Cities, towns, neighbourhoods: Nelson's Ridge

Case study name: Nelsons Ridge

Introduction

Nelson’s Ridge is a masterplanned mixed use development in Western Sydney. The residential parts of the development are well-linked to neighbourhood services and facilities, including local shops and community services such as child care and a community centre within walking distance. Walking and cycling paths also link houses to local public transport, providing access to bus routes along Greystanes Road.

The development is also notable for the large amount and variety of high quality public open space that is provided, in close proximity to dwellings, including many active and passive recreation, play and sporting areas and facilities.

The design of this development, as a linked, mixed use neighbourhood, rather than simply as a residential area, will encourage active living by making it easy for residents of all ages to access and use the commercial, community and recreational services and facilities that are close to their homes by walking or cycling. It also enables them to access other, regional destinations by bus.

Description and context

Nelsons Ridge is located in the relatively new suburb of Pemulwuy (previously part of Prospect), in the Holroyd City Local Government Area, in Western Sydney. It lies 7 kilometres south-west of Parramatta CBD. The site is to the south of the Western Motorway (M4), west of Greystanes Road and east of Prospect Reservoir.

The Mar-rong Ridgeline Reserve, which runs along the western boundary of the site, is the highest point between the Blue Mountains and central Sydney. The site is situated, in part, on an old pine plantation featuring remnants of the ecologically sensitive Cumberland Plain Woodlands. The area was also a key vantage point in the region for the local Darug people and is the site of one of the first Aboriginal / European reconciliation meetings held in 1805.

• The development site covers 110 hectares, of which 40% is dedicated to open space.
• Once complete, Nelsons Ridge is expected to be home to approximately 4,250 residents in 1,575 homes.

The development is mixed use. As well as residential dwellings, it incorporates:

• retail facilities including a supermarket and a number of smaller stores
• a (planned) $6 million Holroyd City community facility – including a community centre, long day child care, out of school hours child care and a youth annexe.
• an $85 million retirement village for 200 residents. Stage One is complete incorporating 23 units and community facilities.

Design process

The Nelsons Ridge site is part of the 330 hectare ‘Greystanes estate’, which was bought by Boral in the early 1980s, and which contained a 100 year old and now-decommissioned quarry. The land was rezoned by the Minister for Planning in 1999, with the area east of Prospect Hill zoned for residential use, and the western side for employment uses.

The Greystanes Estate Residential Lands Precinct Plan, and Development Application for major infrastructure were approved in 2002. The first blocks of land at Nelsons Ridge were released in mid 2003, with a display village of houses by various builders opening in October 2004. Pemulwuy Marketplace, a retail area incorporating Woolworths and 12 specialty stores opened in September 2005.

As at April 2007, there were 500 residents. The project is staged, with subdivision areas of between 15 and 100 lots. These will be progressively developed, with the whole project expected to be completed by 2011.

Evaluation

The Nelsons Ridge development encourages and enables active living in a number of ways. It is a good example of how a number of the design considerations set out in the ‘Cities, towns and neighbourhoods’ section of Designing Places for Active Living can be put into practice. These include:

• Concentrate the highest appropriate densities of housing, employment, services and public facilities in centres within an acceptable walking distance - 400-800 metres - of major public transport nodes, such as rail stations and high frequency bus routes.

The highest density component of this development is the Nelsons Grove retirement village, which will consist of 170 apartments. These are located adjacent to the Pemulwuy shops, meaning that a range of facilities, including a supermarket, shops, cafes, a medical centre and the future community centre are all located within very close walking distance. This will encourage older residents to remain active in their retirement as they are able to walk to a range of facilities in their local community. Pemulwuy shops are within five minutes walk of other Nelsons Grove dwellings. There is also a bus stop on Greystanes Road at Pemulwuy shops where Westbus routes connect to Merrylands and Parramatta stations.

• Encourage a mix of housing, employment, services and public facilities in accessible centres, to provide opportunities for social interaction and activity at different times of the day and night.

The development provides easy access for residents to a range of commercial and community services and facilities clustered at Pemulwuy shops. It also incorporates many recreational facilities that provide opportunities for social interaction and activity. These include places to meet for a barbecue or picnic, such as the Nelsons Ridge lake, and three picnic areas with barbecue and shade shelters. These facilities are located adjacent to the children’s playgrounds, providing community gathering spaces for people of different ages.

