27 July 2026
Kirribilli and Lavender Bay residents have launched a campaign calling on Premier Chris Minns to intervene and return Bradfield Park South to public use.
The harbourfront land beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge remains partly fenced off and occupied by Transport for NSW as a works compound, despite arrangements connected with construction of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel concluding in 2023, according to campaign organisers.
The community groups say the land should be returned to North Sydney Council, remediated at the state government’s expense and restored as public parkland.
Bradfield Park South commands views of the Sydney Opera House, Circular Quay and the CBD and sits within the Opera House’s UNESCO World Heritage buffer zone. Organisers describe it as one of Sydney’s most significant public spaces.
“No one disputes the need for essential infrastructure maintenance,” the campaign said.
“What people cannot understand is why one of Australia’s premier harbour parks is still being used as unauthorised works depots years after the original arrangements ended.”
The organisers say Bradfield Park was vested in North Sydney Council in the 1930s to be held in trust for public recreation. Sections were later transferred to the roads authority for construction of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel, with an expectation that the land would ultimately be returned to the council.
They claim the site has suffered substantial damage and may require extensive remediation before it can safely reopen. Photographs distributed with the campaign material show construction equipment and containers beneath the bridge, as well as areas of bare and disturbed ground.
The campaign argues Transport for NSW’s present use of the land falls outside the purposes authorised under the Sydney Harbour Tunnel legislation. It supports continuing maintenance of the Harbour Bridge but opposes the long-term occupation of foreshore parkland.
A town hall meeting will be held at 6.30pm on Tuesday, July 28, at the Great Hall of St Aloysius College, 47 Upper Pitt Street, Kirribilli.
The meeting will bring together residents, politicians and community organisations and launch a petition and letter-writing campaign urging the Premier to direct Transport for NSW to vacate and repair the site.
Campaign organisers said the issue had become “a question of governance and fairness”.
“Sydney’s most valuable public spaces should not remain indefinitely occupied and degraded by government agencies,” they said.