St James Park and John Street Reserve

The project is progressing and the following activities have taken place since March this year:

March – May 2013:

Consultation with children at St James Primary School: Consultation with local school children has helped refine the design for the playground and inform interpretative elements in St James Park. Plans of the developed playground design will available soon.

Existing Tennis Building: A Development Application for the removal of the existing amenities building has been assessed and approved. The demolition will occur with the park renewal.

Habitat Garden Design:

Community feedback has been considered alongside technical issues to further refine the design for the habitat garden. The consultants inspected native plantings at Wood Street Reserve Forest Lodge and are working with the City’s Urban Ecologist to select the plant species and planting layout. 

The Planting Strategy Plan shows the plant height, locations and some suggested planting groups. The planting design aims to maximise habitat and maintain sun to adjacent properties. The draft planting design and draft landscape plan can be seen here.

The plan retains the Plumbago and Murraya shrub plantings and the informal open grass area. It will also allow clear sightlines to the back entrances of adjacent properties to promote safety for community members.

The park contains a mixture of mature Jacaranda and Celtis trees.  Where possible trees have been retained and protected. Three trees will be replaced: two suppressed Water Gums, and one Celtis tree adjacent to the sandstone retaining wall, this allow us to carry out the remediation works.

The remaining Celtis Trees will have some of their lower branches thinned to allow more sunlight throughto the native habitat planting below. Celtis sinensis is considered an environmental weed and a tree management plan will be developed for the staged removal of the two remaining Celtis trees over the next 5-8 years. They will be replaced with native trees.

A low barrier fence is proposed to protect the native planting and habitat areas. The park is currently designated a dog on-leash park. Dogs must be under effective control at all times. There are no plans to change the dog management controls.  

Remediation A contamination study has confirmed that John Street Reserve had previous industrial uses and contains poor quality soil and ash fill. 

An interim Environmental Management Plan has been prepared to outline park use and maintenance requirements until the remediation works have been undertaken.

The soil remediation works will be undertaken to make the reserve suitable for public use into the future. The decontamination & remediation works will result in the removal and capping of soil in some areas in the park.

A range of remediation treatments have been developed with the Site Auditor to protect and retain trees and the shrub plantings (see plans here).  

A Development Application will be submitted for the remediation works in mid-May.

Flood Modelling - A flood study of the Johnson Creek catchment area identified potential flooding to the rear of properties on Hegarty Street adjacent to John Street Reserve. To reduce the frequency and mitigate the severity of potential floods, a range of improvement works are proposed. These include:

• A low park boundary wall on John Street to deflect stormwater flow along John Street to Hegarty Street;
• A 300mm high raised mound (levy) and barrier fence along the western park boundary to restrict water movement to adjacent properties; and  
• A shallow turf grass basin in John Street Reserve to increase water infiltration and reduce peak stormwater loads.

The preliminary stormwater modelling indicates these measures will have little benefit unless the level at the entry of the private access lane west of the reserve is raised. We will be meeting adjacent residents to discuss possible improvements.

Additional site survey is needed to finalise the flood modelling and assess the potential impacts of stormwater and run off. The surveyor will be in the area over the coming weeks.

Parking - The on-site parking spaces adjacent to the amenities building will be removed to increase the park area. We are investigating the provision of additional on-street parking spaces in the surrounding streets.  Some options may include:

• Relocate the John St Reserve park maintenance service entry (1 space)
• After hours parking in St James Lane (2 spaces).

We are currently seeking RMS approval of the Shared Zone in John Street, St James Avenue & Woolley Lane. Further resident notifications will be undertaken if changes to the on-street parking are proposed.

We will hold ongoing meetings with interested stakeholders including Blue Wren Sub Committee and the Friends of John Street Reserve to provide an update and seek input into the design. Meetings will be arranged as needed and it is anticipated these will be held bimonthly in the park.  The next meeting is on site on Wednesday 15 May 2013 at 4:30pm. Please contact us if you would liked to be involved.

As part of planning for the project, the City is undertaking a number of feasibility and technical studies. The studies includes:

John Street Reserve Contamination

A preliminary contamination study has confirmed that John Street Reserve had previous industrial uses and contains poor quality soil and ash fill.

As part of the renewal project, soil remediation works will be undertaken to make the reserve suitable for public use. The decontamination and remediation works will result in the removal and capping of some soil areas in the park. We are currently investigating measures to reduce the impacts to existing trees and plantings in the park.

A Development Application will be submitted for the remediation works. Further information will be posted up on this page as it becomes available.

Flood Mitigations Works

A flood study of the Johnstons Creek catchment area identified potential flooding to the rear of properties on Hegarty Street, adjacent to John Street Reserve. A range of improvement works are proposed to reduce the frequency and mitigate the severity of potential inundation. These include:

• A low park boundary wall on John Street to deflect stormwater flow along John Street to Hegarty Street;
• A 300mm high raised mound (levy) and barrier fence along the western park boundary to restrict water movement;
• A shallow turf grass basin in John Street Reserve to increase water infiltration and reduce peak stormwater loads; and
• An additional pit in Woolley Lane to improve stormwater collection.

Additional stormwater modelling will be undertaken to assess the potential impacts of stormwater and run off. Updates will be made available on this web page.

Parking:

The on-site parking spaces adjacent to the amenities pod will be removed to increase the park area. We are investigating the provision of additional on-street parking spaces in the surrounding streets. Some options may include relocating the John Street reserve park maintenance service entry (1 space) and after hours parking in St James Lane (2 spaces).

We are currently undertaking traffic counts and modelling vehicle movements to understand the potential impacts of these proposed changes. Further resident notification will be undertaken if changes to on-street parking are proposed.

For more information please contact Kristin Gabriel, Community Engagement Coordinator, City of Sydney. Ph: 9246 7398 or email kgabriel@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

The City will continue to work with the community on this exciting local project. We invite you to participate in the following activities:

• We will continue to hold ongoing meetings with interested stakeholders including Blue Wren Sub Committee and the Friends of John Street Reserve to provide updates and seek input into the design. It is anticipated that these will be held bimonthly in the park. Please contact Kristin Gabriel (details below) if you would like to be involved.
• A Development Application has been lodged for the removal of the existing amenities building. Please see our On Exhibition page for opportunities to have your say on the DA.
• Ideas and suggestions from the meeting with the Friends of John Street Reserve and the Blue Wren Sub Committee and interested residents are being incorporated into the design of the John Street Reserve Habitat Garden. Once the design has progressed you will be able to view it on this webpage.

If you have any queries, please contact Kristin Gabriel, Community Engagement Officer, on 02 9246 7398 or at kgabriel@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au