Project Details

Element prepared successive Reviews of Environmental Factors to support Hornsby Shire Council’s transformation of the former Hornsby Quarry into a major regional park. The assessments covered circulation infrastructure and subsequent park embellishment works across the quarry and surrounding park precincts.

Following adoption of the Hornsby Park Master Plan in July 2021, a dramatic transformation has taken place at the old Hornsby Quarry. The development of Hornsby Park from its time as a quarry to a recreational facility is the largest project that Hornsby Shire Council (HSC) has ever undertaken.

In the raised floor of the quarry void, a water body has been created, fed by groundwater and rainfall. From the water’s edge, the landform rises up, broadly forming an amphitheatre, with graded entry from the western and northern sides. Within the eastern face of the quarried walls, the geological formation of a volcanic diatreme has been preserved. Extensive rehabilitation of the surrounding bushland will be undertaken to create a bushland backdrop for the amphitheatre.

Subject to future design and approvals, varied settings including landscape regeneration, community, cultural and recreation opportunities will be provided in Old Mans Valley, around the old Crusher Plant and in the former fill profile area in the south-west corner of the site.

By completion, the old quarry will form a dramatic centrepiece to the new park. 

Element assessed the Hornsby Park Circulation Works in 2024 and subsequently the remaining embellishment works, including civil works, buildings, amenities and landscape works across Old Mans Valley North, the Quarry Void, South Western Platforms and Higgins Family Cemetery.

Element Engagement

Element prepared the Part 5 Reviews of Environmental Factors for both packages of work. The assessments considered statutory planning and permissibility, alternatives, biodiversity and threatened species, soils and stability, water, noise and vibration, heritage and culture, social and economic matters, traffic and access, waste, cumulative impacts and environmental safeguards. Element also integrated project-specific technical investigations and consultation into the environmental assessment process.

Project Achievements

Element supported the staged delivery of one of Hornsby Shire Council’s most significant public-space projects by providing a consistent environmental assessment framework across successive packages of work. The REFs addressed the complexity of delivering new recreational infrastructure within a former quarry and environmentally sensitive bushland setting, bringing together ecological, heritage, geotechnical, water, access and community considerations and identifying safeguards for implementation.