordens at The Bluff

RESIDENTS FUMING AFTER GREEN SPACE SOLD TO DEVELOPER

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WCPS President Chris Jordens recommends this story by UTS journalism student Catherine Fletcher about our current Wolli Bluff campaign. It gives a good overview for those wanting to catch up with what’s been happening. 

From Catherine:

A parcel of green space Sydney residents had applied for inclusion in Wolli Creek Regional Park has been controversially sold for $2.93 million for housing development.

Local campaigners say the NSW Labor government quietly auctioned two key blocks of land under Wolli Bluff in Earlwood, despite previous support for its protection and strong community backing.

The bluff, a prominent sandstone outcrop marking the entrance to Wolli Creek Regional Park, is perched above Bayview Avenue, Earlwood, and has historic associations with the Aboriginal warrior Pemulwuy.

The vacant site, which is partly contaminated with asbestos and lead, was owned by the state government, and has been the subject of a decades-long campaign by the Wolli Creek Preservation Society (WCPS) for the ‘bluff blocks’ to be annexed to the park under its Unwin Green Street plan to connect the Wolli Creek and Cooks River valleys with continuous green space.

“We’ve been doing this for 40 years. Our campaign goes on,” said WCPS president Chris Jordens, who criticised the sale, saying the government had publicly supported the Green Street vision.

“They make a lot of supportive noises, lots of supportive statements and they’re on record for supporting the Green Street idea. This is why we’re really surprised.

“The people of the valley… saved the bluff from a freeway… we saved the bluff from Sydney Water, but we haven’t been able to save it from the NSW Labor Party.”

fence

The site at Wolli Bluffs that the government has sold for $2.9 million. Photo: Catherine Fletcher.

In February the WCPS learned the bluff blocks were listed for auction without consultation. Members campaigned to stop the sale and attended the off-site auction on April 2, warning bidders of strong community opposition.

Critics argue the block, which could potentially be developed into as many as three residences, will do little to alleviate housing pressure and instead threatens a vital piece of green space.

Canterbury-Bankstown councillor Conroy Blood, an advocate for the Green Street project, said: “Development means this bluff will be hidden from public view. It would also be a convenient and accessible entrance point for the Wolli Creek reserve. Also the land only really has space for one house.

“I am highly disappointed in the state governments decision to sell this green space especially given their previous representations which suggested they valued this green space, but unfortunately given Canterbury is a very safe Labor seat, promises are very easy to break.”

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Residents wanted the land parcel added to the regional park. Photo: Catherine Fletcher.

In a letter to campaigners, the office for Minister for Lands and Property, Stephen Kamper, said the land had been earmarked for residential development despite protests.

“While I acknowledge the community’s interest in incorporating this land into Wolli Creek Regional Park, this land has not been identified for public open space and will be divested for residential development,” a spokesperson for Kamper’s office said.

Kamper faced questioning at the parliamentary budget estimates hearing on February 26 over the audit of government-owned land for housing suitability. In response to supplementary questions from Hon Chris Rath MLC, Kamper said surplus sites were chosen based on housing potential, including maximising dwelling yield.

Wolli Bluff stands on unceded Bidjigal land linked to Aboriginal warrior and resistance leader Pemulwuy, who fought against British settlers.

Mr Jordens added: “This has always been a place of resistance, and so it is today. The authorities, you’d think, would be used to it by now.”

Save Wolli Bushland banner

GOVT SELLS OFF LAND BUT WCPS WOLLI BLUFF CAMPAIGN CONTINUES

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The NSW state Labor government has just sold off part of a green corridor that it said it supported. This is an embarrassing backflip for the Premier, Chris Minns, who less than a year ago made a public commitment to preserve inner urban green space.

Two blocks of publicly owned land at Wolli Bluff in Earlwood were sold at auction on 2 April 2025 for $2.93M. The blocks are part of our Unwin Green Street proposal, which itself forms part of a wider green link between the Cooks River and Wolli Creek valleys.

The auction was held off-site at 50 Margaret St Sydney. The Wolli Creek Preservation Society (WCPS) turned up with a banner and leaflets warning bidders that council could soon re-zone the blocks, and that the community will continue to oppose development at Wolli Bluff.

The President of WCPS, Chris Jordens, was escorted from the premises by a security officer who said he was acting on instructions from unnamed NSW government officials.  A member of the public was also denied entry to the auction and told that, on instructions from the NSW Government, only registered bidders would be admitted to the auction room.

This sell-off was no administrative error. It was intentional, and the government did its best to conceal its intentions from the community and keep the community away from the auction.  According to a Planning Certificate given to the bidders only a day before the auction, the blocks are on ecologically sensitive land.

WCPS is pursuing a freedom of information request (GIPA) and will inform our members and the wider community about what we learn, although this will take time.

The WCPS campaign to stop development on the blocks at Wolli Bluff has only just begun. We will continue to campaign for a green corridor linking the Wolli and Cooks River valleys and prevent any destruction at Wolli Bluff.

Wolli Bluff sign

SAVE WOLLI BLUFF FROM DEVELOPERS

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Out of the blue, the Department of Planning has listed two blocks of bushland at Wolli Bluff for sale by auction on 2 April. This is contrary to the expectations we had after meeting with several NSW State politicians.

The land has been combined into one large block, suitable only for developers.

For Sale sign
For Sale sign

For many years WCPS has been campaigning to create a green corridor linking the Wolli Creek Regional Park to the Cooks River Valley. Our plans for the corridor include government-owned bushland at the Eastern end of the Regional Park. Our plans have been supported by Canterbury Bankstown Council and the local member, Sophie Cotsis.

We accept that Sydney needs more housing, but this should not come at the cost of open green space. Premier Chris Minns said so himself in a media appearance at Turrella Reserve on 8 March 2024:

“If we’re going to build houses, particularly closer to the CBD, we need to preserve and protect as much green space as we possibly can. … We can’t just build houses; we have to build world class beautiful parks, and that means preserving every bit of green space that we can possibly get our hands on.”

Despite the encouraging words, these two blocks of bushland that should form an important part of the green corridor will be lost on 2 April, unless the sale is stopped.

What you can do:

Ask the Premier to immediately withdraw the sale of bushland adjacent to Wolli Bluff (16-18 Bayview Avenue Earlwood)

  • Contact Premier Minns using his webform

https://www.nsw.gov.au/nsw-government/premier-of-nsw/contact-premier

Here are some points you might like to include in your email:

  • The Premier has stated that we need to preserve every bit of green space that we can possibly get our hands on.
  • The blocks provide a buffer between the Regional Park and surrounding suburban development.
  • The Regional Park should have better entrance than a muddy track and a cyclone wire fence.
  • The land should be added to the Wolli Creek Regional Park for use by the whole community
  • Once it is sold, the bushland is lost for future generations.
  • People need green space as well as housing.
  • We can build more housing AND preserve green space.
  • Tell them why you value the Wolli Creek bushland, and how you use it
  • Tell him if it would influence your vote

At this stage, a barrage of emails from voters is our best chance to save this scarce and valuable green space.

Christopher Jordens

President WCPS

Walkers

We love our Rivers – Autumn Wolli Creek Guided Walks

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The Wolli Creek Preservation Society is conducting guided walks this Autumn as part of the Canterbury-Bankstown Councils We Love Our River events. 

This is a great opportunity to come along and walk part of or the full length of the track in the Wolli Creek Regional Park at a leisurely pace. We have two walks scheduled. One is 3.5km from Bexley North to Turrella Reserve on the 23 March. The second one is 5km from Tempe to Bexley North on 13 April.

Our volunteer guides will share their knowledge of this bushland, its cultural and environmental history, as well as information about the current issues facing the Wolli Valley and the bush regeneration (Bushcare) work the Society is undertaking. 

This walk is sponsored by the Canterbury-Bankstown Councils We Love Our Rivers program

Bookings are essential. For further information and bookings see our Upcoming Events page. 

Walk photo Bexley to Tempe Nov 24 1

A STORY OF SURVIVAL – A WALK FROM BEXLEY NORTH TO TEMPE

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A story of survival - Walk from Bexley North to Tempe in the Wolli Creek Regional Park

On Sunday 10 November we had another lovely day for our last guided walk for this spring along the Wolli Creek track. Ute and Gina led a group of walkers on a 5km walk from the start of the track at Bexley North to the end of the track at Unwin St Earlwood. Many who attended were new members of WCPS and so it was good to share the history of the valley and the fight to save it and to finally have it funded so it can be fully completed as the Wolli Creek Regional Park.
Ute shared stories about some of the battles to save the Wolli Creek valley. She also pointed out places of historical interest such as the Bowen’s Camp, King’s Farm, habitat stepping stones, Russell’s Pool, Nannygoat Hill, Jackson Place and the Chinese market gardens to name a few. Several in the group were impressed by the work of WCPS to save this park and by the bushland it contains. It was lovely to have people on the walk thank WCPS for the work we have done to save the valley and continue to do. Always a good reminder of how special this 5km track and surrounding bushland is. 

brush turkey

BRUSH TURKEY NEST

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Deb and Peter were leading a walk through the valley and were alerted by a member walking in the other direction. A sizeable area of the bush undergrowth between Illoura and Bray has been torn up and piled across the track. Vandalism was suspected. However the ‘vandal’ turned out to be a male Brush Turkey, busy at work building a nest and mostly too busy to take any notice of onlookers. The heap is close to passing walkers, so is vulnerable to bad or ignorant behaviour and walkers need to be aware of it and take care.

brush turkey mound
brush turkey mound

The male Brush Turkey is the one who builds the nest or incubation mound and controls the temperature via ongoing maintenance. A lot of time and effort goes into constructing a mound, and he will use his mound again and again in years to come. Brush-turkeys are both polygynous and polyandrous. Several females can visit the mound, often copulate with the male and periodically dig large holes in the mound to bury their eggs.

