Banana bread and lattes in Callan Park and a greener future for our parklands have been locked in as the Minns Labor Government's Greater Sydney Parklands Trust Amendment (Review) Bill 2026 passed the Parliament.
The reforms will create a more sustainable future for Callan Park, Centennial and Moore Park, Parramatta Park, Western Sydney Parklands, Fernhill Estate and allow the parklands estate to be expanded to include Warrawong Parklands
Each of these parklands provide vital open green space for people to play, relax, exercise and gather with their family and friends.
This legislation will allow us to improve the amenity of our parks for the millions of people who visit them each year through four key areas of reform including:
- Shoring up financial sustainability so parklands can be properly maintained, improved and expanded for generations to come.
- Modernising and streamlining leasing, licensing and tender processes to improve consistency across all our parklands while maintaining transparency for the public.
- Strengthening and aligning the objectives across the various parklands' legislation.
- Cementing governance frameworks including further clarifying the role of community trustee boards.
Importantly the legislation protects parklands and prevents the sale of any part of the parklands.
The legislation updates the Greater Sydney Parklands Trust Act 2022 and associated Trusts legislation responding directly to recommendations of the Joint Select Committee set up to review the Act and its objectives.
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said:
"The parklands reforms passing parliament is an exciting step bringing a greener and more sustainable future into focus.
"Through these changes we're protecting our parklands without standing in the way of sensible activations like cafes because people should be able to enjoy a latte and banana bread at the park without needing to pack a thermos or stop offsite.
"This is another example of the Minns Labor Government delivering commonsense reforms to protect, improve and activate our much-loved parks for future generations by setting them on a long-term sustainable footing."
