25 May 2026
North Sydney Council has unanimously backed mayor Zoë Baker’s push to escalate the long-running Bradfield Park South dispute to the NSW transport minister, seeking a timetable for Transport for NSW to vacate the park, remove works compounds and fund remediation of contaminated land beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The mayoral minute, carried without dissent, called for council to reconfirm its “longstanding commitment” to the revesting of all Bradfield Park South land into council ownership, care and control, while continuing to pursue the Bradfield Park Masterplan despite what Baker described as council’s “fragile financial position.”
Baker told councillors the issue went back to proclamations in 1935 and 1939, when the NSW governor proclaimed the lands now known as Bradfield Park be vested in North Sydney Council on trust for public parks and recreation. She said there had since been “a very long history” of state government occupation of the park for the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Sydney Harbour Tunnel and ongoing bridge maintenance works.
“The land tenure arrangements are complex and in recent years, most of Bradfield Park has been occupied and some of it even acquired for construction purposes by Transport for New South Wales,” Baker told the meeting.
“The impact of those works on the park has been significant. It continues and there is little certainty as to when Transport for New South Wales will undertake vital remediation of the contaminated land and return the park to council and the North Sydney community.”
Baker said council officers had begun discussions with TfNSW in late 2023 about returning the land to council. She said she had also met with representatives from Kirribilli Precinct and the Joint Precinct Working Group with Lavender Precinct on the Friday before the council meeting.
Those groups sought a committed timetable for the timely revesting of the park to North Sydney Council to be held on trust for public parks and recreation, the removal of works compounds, new maintenance arrangements for the Sydney Harbour Bridge that avoid further damage to the park and address public health and contamination issues and full remediation and rehabilitation of Bradfield Park South at TfNSW’s cost.
Baker said the requests reflected council’s existing resolved position on Bradfield Park and were supported by the Community Strategic Plan and Open Space and Recreation Strategy.
“They are fundamentally in the public interest,” she said.
The motion also called for an urgent meeting with the minister for transport to discuss the timetable for revesting the land, completion of TfNSW’s occupation of the park, removal of compounds, remediation and rehabilitation and bridge maintenance arrangements that protect Bradfield Park.
Baker said the meeting should also address the significance of the location to the NSW tourism economy and state government support for the Bradfield Park Masterplan.
She said funding could potentially come from TfNSW or Destination NSW, arguing that “to make certain that the southern side of the harbour under the bridge [matches] the northern side would be an ideal outcome.”
The motion followed a series of public forum contributions supporting the mayoral minute. Peter Noble, who said he had worked on legal issues surrounding the land, told council the park had been given to council on behalf of the community in 1939 for parks and recreation, but that this had not been reflected on title.
Noble said part of the land at the northern end of Bradfield Park had been acquired in 1987 under Sydney Harbour Bridge legislation for the purposes of an exhaust valve and that, on expiry of that claim, the land was meant to be transferred back to North Sydney Council to be held in trust for parks and recreation.
Michael Bracka, chair of Kirribilli Precinct and a member of the Joint Precinct Working Group on Bradfield Park South, said the group fully endorsed the mayoral minute.
Bracka said the working group had been formally advised by Dr Marjorie O’Neill, parliamentary secretary to the Department of Transport, that the department was aware the soil at Bradfield Park South was contaminated with lead and other chemicals above Environment Protection Authority safe levels.
“The condition of the park is appalling, caused by the unauthorised works and industry of Transport for NSW,” Bracka told councillors.
“You all know the soil is sandy, dusty, unstable, degraded and contaminated. It’s disgraceful.”
Bracka said significant wind events blew contaminated dust into residents’ properties and local businesses and warned it could also affect the soon-to-reopen North Sydney Olympic Pool. He said heavy rain created erosion channels and caused contaminated material to flow directly into Sydney Harbour.
“This public health and environmental disaster is caused directly and in full gaze and knowledge of Transport for NSW and the Department of Transport,” he said.
Bracka urged councillors aligned with Labor, the Greens and the Liberals to make representations through their state political networks.
Lavender Bay Precinct secretary Joan Street said Bradfield Park South was “not simply local parkland” but internationally significant public domain within one of Australia’s most valuable tourism corridors.
She said the park was positioned opposite Circular Quay and the Sydney Opera House, formed part of the buffer zone to the UNESCO World Heritage listing of the Opera House and sat beside the soon-to-reopen North Sydney Olympic Pool.
“Bradfield Park South is therefore far more than just vacant land beneath the harbour bridge,” Street said.
She said the prolonged occupation of the site as a TfNSW construction compound diminished the public domain and undermined the international image of Sydney Harbour.
Street said the community accepted the need to maintain the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but argued that the bridge had been maintained for almost 90 years without permanent damage to the parkland and that future maintenance should be carried out in a way that protected Bradfield Park South.
She said the issue raised broader questions of government accountability, legislative intent and stewardship of public land.
“Without intervention, there is a real risk that a state agency will continue occupying and degrading iconic public parkland indefinitely, contrary to community expectations and principles of good governance,” Street said.
Councillor Jessica Keen backed the motion and said the need for remediation was “really a big concern” because the community and local schools used the park every day.
“There is a duty of care there to remediate the park so it’s safe to use on a regular basis,” Keen said.
Keen also said Liberal councillors would approach the local member on behalf of the mayoral minute and urged Labor and Greens councillors to make similar representations through their own channels.
Labor councillor Godfrey Santer said the issue was important given the tourism significance of the location. He said the local Labor branch was regularly attended by the chief of staff to the transport minister and that he would approach him on the matter.
Baker then put the mayoral minute to the meeting, where it was carried unanimously.