Hornsby Shire Council last night (Wednesday 14 July) formally adopted a draft Master Plan for its ambitious Hornsby Park project, a major new parkland to be built close to Hornsby Town Centre.
The largest single project ever undertaken by Hornsby Shire Council, the Park is being created on the site of the former Hornsby Quarry, with the first stage due to open late in 2023.
Hornsby Park will feature approximately 60 hectares of bushland and open space surrounding the site of the former quarry and include features of historical and community interest including:
- early settler relics
- the State heritage-listed Old Man's Valley Cemetery (Higgins Family Cemetery)
- remnant buildings of the quarry crusher plant
- the existing Hornsby Aquatic & Leisure Centre.
New key elements will include:
- a 'Canopy Skywalk' and walking tracks designed to minimise impacts on the environment
- passive recreation spaces including green open space and bushland areas
- adventure and water-based recreation opportunities, particularly for younger residents.
The project, valued at an estimated $130 million, will be undertaken in stages in line with available funding from Federal, State and Council sources and private sector investment.
"A project of this scale requires commitments and contributions from many sources and is being partly funded by the NSW Government through the NSW Stronger Communities grant scheme and also by developer contributions," said Hornsby Shire Mayor, Philip Ruddock.
The NSW Government has provided $50,000,000 for the creation of Hornsby Park and Council has sourced $30,000,000 in development contributions to spend on the project.
The Hornsby Park Master Plan went on public exhibition on 21 April this year, followed by a period of extensive community consultation.
"The community feedback expressed a high level of support for the draft Master Plan's vision for the park, particularly its balance of 'active' and 'passive' recreation activities and its restoring and protecting the natural environment," said Mayor Ruddock.
"This excellent outcome has been, of course, the result of good planning, extensive consultation with the community and support from both State and Commonwealth governments, creating an exceptional opportunity for Hornsby Shire", said Mayor Ruddock.
"The park will be the fulfilment of a goal pursued by Hornsby Council over many years."
Council also resolved to make a submission to the NSW Parliamentary inquiry into the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Infrastructure Contributions) Bill 2021.
Council fully supports a more streamlined and transparent process to properly regulate developer contributions while acknowledging that such contributions are critical to ensuring local communities are provided with the facilities and services they need.
"However, the draft legislation if enacted in its current form would shift costs unfairly within communities and prevent councils from creating the many thousands of jobs that are created by these relatively minor contributions," said Mayor Ruddock.
The full Council report on this item is available here: hornsby.nsw.gov.au/bp-18140721.
Other items of note at last night's meeting included:
- The adoption of a Draft Community and Cultural Facilities Strategic Plan
- Adoption of the draft Community Engagement Policy and Plan
- Agreement to create a drainage easement over road reserve at Austral Avenue and Kenwick Lane, Beecroft
- Results of the public exhibition of the Westleigh Park Master Plan
- Adoption of a revised set of 'principles and actions' to guide the development of Brooklyn
- Adoption of the Hornsby Shire Public Domain Guidelines.
The full agenda of the meeting, along with details of each item discussed, can be found at hornsby.nsw.gov.au. The video recording of the meeting will be available from tomorrow afternoon.
