Cooks River bank restoration Freshwater Park Strathfield

Strathfield Council is currently in the last stages of completing a three part project to tackle serious bank erosion of the Cooks River and local flooding in Freshwater Park. Stage one of the major bank rehabilitation project, began in 2001 - 2002, to a 200m section of the Cooks River, just upstream from Hedges Ave, several homes in this area and the Strathfield Golf Club where under serious threat from the collapsing river banks. Since 2001 bank restoration has been completed from Hedges Ave all the way to Centenary Drive with the last stages of landscaping to be completed at Centenary Drive in the next couple of months.

Whilst the immediate aim of the project was to stop bank erosion the project also offered the opportunity to naturalise this part of the Cooks River. This had the double benefit of improving the riverine habitat and the look of the river.

There were considerable challenges encountered during the project including; finding a design acceptable to all stakeholders that didn’t eat up too much of the golf course and working within the physical constraints of the golf course and a dynamic river.

Whilst Council faced considerable challenges during the life of the project, to date the site has improved dramatically, as can be seen in the photographs below, with over 55 000 local indigenous plants stabilising the banks even under the recent heavy rain events. The riparian vegetation also provides a valuable seed source for other vegetation projects Council is undertaking.

The final proof of success has been the significant improvement in the water quality as reported by the Strathfield Golf Club’s Streamwatch member.

For more information about Strathfield Council’s on-going commitment to the restoration of the Cooks River at Freshwater Park, please contact Ms Jeanie Muspratt on (02) 9748 999.