Promised parkland remains a wasteland: Westconnex disappoints again

by GRACE JOHNSON

The new parkland in the inner west, promised as compensation to residents for disruptions caused by the Westconnex project, is set to be delayed again. Fears from the council that the site is contaminated are ongoing. 

There is currently no completion date for the 2.5-hectare park, next to Campbell Road at the northern end of the Westconnex interchange at St Peters. Previously, the promised parkland – one of two to be created at the St Peters interchange – was due to open by 2024, a year later than originally planned. 

The southern end of the interchange, which is the main part of a separate 6-hectare park, has remained off-limits to the public due to concerns of stability and contamination, despite it being years since completion.The large hill, built on top of an old rubbish tip, was eroded by an episode of heavy rain in August 2020. 

Inner West councillor Pauline Lockie talked to City Hub about the proposed parkland site in St Peters. 

“This site was a landfill for a very long time, and there are real concerns about whether the site has been properly remediated,” said Cr Lockie. 

Kept in the dark about serious contamination

“Last year, we discovered that Transport for NSW has kept Inner West Council in the dark about serious contamination and public safety concerns at the site, and some sections of the landfill were releasing explosive levels of methane.”

Inner West Council has been criticised for not taking responsibility for the erosion and contamination concerns. To that, Cr Lockie said, “Councils do not have the resources or expertise to manage landfill sites that haven’t been remediated, and our ratepayers shouldn’t have to bear the cost of this state government failure.” 

The large mound in the park, meant to be a lookout, was built on top of the rubbish tip. Its angles are still very acute, meaning that further erosion is very likely. But this is only one of many issues with stability, according to Cr Lockie. 

“The site has been plagued by stability issues, particularly on the mound of waste that was supposed to be a lookout and a key feature of the park near Canal Road – this has been subject to land slips in heavy rain,” she said. 

“It’s so steep that maintaining the area and preventing further issues would be very difficult.” 

Broken promises

The park was promised as compensation to residents of the Inner West, after they heavily protested the Westconnex project. 

As Minister for Roads John Graham said, “The Inner West has accepted much more than its fair share of disruption during the construction of WestConnex.”

Cr Lockie, a long-time critic of Westconnex, said the added delays for the parkland were “incredibly disappointing.” 

“It’s yet another ‘benefit’ of WestConnex that the community was promised, but the NSW Government has failed to deliver,” she said. 

According to Cr Lockie, the local community has been failed by Westconnex for so many years that this recent development isn’t surprising for them, as it was already doubtful that a park would be possible at the site.

“If the NSW government isn’t able to deliver the parklands it promised as compensation for WestConnex here, it should be working with Council to find an alternative site.”