CRCWSC is supporting action on Cooks River

We’ve recently participated in two important events to help protect and guide development of Cooks River Catchment, part of the New South Wales Government’s major Sydenham  to Bankstown Urban Renewal Corridor development near Sydney.

Our CEO Professor Tony Wong presented at the inaugural Cooks River Catchment Congress meeting on 22 August, where participants heard how the Congress will bring stakeholders together to collaboratively plan for improving the health of Cooks River and the catchment.

At the meeting, which doubled as the launch of the Cooks River Alliance’s new strategic plan, Tony emphasised that increasing population pressures in the catchment require a rethink of how urban renewal and development is carried out.

"Some of the work that the CRC has done demonstrates that cities can be transformed to provide ecosystem services. Natural systems, nature-based solutions, green infrastructure, raingardens can all be embedded into future development such that it can start to repair the catchment and the quality and hydrology of what comes off the catchment. This provides a fighting chance for the waterway to repair itself from an ecological health perspective," Tony said.

Our New South Wales region also recently hosted a Cooks River Catchment ideas workshop. We combined our multidisciplinary knowledge with local understanding and ideas to develop practical ideas for development within the Sydenham to Bankstown Corridor. Our Ideas for … workshops generate ideas that are:

• innovative, using the latest thinking from academic and industry thought leaders
• independent
• practical and context-specific, resulting in solutions that can be implemented
• backed by evidence that is integrated across a range of disciplines
• developed through a co-design process to ensure buy-in and active involvement by key stakeholders.

We applaud the work of our partners Cooks River Alliance and Inner West Council (formerly Marrickville Council), which have been working on improving the water quality and ecological integrity of the catchment for some time.

For more information, contact our New South Wales regional manager, Kristy Good, at kristy.good@crcwsc.org.au.