Managing our places

The City of Canada Bay talked to residents and business owners/employees in late 2014 about Chiswick to identify what people thought about the area, what they liked, what could be improved and if there was more that needed to be done. As a result a Place Plan was produced detailing the feedback and outcomes from these discussions highlighting opportunities and constraints of the area. 

Overall outcomes were agreed upon to: 

• Create opportunities for community connections 
• Support local business and marketing in the area 
• Undertake and advocate for improved access throughout Chiswick 
• Improve the facilities and amenities in our local parks and streets. 

The Place Plan was endorsed by Council on 7 April 2015 after public exhibition. 

Since then, the City of Canada Bay has been successfully working on the above outcomes. The Place Plan comes to a close in June 2019. Watch the wrap up video below or keep reading to discover some of the highlights. 

Chiswick Connects

Chiswick residents and visitors alike have enjoyed many opportunities to meet new people, learn new skills and get fitter as part of the Chiswick Connects project. 

People now know how to salsa, play the guitar, take better photographs, eat better and exercise to keep fit.  Some residents have become so enthused they have set up the Chiswick Community Activities Group to carry on more activities in the area – see below for details.

Chiswick also leaves a legacy for others to enjoy with stories from our local community members, old and new describing “their Chiswick” as well as a history clip about the origins of the area. To check out the Connecting Chiswick movies, click here.

Improved facilities and access

New angled street parking has been put in on Blackwall Point Road and all signage has been audited in the area. The ferry wharf signage was upgraded and Transport NSW is examining an overall upgrade of Chiswick Ferry Wharf. Council will continue to advocate with Transport NSW about bus stop locations. A new bus shelter has been installed on Blackwall Point Road near Melrose Close. 

In our parks a new bubbler has been installed in Blackwall Point Reserve,  a new bin installed at Lysaght Park and at Chiswick shops. Access from Fortescue Street through Fig Tree Bay Reserve to Abbotsford Bay has been improved with a new boardwalk and walkway through this beautiful Reserve. 

Upcoming activities

The Chiswick Community Activities Group runs a range of fantastic workshops and lessons for the community. From guitar and ukulele lessons to salsa and art classes, there's something for everyone. To discover more about what the group offers, visit the Chiswick Community Activities Group website.

For further information on the Chiswick Place Plan, please contact Council's Place Management Team on 9911 6555 or email business@canadabay.nsw.gov.au. 

Nestled on the edges of the City of Canada Bay, Concord West Village has something for everyone featuring trendy cafes and a classic pub, as well as everyday goods and services such as fruit and vegetables, dry cleaning, a post office and more.

The locals are very friendly with people loving the area due to the village shops, nearby trains and buses, local schools, a large regional hospital and local parklands. 

A vibrant centre for the community, the retail strips on Victoria Avenue and Queen Street are working with Council to improve the centre further. These actions can be seen in the Concord West Action Plan.

Fast becoming a sustainable hub the Council installed a “cool white road” late in 2015 on Victoria Avenue. This reduces the ambient temperature by two degrees for visitors, residents and business owners alike, making outdoor dining and shopping more enjoyable for hot summer days. Council also decreased print toner going to landfill by renewing a section of the avenue using Tonerpave which incorporates residue toner from cartridges into the asphalt. To support the use of electric cars Council will install an electric charging station in the train station car park. 

Even our street waste is being turned into useful waste with cigarette butts collected in a special “butt bin” installed at the train station and recycled by Terracycle into items like industrial grade pallets and garden pots.

The Refresh Drummoyne program was launched in July 2010, by the City of Canada Bay in partnership with the Drummoyne Steering Committee, to create and foster a viable village style business precinct for the area. Place Partners were retained to research, audit and consult the business and residential community, which resulted in an achievable action plan to improve the precinct.

Drummoyne Village Shopping Centre Action Plan

The Drummoyne Village Shopping Centre Action Plan was adopted by Council members on Tuesday, 19 April 2011. The purpose of this plan is to shape future improvements to the Victoria Road Shopping Centre. It is based upon an invigorated partnership between businesses, residents and Council all working together to promote and enhance the many assets of the centre and the need to share responsibility for the improvement of the experience in Drummoyne.  

One of the over arching themes of this plan was to affect quick wins and long term value. It provides actions for the enhancement of the shopping centre around:

• Strategic planning arrangements to provide certainty for property owners and developers alongside the development of a Public Realm Concept Master Plan (PRCMP) to guide investment and improvement of public spaces in the centre
• Street improvements to the public realm (as directed by the PRCMP), as well as improvements to the shop fronts in the area 
• Amenity focusing upon improving communications between Council, visitors, businesses and residents, identifying opportunities to improve parking and vehicle turnover in the centre, and to improve the offers and attractions made to shoppers.

