Society > Parks and Playgrounds
Sunset over Pirrama Park, John Curotta, 2014
Jones Street Pocket Park 2013
Waterfront Park, Helen McCarthy, 2017
Parks and Playgrounds
Some parks in Pyrmont were created by deliberate planning in the context of industrial or residential developments. Ballaarat Park, Refinery Square, Cadi Park, Tumbalong Park and Metcalfe Park are green spaces which were created to enhance the quality of the neighbourhood.
Many others are scraps of land left over in development sites, such as Ada Place playground, Carmichael Park, St Bartholomew’s Park, Maybanke Reserve, Paradise Reserve, and The Knoll. Jones Street Pocket Park is a space created by quarrying, and so is the Wattle Street depot, whose future is uncertain.
The leading example of community political action is Pirrama Park. Equally interesting is Fig Lane Park, the outcome of prolonged resistance to the Department of Main Roads. Waterfront Park took its attractive form after negotiations between the Jacksons Landing developer (Lend Lease) and residents. Interim Park was created by the labour of residents, but disappeared under high-rise apartment buildings. James Watkinson Reserve survived, though reduced from its original size, because of community resistance to an inappropriate development.
These struggles continue, for example in the battle to transform the Bank Street Foreshore Park from a community plan to a physical reality.