Potts Point, Darlinghurst and City East

Parks and open spaces 

Our city’s east has a number of beautiful parks and open spaces, including some of the first of XX parks upgraded by the City of Sydney since the election of Clover Moore and the Independent Team in 2004. Rushcutters Bay Park is a beautiful waterfront spaces for dog owners and families, with tennis courts and a sports oval upgraded in 2011. Beare Park, which runs along the foreshore in Elizabeth Bay is also a community favourite for picnics, and dog walking, with the upgrade in 200X providing access to a small harbour beach for dogs to play or kayakers to enter the water. 

We were proud to support the community to build a new community garden in Kings Cross, which is run by a dedicated group of local residents and is well loved by all in the community.  We’re also upgrading Lawrence Hargrave Reserve in 2020, to provide better access, new seating and new plants for everyone to enjoy. 

Fitzroy Gardens in Kings Cross was upgraded in 2013, to provide a better playground and improved access along with new plants. 

We’ve also upgraded Bourke Street Park in and Wallamulla Park in Woolloomooloo. Both are bright, well-designed parks with Bourke Street Park having a community garden. 

In Darlinghurst we’ve upgraded Frances Newtown Reserve, which is built on a former kindergarten and is now home to a community garden, and new plants and seats.

Community facilities

We are undertaking a multi-million dollar upgrade of Macleay Street to improve the area for visitors, locals and businesses. As part of this upgrade, we will be installing new pavers, trees, street furniture and rain gardens, as well as improving walking and traffic conditions on the street. This upgrade is a vital part of our commitment to supporting business and tourism in the area. 

The City’s East is home to some of our most loved community spaces, including pools, parks and libraries. Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool is a favourite of Sydneysiders for its pristine views, and regularly features on ‘best places to swim’ lists. There’s also an incredible cultural scene in the area, including the city-owned Hayes Theatre and Eternity Playhouse and of course, local favourites like Kings Cross Markets and community groups such as WEAVE. We’re supporting WEAVE with a new skate-park near the headquarters at Waterloo Oval.

East Sydney Community and Arts Centre, its a community and arts centres in a historic building for the community. It’s designed to create light and opening in the centre for uses. 

Juanita Nielsen Community Upgrade - Community building space, gym, community meeting rooms and outdoor play area. Light filled, open spaces, heritage built into design. 

Darlignhurst Road upgrade, 2005, Kings Cross, upgraded the street scape, retaining the character of the area, 100 brass plaques to tell story of characters of KX. We also installed over 100 brass plaques along Darlinghurst Road to tell the stories of people from the Kings Cross area. 

Rainbow Crossing - curved like a rainbow beyhind taylor square, symbol of our committment to LGBTIQ community and honours the fight fought byt he community for eqaulity. 

Issues

Since the Baird Government introduced the lockouts laws in 2014, the Kings Cross / Darlinghurst area has undergone a significant change, with the nature of businesses in the area shifting, and many live music venues and nightclubs forced to close. These laws were a sledgehammer to crack a nut, when what we needed were policies that prevent alcohol-fuelled violence and anti-social behaviour - 24 hour public transport,   tougher licensing laws that penalise badly managed venues, and policies that disperse venues across the city rather than concentrating them in small areas like Kings Cross.  

Team Clover stood with the community in successfully lobbying for the removal of the lockout laws, which have now been relaxed in the City Centre and Oxford Street, although they remain in place in the Cross. We remain committed to working with the State Government on a pathway to seeing them lifted, and working with residents to fulfill a vision for the area, as it transitions to a cultural hub, full of restaurants, small bars, theatres and other late-night activities.