Busby’s Bore – Major Changes to Moore Park Carpark

Busby’s Bore piping at Hyde Park

What is Busby’s Bore?

In 1824, Governor Darling appointed engineer John Busby to find a new water source for Sydney. He identified the Lachlan Swamps at Centennial Park, a vital water source for local Aboriginal people, as suitable. To transport the water, Busby proposed an underground tunnel—Busby’s Bore—stretching 3.6 km to Hyde Park.

Construction, reliant on convict labor, took 10 years to complete, finally opening in 1837. The tunnel had numerous shafts and wells tapped along its length, including two at Victoria Barracks, Paddington. It could supply Sydney’s 20,000 people with up to 1.5 million litres of water each day.

By the 1840s, Sydney began laying water pipes, and the Botany Swamps System became the primary supply in 1859. Pollution gradually rendered Busby’s Bore unsuitable for drinking, and it was eventually used only for flushing ponds in the Botanic Gardens.

Almost forgotten, the bore resurfaced in 1934 when the part of it under Oxford Street threatened to collapse. This section was filled with sand, but much of the rest of the bore remains intact—a relic of Sydney’s early water infrastructure and an important piece of its colonial and engineering heritage.

Heritage Item

Busby’s Bore is a state significant heritage item that must be protected. It was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 and as a national engineering landmark by Engineers Australia’s Engineering Heritage Recognition Program.

Sections Discovered During Allianz Stadium Carpark Construction

Sections of Busby’s Bore were unexpectedly found during construction of the Allianz Stadium Underground Carpark. The underground carpark was planned to include 1,500 spaces to support the 42,500-seat Allianz Stadium. Following the discovery on site of Busby’s Bore, the carpark design was required to be altered as part of the Sydney Football Stadium SSD 9835 Modification No.10 to avoid the tunnel and to accommodate other needs.

The revised plans are currently going through the necessary planning and approval processes.

Protecting the Heritage

We agree with the Heritage Council’s recommendation that the Carpark should be redesigned to preserve the Bore in its entirety.

The applicant presented three redesign options to the Heritage Council, later selecting a compromise option. The Paddington Society is concerned that the revised Carpark plans do not adequately protect Busby’s Bore, with the proposed potential demolition of a 50m length of tunnel.

“…the applicant needs to fulfil its heritage obligations by redesigning to retain the highly significant and rare Busby’s Bore, and the Redesign needs Heritage Council approval…” The Paddington Society

Read the Paddington Society submission.

“Busby’s Bore is a rare piece of early colonial heritage and the carpark development needs to find a solution to deliver the project that protects the bore’s shafts and tunnel in entirety,” Alex Greenwich

Read Independent Member for Sydney, Alex Greenwich’s letter to the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces.