Civil Works Development Application

In 2019, Council compiled an EIS and DA for the works to rehabilitate and reshape the site in a suitable way to ensure public safety and allow future development into a parkland for community use.

Key features of the project include:

• Rehabilitation, stabilisation and geotechnical safety management works around various parts of the site
• Earthworks and placement of material from within the site to create a final landform generally in accordance with Option 1 in the Clouston Associates (2014) Recreation Potential Study for Hornsby Quarry and Old Man’s Valley Lands (p. 88).

The DA was approved in 2020 and after COVID related delays work started in late 2021.

Approximately 500,000 cubic metres of spoil is expected to be generated onsite from earthworks. Much of this material would be placed on the NorthConnex spoil to create a landform that generally slopes from a proposed lake up to the top of the western quarry face and would allow for the creation of a new parkland to be constructed within the quarry void. The landform would include a lake directly below the exposed eastern face of the quarry. There would also be cut and fill works on Old Man’s Valley to create a landform suitable for future development into playing fields and other recreational activities.

It is expected that a combination of ripping, rock breaking and rock sawing will be required to shift the material. Rock fragments would be crushed onsite using a mobile crusher or rock breaker prior to placement as fill.

No additional spoil is proposed be imported to the site for filling purposes nor would the excavated material be transported off the site.

Community involvement to deliver a Master Plan

In 2016 Council embarked on the transformation of the former Hornsby Quarry and its bushland surroundings into one of Australia’s great recreational parklands.

Council was determined to deliver a space for the people, which was designed by the people. This collaborative mindset guided the community engagement. The objective was to involve the residents in deciding the vision of the park and ensuring the final space expressed the needs and aspirations of the local community.

An important first step was the establishment of a Community Deliberative Forum (CDF) consisting of 16 randomly selected residents, chosen to assist Council in the engagement process and to ensure the future Hornsby Park was designed, used and loved by residents and visitors alike.

The CDF was used as a ‘sounding board’ for ideas and suggestions and acted as an advisory group, empowering the community to say how and when they wanted to be involved in the project.

Crucially, they assisted Council by reviewing the Stage 1 ‘Plan Your Parkland’ feedback, contributed to which ideas to take forward and reviewed the final engagement outcomes.

The second stage was the public exhibition of the draft Master Plan. As well as collecting feedback on the draft plan, this stage closed the loop with previous contributors, by going back to community members who contributed in the ‘Plan Your Parkland’ consultation to invite their comments again.

The Master Plan was adopted by Council in July 2021.

NorthConnex provides the opportunity

In August 2015 an EIS was developed for Roads and Maritime Services proposal to beneficially reuse spoil generated during the construction of NorthConnex to fill the Hornsby Quarry void to a level that would allow Hornsby Shire Council to start the process of rehabilitating the site to make it safe for public recreation.

The EIS estimated that Hornsby Quarry site would receive up to 1.5 million cubic metres of excavated natural material and/or virgin excavated natural material from tunnelling and excavation activities at the approved NorthConnex construction sites. Spoil would be transported to the Hornsby Quarry site where it would be stockpiled and managed. Conveyors constructed as part of the project would transfer spoil into the quarry void, where it would be spread and graded.

The key features of the projects would include:

• Hauling the spoil from the NorthConnex tunnelling sites to Hornsby Quarry using the existing road network.
• Widening and sealing of the quarry access road (Bridge Road and track) to facilitate all weather access.
• Creating a stockpile area at Old Man’s Valley, where the spoil would be unloaded from trucks and handled with dozers.
• Constructing and operating a conveyor to take the spoil from the Old Man’s Valley stockpile site to the rim of the quarry void.
• Site demobilisation and rehabilitation of the compound site, stockpile areas and the conveyor corridor to a pre-project condition, in consultation with Hornsby Shire Council.

The project was approved in 2016 and was completed between 2017 and 2019, during which time approx. 1.2 million cubic metres of NorthConnex tunnel spoil material was used to partially fill the quarry void.

Hornsby Shire Council acquires the site

In 2002, the quarry site was acquired from CSR by Hornsby Shire Council.

Several options including the potential for housing development were considered for the site. However, the challenge of what to do with the quarry hole remained for several years.