New agency to take charge of Sydney’s open space and parklands

A new agency will work with Sydney local councils to revitalise and expand the city’s open spaces and parklands, the NSW State Government revealed last week.

NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes said
the Greater Sydney Parklands (GSP) agency will bring together the Centennial
Park and Moore Park Trust, Parramatta Park Trust, and Western Sydney Parklands
Trusts, as well as the parklands of Callan Park and Fernhill Estate.

It will oversee more than 6000 hectares of parklands across
Sydney.

Releasing a draft “50-year vision for the city’s network of parklands
and green open spaces” to help develop a metropolitan-wide plan to guide the
new agency’s work, Mr Stokes said: “In the past, the individual parkland trusts
have had a sole focus on the land within their boundaries.

“Now we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to look
beyond those boundaries to plan for our parklands and open spaces over the next
50 years as a connected and vital network that forms the backbone of our city,”
Mr Stokes said.

The draft 50-Year Vision will be open for consultation until 11 September 2020.

As part of the makeover, the State Government will invest
$10 million in revitalising Callan Park in Sydney’s inner west. To inform how
the money is spent, a new Landscape Structure Plan has been released for public
comment.

In related news, the Committee for Sydney and the NSW Government have launched a Public Space Ideas Competition.

Touted as an opportunity to “think about current spaces in need for transformation”, the competition will comprise five award categories and four additional awards. Competition entries will be accepted up until 28 August.

An award ceremony is expected to be held in October.