Celebrate Pyrmont and Pirrama
From eNews 486 – Friday, 5 March 2010
The City's $26 million rescue of public land on the harbour foreshores at Pyrmont and our $7 million revitalisation of the Harris Street village centre will be celebrated from 11am to 1pm next Saturday 13 March.
In 2005, the new City Council paid $11 million to buy the former Water Police site from the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority (SHFA). We allocated $14.8 million to consult, design and create a new 1.8 hectare park that responded to community aspirations for public open space.
Next week's celebrations will include formal naming of the new park and the adjacent park as "Pirrama Park". The combined parkland is four hectares and represents 850 metres in our planned 14 kilometre foreshore walk along Sydney Harbour.
The park's name recognises the First Australians who called this area Pirrama. The name is recorded in maps and journals of First Fleet naval officers who documented Sydney Harbour and is one of the few traditional Indigenous names directly attributed to a particular locality in our area.
The park's award winning design, developed by consultants Aspect Sydney, Hill Thallis, CAB Consulting, Connell Wagner and TLB Engineers, also celebrates Pyrmont's history. New native plantings, including eucalypts and banksias, help restore biodiversity to this once heavily vegetated peninsula, while sustainable solar panels and rain water capture help secure its future.
Sandstone artefacts in the interactive playground reflect former quarries and the promenade marks the original shoreline. The boardwalk within the park is named "Stevedore Walk" to commemorate Pyrmont's maritime workers and industries.
The land where the park now sits was purchased from the Macarthur Estate in the early 1900s by the Sydney Harbour Trust to be used for wharves and associated facilities until the areas transformation from redundant industrial site to high-rise residential development.
The Water Police were temporarily based on the site from the mid 1980s, with the area designated for development by SHFA. In 2003, Independent Councillor Marcelle Hoff helped form Friends of Pyrmont Point, which led the community and union campaign to retain the site for open space.
Awards for the new park include:
2006 Parks and Leisure Association Australia commendation for innovation (Community Consultation and Planning Process)
2007 Australian Institute of Landscape Architects NSW Planning Award for Excellence
2009 Parks and Leisure Association Australia Certificate of Recognition in the Play Space Category
2009 Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia Public Doman Award National Winner for the Best Overall Project
Next Saturday's festivities will also mark Harris Street improvement works from the foreshore to Pyrmont Bridge Road, with new paving, trees, decorative lighting and street furniture.
The revitalisation of Harris Street was identified as a priority project in the City West Local Action Plan process undertaken in 2006. Following intensive design review and consultation, the City identified this work as a first priority to strengthen Harris Street's role as the "village" main street.
The celebrations begin in Union Square at 10am with entertainment to mark the start of the Pyrmont Art Festival, which I will open at 11am. Roving entertainers will perform along Harris Street Grab and participating local businesses will be giving away free coffees.
There will be entertainment in Pirrama Park from 11am and I will formally open and name the park at 11.30am.
Information
Pirrama Park opening and official naming: Saturday 13 March, 11am-1pm
Pyrmont Art Festival: Union Square, Pyrmont from 10am
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