The objectives of this project are to:

1. Deliver a quality building that meets the requirements of the users of Timbrell Park
2. Create an outdoor undercover area for spectating and wet weather protection
3. Coordinate the building with respect to adjacent upgrades at Timbrell Park and surrounds
4. Complete the project in a timely manner with minimal impact to park users and nearby residents
5. Deliver the project within budget

The funding allocation for this project is as follows:

The upgrade of this facility will further bolster Timbrell Park as a regional destination for recreational activities.

The design will benefit the complementary needs of a wide variety of uses including:

• Sport
• Other active recreation including personal fitness, walking, running and cycling
• Passive recreation
• Play
• Community events
• Active transport
• School activities.

The designs will include multi-use, co-located and shared features, to maximise the benefit to the community.

An upgraded facility will also benefit the local community by:

• Improving accessibility
• Increasing diversity
• Enhancing sustainability
• Increasing the number of outdoor undercover spaces
• Increasing capacity
• Improving user satisfaction

The design also reflects common themes uncovered as part of the Timbrell Park Plan of Management & Masterplan community consultation which was undertaken between November - December 2019.

All users of Timbrell Park will have access to public amenities. This includes accessible toilets, baby-changing facilities, drinking fountains and a bicycle repair station.

The building also provides change rooms, a medical room, a referee room, storage areas, a canteen and a multipurpose room to hirers of sporting fields.

The current users of these sporting fields are:

• Inner West Harbour Cricket Association
• Five Dock Football Club
• Five Dock Falcons Baseball Club
• Balmain Touch
• Balmain Junior Touch.

Subject to availability, sporting and associated facilities can also be hire by other organised sporting and community groups.

This building will be fully owned and maintained by the City of Canada Bay.

The Project Team adopted a number of key design principles, which included:

• Designing in accordance with outcomes of the Timbrell Park Plan of Management and Masterplan Community Engagement Report
• Designing in accordance with Council’s principles adopted in the Recreation and Open Space Strategy (2019):
  • 1. Optimise Capacity
  • 2. Diversity
  • 3. Accessibility and Connectivity
  • 4. Well-designed
  • 5. Partnerships
  • 6. Sustainable

• Designing in accordance with the local Development Control Plan (DCP)
• Compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and Council’s Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2017-2021
• Providing a facility that caters to the needs of existing users of Timbrell Park
• Limiting impact on visual amenity or view loss for nearby properties
• Coordinating with future playing field levels required to address drainage issues
• Coordinating location with existing underground services (notably a high-pressure gas line and stormwater services)
• Coordinating location with existing and future park infrastructure (notably sports fields, sports lighting, pedestrian paths and BBQ facilities).

The proposed development must respond to the surrounding environment as well as any current or future site conditions. A brief overview of these constraints include:

• Current and future sporting field levels
• Current and future sporting field configurations
• Current and future pedestrian paths
• Current and future park infrastructure
• Clerances to the existing sportsfield lighting configuration located to the north-east and south-west of the existing site
• Minimum 1 metre clearance requirements from underground stormwater infrastructure including main culvert line located to the east of the existing site
• Minimum 5 metre clearance requirements from Jemena underground High-Pressure Gas infrastructure located in the through-link between the existing amenity buildings
• All other existing utilities
• Stormwater overland flow path consideration
• Future Timbrell Park Masterplan design.

Yes.

Whilst the scope of the project has always been to replace the existing structures with an appropriate new structure at the same location, a number of alternate locations were investigated for the building by the project team, to ensure the best outcomes for the project. A summary of this review is provided below:

Existing site (Opposite residences at 26-28 Henley Marine Drive)

Advantages

- Connectivity to Henley Marine Drive

- Proximity to services

- Increased passive surveillance

- Least number of residential dwellings impacted

Disadvantages

- Constrained by existing underground services (high-pressure gas and stormwater)

- Increased footprint of amenities building

Option 1 (Opposite residences at 32-36 Henley Marine Drive. Approximately 80m North-East of its current position)

Advantages

- Increased amenity to residents of 26-28 Henley Marine Drive following demolition of existing buildings

- Connectivity to Henley Marine Drive

- Proximity to services

- Increased passive surveillance

Disadvantages

- Loss of playing fields when open space for recreational activities is required across the LGA

- New set of residential dwellings would be impacted by the provision of new building in front of properties

- Proximity to residents

- New retaining wall would need to be constructed to suit footpath / future park levels

Option 2 (Centre of Timbrell Park. Approximately 150m East of its current position towards the Parramatta River)

Advantages

- Increased amenity to residents of 26-28 Henley Marine Drive due to demolition of existing buildings

Disadvantages

- Loss of playing fields when open space for recreational activities is required across the LGA

- No passive surveillance. Location promotes vandalism, crime and anti-social behaviour

- High cost of construction due to distance from services

- Lack of connectivity to Henley Marine Drive

Option 3 (Approximately 20m East of its current position towards the Parramatta River)

Advantages

- Distance from residential dwellings

- Proximity to services

Disadvantages

- Loss of playing fields when open space for recreational activities is required across the LGA

- Reduced connectivity to Henley Marine Drive

- Ineffective use of space between building and Henley Marine Drive

- Lack of integration with Timbrell Park Masterplan design

- Reduced passive surveillance

The merits of each option were considered with input from an external Architect, Council’s internal Project Control Group, key external stakeholders and the Project Team’s independent town planner.

