The public exhibition of our draft Plan of Management and Masterplan is now closed. We also recently asked for feedback on recommendations from the Timbrell Park Traffic, Parking and Pedestrian Study and proposed playing field upgrades.
We are reviewing feedback and will share an update with the community once we are ready to submit a final draft to Council for adoption.
Project updates
Overview
Project overview
Timbrell Park is home to many significant facilities including sporting fields, inclusive play facility and café at Livvi’s Place, BMX track, passive recreation and picnic space, and an off-leash dog exercise area.
Many individuals and groups in our community visit this iconic park regularly and have a key role to play in the plan’s development. The park is currently undergoing changes that are important to many community groups, including:
- The protection and interpretation of a registered Aboriginal midden site
- Naturalising the storm water canal by Sydney Water
- Upgrading the main amenities building
- Upgrading the playing fields
The Local Government Act requires that any Plan of Management (PoM) for a Crown reserve be referred to the NSW government Department of Planning and Environment (as owner of the land) in draft form prior to Council placing the PoM on public exhibition. This provides the landowner with an opportunity to review the draft PoM to ensure its interests and governance obligations are addressed.
No, the investigation (outlined below), found that the area was not an Aboriginal site.
AHIMS #45-6-3322
Heritage NSW maintains the Aboriginal Heritage Information Management System (AHIMS) which is a database that contains detailed information on over 100,000 recorded sites and over 14,000 archaeological and cultural heritage assessment reports.
The AHIMS records AHIMS #45-6-3322 as being in Timbrell Park, Five Dock.
The community was recently made aware of the location of this site in Timbrell Park when it was fenced whilst an Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessment Report (ACHAR) was undertaken.
A low-impact physical investigation guided by Aboriginal community of the AHIMS site in Timbrell Park was undertaken by Dominic Steele Consulting Archaeology on behalf of the Council.
On the basis of the findings of this investigation there was strong evidence to indicate that the shells at Timbrell Park are not Aboriginal in origin but natural in origin and reflect natural shell materials and are ‘not an Aboriginal site’.
Heritage NSW was provided with the outcome of the ACHAR. The outcome was also distributed to each of the six Registered Aboriginal Parties (RAP) for the site.
Dominic Steele Consulting Archaeology or the City of Canada Bay (CCB) did not receive any objections from the RAP to the outcomes determined and Council was advised by the Senior Heritage Information Officer (aboriginal) at Heritage NSW as follows:
I have read the Report and have now changed the status of Site number 45-6-3322 to “not a site”.
I have also attached all documents supplied to the electronic Site Card found in the AHIMS.
Council received a grant from the NSW Government for aboriginal cultural heritage interpretative signage to be installed at Timbrell Park. As Covid 19 has increased the usage of QR codes throughout the community it was determined that the aboriginal cultural heritage information provided on the signage is accessed via QR codes from these signs.
The content of the videos and podcast which is be made available on the signage is:
Welcome to Country (video) – explanation of its meaning.
Respect for cultural sensitivities and practices (video) – a smoking ceremony with explanation of meaning
Aboriginal participation in Council decision-making (podcast) – a statement on the role of the Metropolitan Local Area Land Council (MLALC)
These videos and podcast have been developed in collaboration with the MLALC.
The temporary fencing at Timbrell Park was removed following the conclusion of the ACHAR and the site made safe for its ongoing use for recreation purposes.
Draft Plan of Management
2019 engagement
Thank you for the 300+ submissions we received during our consultation in November-December 2019. We have prepared a Community Engagement Report that can be viewed below. The Community Engagement Report is a significant part of the evidence base for the development of a revised Plan of Management and Masterplan for Timbrell Park.
The project has been impacted by a number of related items:
- investigation of Aboriginal midden on the site
- plans by Transport NSW for a pedestrian bridge across Wattle St
