Contamination fears create deadlock on oversight of WestConnex parks

Inner West independent councillor Pauline Lockie, a long-time critic of WestConnex, said the parks should not become a burden.

“There’s no way our community, which has already endured so much for this tollway, should now have to foot the bill,” she said. “The park looks nothing like what was promised.”

The hill that dominates the six-hectare parkland at the southwestern end of the interchange was created out of rubbish piled up from the Alexandria landfill site, and capped with crushed sandstone.

Transport for NSW said the park would open once repair work to fix storm damage was complete and the area was safe for use.

“Both additional planting and drainage may need to be undertaken later this year to ensure a stable surface. We want a strong network of plant roots under the surface to anchor the soil. Because of the nature of this work, we do not have a final completion date at this stage,” the agency said.

The City of Sydney is also refusing to take on the liability of the 2.5-hectare park to be opened to the south of Sydney Park in 2024, about a year later than originally planned.

“The City has found that the proposed site … is significantly contaminated and the stability of the subsurface materials has not been confirmed,” it said.

The council has instead asked Transport for NSW that funding allocated for active recreation as part of WestConnex be provided for recreation facilities elsewhere in its local government area.

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Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore said inner-city communities needed new parkland, not the liability for contaminated land under a motorway junction. “They tried to silence our opposition to WestConnex with the offer of new parkland – now they want us to pay for it,” she said.

City of Sydney councillor Linda Scott said the two councils were united in their view that they would not take on the burden of overseeing highly contaminated land from the state government.

Transport for NSW said it would continue discussions with the councils over future management of the parkland at the St Peters interchange. “There are many former landfill sites around Sydney that, following remediation, have been transformed into parks and public recreation areas,” it said.

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