Beare park upgrade “unsafe for children”

Residents of Elizabeth Bay are unhappy with the $6 million refurbishment of Beare Park, saying it is dangerous for children.

The sandstone seawall, built before 1880, was topped in the 1940s with a safety rail which has been removed in the latest upgrade, leaving a wide flat top, inviting to children, less than a metre above the new sandstone walkway. On the other side is a fall straight into the water.

‘Year 1 landscape design students could’ve done better,’ said Andrew Woodhouse, president of the Potts Point and Kings Cross Heritage Conservation Society.

‘No safety rail was originally necessary because the footpath was lower then, leaving a higher wall. Council says they removed the rail on heritage grounds but we say it’s not only a good safety feature but it constitutes an extra layer of heritage, part of the heritage significance of the wall’

‘We don’t believe it was removed on heritage grounds: we believe it was removed because of a favoured design aesthetic.’

Removal of the railing has left a row of cement-filled holes along the length of the sandstone wall.

Residents are also unhappy with the ‘off-the-shelf’ bus-stop style benches, identical to those outside the Edgecliff Centre. Other parks in the area have benches with wider, more ornate filigreed armrests, and these should have been used at Beare Park, they say.

So too with the lighting. The modernist lamp posts, identical to some used in urban cbd sites, were out of character with the heritage significance of the park, the site of a meeting between Governor Lachlan Macquarie and Gadigal people for whom he had built several ‘bark huts’ at one of their favourite fishing spots. In addition, the orchard of Alexander Macleay’s Elizabeth Bay House overlapped the site.

These historical associations had been brought up by residents during consultation and should have driven the design, they say. The redesign should have striven for a ‘gracious, elegant feel in keeping with its heritage’ and residents are campaigning councillors for a rethink of these aspects.

Council has said it plans to add interpretive heritage features to the park.