Drummoyne shared spaces

Town centre street improvement project: Drummoyne

Artist’s impression of the car free open public space on Formosa Street, Drummoyne. Source: City of Canada Bay Council

Answering the call for more outdoor public space

In 2018 City of Canada Bay Council commissioned an urban design review of the Victoria Road commercial precinct in Drummoyne. Council was seeking ideas about how to revitalise this area, which is dominated by one of Sydney’s busiest arterial roads. The precinct has an attractive mix of heritage buildings and retail and residential uses, but its street environments were overwhelmed by the heavy volume of through-traffic.

The review revealed the Drummoyne community was concerned about a lack of public space for gathering safely for events and informal activities like outdoor dining. The community felt that improved public space would be pivotal to revitalising the commercial precinct, encouraging a greater variety and level of street activity and improving the viability of local businesses.

Consulting with the community to arrive at a shared vision

An important aspect of the urban design review was consulting with the local community to arrive at a future vision for the character of this precinct. Through several channels, including online consultation, drop-in sessions, and workshops, the review was able to identify and express a shared vision for the Drummoyne town centre, as:

• an attractive place, with a plaza or open space at its heart
• respecting and celebrating the heritage items within the centre
• respecting the interface with adjacent areas, including conservation areas
• a comfortable and attractive place to walk around
• a sustainable mix of retail and commercial premises that activate the area day and night throughout the week
• providing sufficient parking for all users.

Generating ideas (options)

The urban design review generated several concrete proposals for upgrading Drummoyne’s town centre, including:

• closing sections of streets to vehicle traffic
• placing power lines underground
• developing a street tree master plan, planting additional street trees, and adding landscaped kerb extensions
• creating gathering space with seating, a children’s play area and public art
• extending the requirement for active ground-floor uses.

Pilot

Council decided to run a pilot program to test the ideas, starting with the Formosa Street road closure proposal. The pilot was implemented in 2020 with funding from the NSW Government’s Streets as Shared Spaces program.

The Streets as Shared Spaces program supports the Premier’s Priority to increase the proportion of homes in urban areas across NSW within 10 minutes’ walk of quality green, open and public space by 10 percent by 2023.

Assessing impacts on local traffic

Before implementing the pilot, council commissioned a study to investigate how the proposal would impact traffic. The assessment concluded traffic movements were modest in Formosa Street (the street selected for full closure), and resulting delays at intersections would be minor, so the proposed closure was a viable option. However, full closure of Church Street would have affected traffic at adjacent intersections, so conversion to one-way traffic was a more viable option.

To make these changes to local roads, council was able to rely on a delegation by Transport for NSW under section 115 of the Roads Act 1993, which cut back the usual process involved.

Activating local spaces

Council engaged the local creative community and community organisations to stage various activations, including weekly markets; public art commissions; planting and community garden infrastructure; lighting installations; disc jockey, jazz and opera performances; carol singing and a smoking ceremony.

Reviewing the pilot results

Both spaces were embraced by the community. The pilot saw over 550 square metres of road space re-allocated as public space, a small reduction in the number of cars, and an increase in the volume of pedestrians. Markets held in these public spaces attracted foot traffic of around 175 visitors weekly.

Community feedback will dictate the outcome of the pilot, along with data gathered on use of the space and the uptake of activations run throughout the pilot. If the trial is deemed successful, more permanent civil structures will be planned and installed.

Measuring success

Council used various indicators to measure success including:

• employment opportunities for 44 creative workers
• engagement of eight project partners
• engagement of council staff and contract event managers
• public space created: 195 square metres in Formosa Street and 329 square metres in Church Street
• reduction in vehicle traffic volumes
• increase in pedestrian traffic
• no incidents involving cyclists or pedestrians.

The success of the trial means that the spaces are being made permanent, with a contribution from the NSW Government’s Your High Street program.

Quick facts

Project timeline 

More information

Council of Canada Bay website: Victoria Road Urban Design Review | Collaborate Canada Bay (nsw.gov.au).