The NSW Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources has been charged with the task of developing the open space strategies for Sydney. The catchphrase for this undertaking is: “People in Sustainable Metro Parks.” No other state government agency in New South Wales has an established role for open space planning on a regional basis, so the delivery of an open space strategy will be particularly significant.

The development of the Western Sydney Regional Parklands (WSRP) has been a component of the metropolitan area’s masterplan for many decades. Previous NSW state governments had the foresight to set aside these lands with the idea that one day they would be needed for recreation. These were investments made for future generations, in the same way that New York City bought and set aside the land for its future Central Park. Many of the land parcels now assembled into what will become the WSRP were earmarked in the County of Cumberland Plan of 1948 to be gradually acquired and landbanked in anticipation of Sydney’s growth into the western areas. With the residential ‘land creep’ now virtually on its doorstep, it is timely for the WSRP to be formally recognized and developed as Western Sydney’s major open space.