Making Progress - Council Revises Plan to be eco-friendly

Hello Cyclists, Walkers, Visitors and friends across the region.

A VERY BIG THANK YOU for your amazing support. This has helped guide Council to prepare the attached Revision Plan. 

The Revised Concept Report  OCM26-176 is going before the Councillors on Monday 28 Sept 2026.
Please ask your Councillors to support the Report Recommendations.
This REVISION fulfills more of Council's own Environmental Sustainability Strategies and Goals, than the initial Draft Concept.

Your interest to "get it right" has ensured the project progressed beyond a "97% public support" to actually redesign for both Access Improvement, Heritage archaeology and better ecological experience for all visitors and wildlife... Overall Nature Positive with greater Design Connection to Country.

Today the City of Parramatta has published this Summary:

In response to feedback received during and post the public exhibition period, Council updated the concept design with several changes made to address concerns and suggestions raised in relation to:

• Environmental impacts and loss of habitat
• Overuse of concrete and no clear link to Designing with Country
• Accessibility, safety and conflicts on paths
• Connectivity gaps and issues
• Bridge design and location

It is recommended you read through Council Officer's Responses to all the Submitted Comments
In more detail Council advises:

• The revised design has significantly reduced the scale of intervention into the landform and foreshore edge through:
• • Locating the entire southern foreshore boardwalk on piers clear of the foreshore, and
• • Revising the accessible link between Foreshore and Street from an on-grade path to an elevated walkway on piers, that follows the slope of the river embankment. This has removed the requirement for significant excavation and eliminates the landform changes to the upper-level park adjacent to Jeffrey House. Landform and vegetation impacts have been further reduced by locating the western stair on piers in a gap between mature trees using prefabricated construction.
• As a result of these measures the extent of retained natural riverbank has almost doubled from 190 linear meters to 326.  In localised areas where retaining is still required (under the O’Connell Street bridge abutments and a short length of the northern wetland), the engineering has been revised to rock-filled gabion walls above and below the waterline to soften the edge. 

In relation to ecology, the revised design at full implementation will: 

• Create a 1293m2 of new wetland habitat at the northern foreshore.
• Retain and restore 5,219 m2 of natural riparian vegetation (previously 2,740m2), guided by species lists appended in Attachment 4.
• Retain an additional 13 existing mature trees previously requiring removal to implement the works, particularly prioritising the contiguous group of high value trees on the southern embankment, near O’Connell Street.
• Incorporate 6 habitat features (such as hollow logs, basking rocks, dead tree and root plates, nesting boxes) within the design, and
• Integrate stormwater quality improvements with swales to treat runoff and reduce total suspended solids, phosphorus and nitrogen. 
• A Vegetation Management Plan will be prepared to guide the establishment and ongoing management of these areas.
• Coordination with adjacent projects, including the Riverside Theatres redevelopment, is ongoing and will continue as the design progresses to support an integrated and complementary public domain outcome. Lighting and seating are incorporated along all the routes proposed within the design.  Lighting on the bridge is integrated into the parapet.

INFORMATION on the PROJECT STAGING - 

• Project Staging -
  As previously reported to Council and in public exhibition, the cost of delivering the full scope exceeds available budget.  A scope prioritised for delivery (the priority scope) within available funding has been agreed with the funding partner WSIG and reflected in the Deed.
• The priority scope focuses on the eastern precinct (outlined in orange in Figure 13) with the balance to be delivered in future stages should additional funding be secured.  The key connecting infrastructure in the priority scope comprises:
• A walking and cycling bridge to provide a generous river crossing, safely separated from traffic;
  
• An accessible link between foreshore and street level, for pedestrians and cyclists, enabling interchange between the river and city centre;
• A short boardwalk connection east under Marsden Street Bridge, across the Marsden Street weir, to the Lennox Development for onward connection to the Powerhouse Museum via the recently reopened Lennox Bridge pedestrian portals;
• An upgraded eastern northern foreshore route, providing for the first time an accessibly graded foreshore path from the Marsden Street underpass to Marsden Street, the school, and Parramatta Park.

Great Support Everyone - lets keep up the attention to ecological benefits rolling : ))