When they hatch, chicks are entirely left to their own devices and have to survive on their own, including having to dig their own way out of the mound.

This morning, Laura saw another Brush Turkey up the other end of the Valley. Wonder if she’s a female??

Committee members meet CBCity engineers

HARTILL-LAW BRIDGE UNDERPASS WALKWAY PLANNED

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The Wolli Creek Preservation Society met with engineers from Canterbury Bankstown Council (CBCity) for a site meeting at the Hartill-Law Bridge in Bardwell Park to discuss upcoming rehabilitation of the embankment under the bridge. The eroded embankment is in poor condition and the walking trail there is overgrown with weeds, so we are pleased to see some progress at last.

In 2007, the City of Canterbury, in conjunction with WCPS, received a $10,000 grant from the Cooks River Foreshores Improvement Programme for construction of a board walk under the bridge on the northern side of the creek, which would bypass the only road crossing in the 5 km Wolli Valley walking track. This underpass walkway is the missing link in the Wolli Track section of the Two Valley Trail.

But the planned works weren’t carried out until Canterbury Bankstown Council finally scheduled this work for 2022/23 and planning is now underway.

Council will employ contractors to clear the existing weeds like Crofton, Morning Glory and Lantana choking the embankment. Council engineers will rehabilitate the embankment with shotcrete to stabilize the area and improve drainage on and under the bridge to provide some protection from flooding. Horizontal concrete will also be laid at the bottom of the slope to create the underpass walkway.

WCPS also discussed with the Council Bushcare Officers present at the briefing how the work could be carried out with minimal impact on the nearby bush restoration work, which is carried out by volunteers around and in the wetland to the west of the bridge, off Bray Avenue.

Works are planned to commence in January. If all goes to plan, bushwalkers will have pleasant bush tracks leading to the bridge from both sides and the new underpass as a welcome alternative to crossing busy Hartill-Law Ave.

Chris Jordens with UTS design students

BUSH FRIENDLY GARDENS – DESIGN STUDENTS HELP

The Wolli Creek Preservation Society is happy to have a group of final year design students working with us to promote bush-friendly gardening to residents living alongside the Wolli Creek Regional Park.

The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) runs a Shopfront program which connects students with not-for-profit organisations to work on authentic real-world projects as part of their learning experience.

The students will work with us to develop a video, flyer and online information about the impact gardens can have on the Regional Park.

WCPS President Chris Jordens and I walked with the students from Tempe station through to Girrahween Park. The first stop was to visit Lydia Feng whose small garden is close to the entrance of the Regional Park. Lydia took us through her native plantings, many of them indigenous to the area, and described the results she has had with insects and small birds visiting the garden. She also described the plants she has removed or avoided to prevent them escaping into the bush and becoming pests.

 

Our walk continued through the Regional Park, giving the students a chance to better understand the beauty and history of the valley, climbing Nannygoat Hill and visiting the bat camp. There were plenty of invasive weeds to show them, and areas where run off from urban stormwater is being managed.

It was great to see young people enjoying the bush and to hear their enthusiasm for helping us protect it.

Susie Cornish

Committee Member

Design students at Girrahween
Design students at Girrahween
Chris Minns announcement

Chris Minns announcement in Turrella Reserve

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An unbroken corridor of Wolli Creek bushland is one big step closer to completion. Premier Chris Minns, local ministers, WCPS members and a media scrum met at Turrella Reserve this morning to announce the great news that almost 5 hectares of bush have been added to the Wolli Creek Regional Park. Chris Minns said that this ribbon of green space is incredibly important and that WCPS have been tireless in campaigning for decades to protect and preserve it.

Local members Sophie Cotsis, Steve Kamper, Penny Sharpe and Jo Haylen are big supporters of the Regional Park and were all in attendance this morning to show their enthusiasm. Sophie Cotsis was beaming and saying “What a great day!” and Steve Kamper said “This regional park is a national treasure. We said we’d do it and we are so proud to be here.” Penny Sharpe said, “Peter and the WCPS have fought off development from the beginning to save this valley.”

If you want to read more, here’s the govt press release:
https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/wolli-creek-regional-park-is-expanded

Chris Minns announcement

Wolli Creek National Park gains 4.7 hectares

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Almost five hectares of parklands has been added to the Wolli Creek regional national park – “a patch of green ribbon” which runs through dense suburbs in Sydney’s south – in the past year.

The Minns government added the additional 4.7 hectares after a $13m election commitment to complete the park, which borders Wolli Creek and was first promised by the Carr government in 1998.

The full story in the Guardian here.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/08/wolli-creek-national-park-gains-additional-47-hectares-of-land-to-complete-green-ribbon?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other&fbclid=IwAR1PDKqVCdIwf56y5lu0r0if0LZK2z9GNAnH4UYCgOjcGn9fEZedJOKvtUI

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