Refresh Drummoyne Project Achievements

The City of Canada Bay has already implemented the following elements of this program.

Public Realm Concept Master Plan

The Public Realm Concept Master Plan (PRCMP) will allow for the delivery of key public realm actions for the retail precinct. It will provide a longer term strategy for achievable improvements of the public realm but it should be noted that it is not a plan for major changes to existing infrastructure or traffic. This plan was adopted by Council members on Tuesday, 20 September 2011. 

Trees

The City of Canada Bay planted a large tree at the crest of the hill close to Victoria Road and Lyons Road junction.

Pedestrian amenity

The City of Canada Bay increased crossing times at the pedestrian crossing at the junction of Victoria Road and Lyons Road.

Tell Drummoyne's Story

A poem has been written about the history of Drummoyne and used throughout the street furniture in the area.  

Parking

Parking availability has been increased with the redevelopment of Formosa Street providing 12 extra spaces, turnover has increased in the Marlborough Street car park with the addition of a number of one hour parking spaces and improved parking management has evolved with a dedicated enforcement team in the area.  

More information

For further information on Refresh Drummoyne, please contact Council's Manager Place Management on 9911 6555 or email council@canadabay.nsw.gov.au.

The Five Dock Town Centre Urban Design Study provides a bold and exciting vision for Five Dock and seeks to ensure that the centre continues to provide a strong focus for the community, is a better place to live and work, creates improved opportunities for investment, is easy to get around and provides an enhanced built environment.

The Study comprises two parts:

• The Recommendations Report 
• The Background Report 

The Concord Road, North Strathfield Place Plan was adopted by Council on 7 August 2012.

In February 2012, Council started developing a Place Plan for the Concord Road, North Strathfield Village Shopping Centre (bounded by Wellbank Street and Correys Avenue). The Place Plan aims to develop a place that creates meaning and connection for residents, business owners and visitors. Key objectives include:

• Improve the public realm and amenity
• Improve engagement and confidence between Council, residents and businesses
• Enhance the environmental, social and cultural sustainability of the place
• Retain and attract businesses and residents.

The Place Plan, a holistic document, identifies major stakeholders, opportunities and constraints of the shopping precinct. It integrates social, environmental, physical and economic developments to provide both short and long term goals to help revitalise the precinct. Given that Council alone cannot successfully revitalise the precinct, we are committed to forming and maintaining strong partnerships with businesses and commercial property owners.

An action plan has been developed with five key strategies:

• Celebrate the past whilst embracing the evolving community
• Undertake activities to meet the needs and aspirations of the community
• Enhance the visual appearance and activation of the precinct
• Improve parking management
• Empower businesses to take advantage of sustainability measures and evolving technology and business practices.

Council implemented the action plan alongside its endorsement of the Place Plan. Most Place Plan actions were delivered by April 2014.

The Place Plan document, which will monitored and developed over time, is a result of robust community engagement. It will assist our community in identifying actions that respond to current and future constraints and opportunities.

For further information on this project, please contact Council's Place Management Team on 9911 6555 or email business@canadabay.nsw.gov.au.

The Rhodes Peninsula is characterised by high-density apartment living with some lower density housing in Rhodes East. In 2016, the Peninsula was home to a population of approximately 12,000 residents. An estimated 8,000 jobs are provided by Rhodes Shopping Centre, Rhodes Corporate Park and smaller businesses.

The Rhodes Peninsula Place Plan was developed in 2012. It is an 'evolving' document which provides long term strategic directions for the area, taking into account that priorities may change as the area develops. More than 800 stakeholders took part in the consultation process which included surveys, focus groups, workshops and demographic analysis. 

• 2012 Rhodes Peninsula Place Plan

• 2012 Rhodes Peninsula Place Plan Summary Document

To read more about Rhodes, click here.

In 2019 a video was created to provide an update on the progress of the Rhodes Peninsula Place Plan. To view the video, click here. 

Refresh Concord West is an exciting project originating from the business community on Concord Road. It is focused on Concord Road, Concord West bounded by West Myall and Nirranda Streets.

The project focused on the appearance of this small neighbourhood shopping centre which is part of one of the main transport arteries into and out of the local area.

As well as improving the public spaces, focus was also put into supporting the sustainability of the local business community, recognising the role that town centres play in fostering community cultural identity and ensuring that town centre heritage is articulated in the built environment and community spaces.

More details of this action plan can be found here. It was adopted by Council on 15 May 2018.