The existing site was determined to be the most appropriate location for the proposed development as it:

• Allows Timbrell Park to be more efficiently utilised for recreational use;
• Follows Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles;
• Is in close proximity to existing services resulting in reduced construction costs; and,
• Results in less impacts to surrounding residential dwellings when compared to Option 3.

The Timbrell Park amenities building floor levels have been master-planned to match the future levels of the proposed fields upgrade. It is proposed to upgrade the existing sports fields to address stormwater drainage issues which impact field availability after wet weather. This upgrade are expected to be complete by mid-2023.

The existing fields suffer poor drainage which renders the fields unplayable for extended periods. The poor drainage is a result of the land being reclaimed from Iron Cove. Reclaimed land suffers from settlement which has resulted in fields needing to be drained to the constructed swamp in the middle of the sports fields.

To achieve free-draining fields it is necessary to regrade the entire surface to fall to Iron Cove Creek. The floor levels of the amenities building have been determined by the future levels of the sports fields. Whilst Council is unable to reduce the floor levels of the amenities building, the design incorporated a flat line roof to minimise the overall height of the structure.

Ground floor view loss analysis was also undertaken with consideration of the city skyline views from several properties on Henley Marine Drive with the design of the structure intended to sit within the existing landscape view on the far side of the park.

The existing amenities buildings are no longer fit-for-purpose and do not cater to any of the following needs, which the proposed building has addressed:

- Cricket storage

- Soccer (football) storage

- Unisex change rooms

- Medical room

- Referee room

- Administration spaces

The size of the proposed facility reflects the minimum sizing requirements of a modern sporting facility in keeping with the National Construction Standards, Facility Design Guidelines and Council's Recreation and Open Space Strategy (see Key Design Principles).

The proposed size of Timbrell Park is similar to other amenities recently completed in the City of Canada Bay including Campbell Park Amenities in Chiswick and Majors Bay Reserve Amenities in Concord.

This proposed development will not result in any intensification or change in use of Timbrell Park. This project relates to the upgrade of the existing amenities facilities.

For more information on the proposed Plan of Management & Masterplan works please refer to the Collaborate page.

Existing traffic and parking arrangements will not be impacted by this development. The upgraded facility will cater to existing users and will not result in any intensification or change in use of Timbrell Park.

A number of parking and traffic issues have been raised surrounding Timbrell Park. Whilst these are separate to the building upgrade, Council is addressing these as part of the Timbrell Park Masterplan upgrade works.

Yes. A Heritage Impact Statement has been submitted as part of the Development Application with respect to the Aboriginal heritage discovery (middens) at the south-east of Timbrell Park.

As part of the Development Application assessment process, a referral was made to Heritage NSW who are providing comments on the Development Application.

As part of our due diligence, council has since engaged an archaeologist specialing in Aboriginal artefacts to undertake an assessment of the proposed building site.

There are a number of ways in which Council is seeking community consultation at the various stages of the project.

Stage 1: Initial Timbrell Park Plan of Management & Masterplan Community Consultation (Nov - Dec 2019)

Extensive community engagement was undertaken between 12 November and 13 December 2019 to inform the community and provide opportunity for input on future planning for Timbrell Park including the proposed upgrade to amenities.

The community could obtain information about the project and provide their feedback by 15 December 2019 in several ways, including:

• Attending one of the five drop-in sessions in the park
• Completing the online survey on Collaborate Canada Bay
• Pinning a comment on Social Map on Collaborate Canada Bay
• Emailing council@canadabay.nsw.gov.au
• Posting to Locked Bag 1470, Drummoyne NSW 1470
• Calling 9911 6555.

The outcomes of this consultation will be made available on Council's website. See https://www.collaborate.canadabay.nsw.gov.au/timbrell-park-POM for more information

Stage 2: Initial Development Application Community Feedback (Jun - Jul 2020)

The initial Development Application (DA2020/0137) was placed on public exhibition for a period of 21 days from June 2020 to 7 July 2020 by Council’s Planning Team.

Any submissions received during this period were reviewed by Council's Planning Team and considered through the development assessment process.

Stage 3: Additional Community Consultation (Post initial DA lodgement) (Aug - Oct 2020)

Following the initial Development Application's public notifications feedback, a number of Council resolutions were adopted to address the communities concerns. In order to assist in addressing there concerns a Committee was formed comprising of the project team, three (3) residents from the local community and representatives of the sporting clubs, Balmain Junior Touch, Inner West Harbour Cricket Association and Football Club Five Dock. The aim of the Committee Meeting was to provide an opportunity for resident representative to discuss key concerns directly with members of the Timbrell Park Amenities Project team, comprising Council Officers, architects and engineers.

Stage 4: Re-submitted Development Application Community Feedback (Oct - Nov 2020)

The revised Development Application will be placed on public exhibition for a period of 21 days by Council's Planning Team.

Any submissions received during this period were reviewed by Council's Planning Team and considered through the development assessment process.

Stage 5: Local Planning Panel Meeting Address

Following an independent assessment of the Development Application, the matter will be referred to a Local Planning Panel meeting.

Local Planning Panel meetings are open to the general public. If you have made a submission on the application, you will be notified of the Panel meeting date on which the application is to be considered. The notification letter will include details on how to register to address the Panel meeting prior to the application being determined. Download the Request to Address Panel Meeting form.