Save Wolli Creek Regional Park
The Wolli Creek valley, the largest tract of remnant bushland in inner south-west Sydney, is under threat.
Sydney Water plans to bulldoze part of this valuable bushland to construct an Odour Control Unit (OCU) at the gateway to the valley.
There is more detailed background on the issues here.
To Water Minister Melinda Pavey
We, the undersigned, call on you to intervene on Sydney Water’s planned location for a sewage Odour Control Unit (OCU), a large, intrusive piece of industrial infrastructure, at the eastern gateway to the Wolli Creek valley and across the popular Two Valley Trail.
We value highly the Wolli valley, its bushland and its heritage. Our objection is not to the OCU itself but to the insensitive and unnecessary location of the unit when there are better alternatives.
Our urban bushland areas are where we walk, rest and play. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the popularity of the 4.5km walking track through the Wolli Creek valley has soared to 250 per cent of its pre-COVID level.
Residents of the surrounding suburbs and Greater Sydney have flocked to quality local recreation and environmental experiences.
Sydney Water’s proposal locates the OCU at the entry to the Two Valley Trail, cutting into a natural sandstone cliff-face and destroying bushland.
It will also be an ugly intrusion too close to a state heritage-listed aqueduct.
This plan will ruin forever the striking entry point to the visitor’s experience of this unique place and seriously damage Sydney Water‘s reputation for environmentally sensitive works.
Minister, it does not have to be this way. There is a suitable alternative site nearby.
Sydney Water and the NSW Government can adopt the alternative, abandon a plan that would severely mar the start of the Two Valley Trail and the nearby heritage aqueduct, keep the bush that the local community has advocated to protect for 30 years, and complete the Wolli Creek Regional Park, promised 20 years ago.