Plan of Management Approved for Sydney's Muddy Creek

The NSW Government has approved a new plan of management for the Muddy Creek area adjoining Botany Bay.

The plan envisages commercial development along parkland on the Muddy Creek foreshore and a demolition of the main grandstand of the adjoining St George Stadium.

NSW Planning Minister Tony Kelly approved the Rockdale City Council plan for the area including Barton Park, where the dilapidated Stadium is located, and two registered clubs - Brighton-Le-Sands Amateur Fishermen's Association and Kyeemagh RSL Club.

The area also includes Kyeemagh Boat Ramp Reserve, where $260,000 in upgrades such as parking, new picnic facilities and the boat ramp were completed last year.

The plan would see the demolition of the closed main grandstand at the St George Stadium and long-term plans drawn up for the development of a multi-use sports complex, adjoining open space, and commercial facilities.

Closed in 2007, when seating in its grandstand was removed, the St. George Soccer Football Association returned to the stadium in March 2009 (although the main grandstand remains out of bounds). The Association renegotiates a temporary licence permit to use the Stadium annually with Rockdale City Council.

Association spokeswoman, and former Rockdale mayoress, Christine Stavropoulos, said it was hoped the plan of management could help secure the stadium premises as a permanent home for the club and association, which originally built them.

Stavropoulos said improvements to the grounds would benefit the whole football community, not just St George.

The new plan would fit in with the Cooks Cove Project redevelopment, which will see the relocation of Kogarah Golf Club to Barton Park as part of the development of a $1 billion commercial precinct.

However, the Cooks Cove Project has been in administration since 2009.

Opened in 1978 as the home of St. George-Budapest (now the St George Saints) one of Australia's most successful football clubs and a founder of the former National Soccer League (NSL), the ground had a capacity of 15,000.

As St George's on field fortunes declined (the team left the NSL in 1991 and were controversially axed from the New South Wales Premier League in 2005) so the ground became increasingly delapidated. This led to its closure in 2007.

In spite of this, interest in the stadium remained high, it being considered as the site for a 20,000 all-seat venue co-host the St. George Illawarra Dragons (before the NRL club decided to upgrade and return to Oki Jubilee Stadium), as the initial base for the Sydney FC A-League club and as a potential home for the FFA's planned National Training Centre.

The Cooks Cove Project was featured in the March/April 2010 issue of Australasian Leisure Management.

Images: Muddy Creek meets Cooks Cove (top) and Muddy Creek from the air (below).

2nd November 2009 - LIBERTY SWING REVEALED AT ROCKDALE’S BICENTENNIAL PARK