Heads up to all walking and cycling advocates.
Parramatta City Council has opened up public consultation about its master plan for a major east–west street through its CBD: https://www.cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au/about-parramatta/news/media-release/share-your-vision-on-the-transformation-of-george-street
George St is particularly important, because it connects with the future Parramatta Metro Station.
It also has Parramatta Park and the famous gate houses at one end, and it also crosses both Church St and Horwood Place.
While cycling doesn't seem to be on the agenda, really this would be an ideal street to run a protected bike lane down. That would provide an east–west cycling corridor through the middle of the Parra CBD.
From the council:
"Plans to refresh Parramatta’s iconic George Street in the CBD as part of a streetscape master plan to improve the landscape and revitalise the historic neighbourhood are open for community feedback.
"The project focuses on the stretch from O’Connell Street on the west, through the future Civic Link at Horwood Place to Harris Street on the east.
"Design features include the installation of street furniture, CCTV cameras and fibre, tree planting, new granite pavers and the potential for outdoor dining and the community is invited to have their say before a draft master plan is developed."
More details and online feedback form here: https://participate.cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au/george-street-master-plan
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Greens voters in Western Sydney: Adam Bandt and Mehreen Faruqi are hosting a campaign rally 6pm this Sunday (13th April) at Parramatta Town Hall. Details & RSVP here: https://contact-nsw.greens.org.au/civicrm/event/info?id=21450&reset=1
"Western Sydney has been ignored by the two major parties for far too long. Communities are sick and tired of being taken for granted, being used as photo ops at our festivals while the issues that matter most to us are ignored.
"This election, that changes. The Greens will be fighting to keep Dutton out and get Labor to act. With a minority government all but guaranteed, this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for change – and Western Sydney is key to this.
"Join Australian Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, Deputy Leader, Mehreen Faruqi, and our candidates for Western Sydney at Parramatta Town Hall. Over some food and light refreshments provided by the Greens, you’ll have a perfect opportunity for us to hear from you and you to hear from us about what Greens politics means for Western Sydney and why this election is so important."
@bastardsheep.com The river and Church St frontage is the *good* side of the building. It's worse around the back.
Feeling inspired to watch some theatre?
Parramatta is set to get a revitalised arts complex, with the plan now open for public consultation.
From ArchitectureAU:
"The $188 million proposal for the redevelopment of Parramatta’s Riverside Theatres is currently on exhibition on the NSW government’s state significant applications portal, with the public invited to have their say on the designs.
"The revitalised building will feature a collection of performance spaces, including a new 1,500-seat Broadway-style Lyric Theatre replacing the building’s existing Lennox and Raffertys Theatres, a refurbished 760-seat Playhouse Theatre, a 341-seat Black Box Drama Theatre and a 116-seat Studio Cinema. A new bar and cafe is also situated on the river side of the proposed building."
https://architectureau.com/articles/design-for-parramatta-riverside-theatres-on-exhibition/
The current building opened in 1988, and it's certainly showing its age.
Current venues in the complex include the 761-seat Riverside Theatre, the 213-seat Lennox Theatre, and the 88-seat Rafferty's Theatre.
So definitely a well-needed upgrade.
You can have your say on the project on the NSW Planning Portal here: https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects/projects/parramatta-riverside-theatres-redevelopment
@jaystephens @ketanjoshi.co And then we have Australia's next great city, Parramatta.
It's a city that, roughly once a year, has a harbour...
This from Parramatta City Council itself: "From the earliest days, the changeable nature of the Parramatta River, and other waterways, has brought with it the risk of flooding.
"Today, our CBD is one of the most flash-flood affected areas in the country. Our challenge is to live with the river in all its various conditions."
https://www.cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au/environment/connected-resilient-communities/flooding
And this from a top State Emergency Service official in 2019:
"A senior SES official has warned that Parramatta's CBD could be overwhelmed by a flash flood in as little as nine minutes, giving residents little time to evacuate.
"George Jeoffreys, senior manager for risk reduction and avoidance at the NSW State Emergency Service, cited the difficulty of predicting flash floods."
You had parts of Parramatta's CBD flood in 2020:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-10/parramatta-river-overflows-as-floods-grip-sydney/11948910
And earlier this year: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-26/nsw-pseudo-monsoon-humidity-flooding-rains-qld-nsw/105095284
And of course there's pressure to put new high-rise developments right on the river edge: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-council-rejects-build-to-rent-tower-plan-over-flood-risk-20240108-p5evsm.html
In 1981, the Parramatta Eels won the grand final in the predecessor to the National Rugby League.
Many fans gathered at the team's home ground, Cumberland Oval (which was on the site of CommBank Stadium) and the celebrations got a bit rowdy.
And by "got a bit rowdy", I mean they burnt the stadium down to the ground.
Without a stadium, the following season the team held its meetings in a secondhand 1960s Leyland Worldmaster bus.
But that's not the only piece of local history commemorated by this sculpture.
One side of the bus is inscribed with the words "Flying Pieman". It's a reference to a local baker named William Francis King, who used to sell pies to people boarding the ferry to Parra at Sydney's Circular Quay in the 1870s.
After the ferry left, Mr King reputedly packed up his pie cart, then ran the 30-odd kilometres to Parramatta by foot. He would then set up his cart at Parramatta Wharf in time to sell more pies to passengers as they disembarked the ferry.
The other side of the bus is inscribed with the name "Rosie Bint Broheen". In 1922, Rosie became the first Lebanese woman to buy land in Parramatta.
The sculpture also includes some hidden messages, in reference to the Parramatta Industrial School for Girls, which was a notorious children's welfare institution that operated from 1887-1974. It was home to many members of the Stolen Generations.
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@ajsadauskas@pixelfed.social Some background on this gallery.
Parramatta Park is a large 85 hectare (210 acre) urban park immediately west of the Parramatta CBD (circled in the map below).
To put that into perspective, it's around a quarter the size of Central Park in New York (which is around 341 ha or 843 acres).
The centrepiece of the park is Old Government House, which was home to 10 early Australian colonial governors from 1799–1847.
Following this, it was gazetted as a public park in 1858.
The park features the remains of an old observatory, significant sites for the local Darug Aboriginal community, and an old bath house.
With apartments and office towers rapidly sprouting up around Parramatta (https://pixelfed.social/p/ajsadauskas/791644000604289883), the park provides vital green space for the local community.
Today it features the 30,000 seat CommBank Stadium, a large public swimming pool, a rose garden, a wisteria garden, a large playground, open green space, an amphitheatre, and the Parramatta River.
You can see part 2 of this gallery here: https://pixelfed.social/p/ajsadauskas/801721419470531081 and photos from the rose garden here: https://pixelfed.social/p/ajsadauskas/802122056432470788
Below is a map of the park, along with the path I took through it.
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