• Locate key land uses within safe and convenient walking distance of each other to encourage linked trips (e.g. shops, childcare centres, bus/rail interchanges).

As a mixed use development, Nelsons Ridge provides a range of facilities within easy walking distance of homes, and of each other. These include a supermarket and other shops, and a medical centre. Future community facilities within walking distance will include a community centre with youth annex, childcare centre and out of school hours care facility. This approach will encourage people to walk and cycle around their local area rather than use a vehicle.

• Align centres within corridors to support high frequency public transport services and further boost the effectiveness of centres.

The development is aligned with the north-south bus corridor along Greystanes Road. The bus stop at Pemulwuy shops is within walking distance of dwellings, and provides access to routes using this corridor to link to Merrylands, Paramatta and Blacktown.

As Nelsons Ridge is developed progressively to the west, towards the ridgeline, (beyond which is the employment zone of the Greystanes Estate) it will be important to incorporate effective and direct east-west links for pedestrians, cyclists and buses across the ridge. This will allow connections for future residents to north-south cycleway and bus routes, through the industrial area, and towards Wetherill Park (and the Liverpool-Parramatta Transitway), to the south and Blacktown (to the north).

• Link centres and major destinations with regional walking and cycling networks to provide safe and convenient transport links between homes, jobs, shops and recreation facilities.

The development demonstrates good connectivity between the local road and pathway system and regional pathways. This allows residents easy access to local transport links to a range of destinations.

The development itself includes over five kilometres of walking and cycling trails. These trails are directly connected to approximately 20 kilometres of regional cycle trails which link to various facilities, including the Western Sydney Regional Park. For example, direct connection to the Old Prospect Canal cycleway means that it is possible to cycle all the way from Nelsons Ridge to Guildford Rail station on a pleasant route that avoids conflict with traffic.

Walking and cycling networks link homes to a wide range of passive and active recreation facilities. Some of the various facilities located within a five minute walk of Nelsons Ridge dwellings include children’s playgrounds, parks and barbecue areas, tennis and basketball courts, a learn to ride children’s cycle course, the Nelsons Ridge lake, the Neighbourhood Square, a dog off-leash area, and the Mar-rong Ridgeline Reserve, in which a series of future walking trails are planned.

• Integrate new development with the adjoining urban structure to improve connectivity and reduce local travel distances. For example, connect housing to local bus routes and community facilities through the street and cycle network.

The street and path network of Nelsons Ridge has been designed to ensure permeability and walkability. In contrast to the complex layouts with multiple culs-de-sac that are a feature of some new developments, Nelsons Ridge has adopted a more grid-like street pattern, oriented towards key activities. This ensures that the street network is ‘legible’ to pedestrians, and promotes ease of access for people walking around and through the area. To further enhance this pedestrian friendly design, there are pedestrian footpaths on each side of all residential streets (where housing has been completed).

There are also five kilometres of bicycle/walking tracks in the development, and these provide easy access to the Pemulwuy shops, community facilities and local bus routes on Greystanes Road.

Project participants

• Council: Holroyd City Council
• Developer: Delfin Lend Lease and Boral Resources (joint venture)
• Project manager: Paul Melrose, Project Director - Nelsons Ridge, Delfin Lend Lease

Project summary

Mixed use residential development, incorporating 40% open space

• Location: Pemulwuy, Western Sydney, seven kilometres South-West of Parramatta
• Project Timeframe: 2003 - 2011
• Expected completion date: 2011
• Development value: $350 million
• Infrastructure costs: $70-80million

Getting there

• Various bus routes travel along Greystanes, Old Prospect and Merrylands Roads, to the east of the site. The nearest train station is Pendle Hill, approximately 3km to the northeast. Merrylands and Guildford stations are approximately 6km to the east and southeast respectively.
  
• For public transport route and timetable information, see http://www.sydneybuses.nsw.gov.au/, http://www.westbus.com.au, or http://www.cityrail.nsw.gov.au/. Alternatively, telephone the Transport InfoLine on 131500, or use the online route planner: http://www.131500.info/.
  
• UBD Map Reference: Maps 208 And 209
• Google map link:
  http://maps.google.com.au/maps?ie=UTF8Andhl=enAndll=-33.820801,150.92391Andspn=0.050842,0.062399Andz=14Andom=1
  

Further information

Delfin Lendlease Nesons Ridge website:
http://www.nelsonsridge.com.au/