Update 24 June 25

NSW Government to spend $50m on Moore Park project in Sydney’s East

The NSW Government has issued a major update on the future of Moore Park Golf Course in Sydney, as it hands down the state budget. $50 million has been pledged  to transform part of Moore Park South into a new 20-hectare public park, including facilities for community sport.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore welcomed the decision and posted on her Instagram page on June 25th:

NSW Budget papers released today earmark $50 million to transform half of Moore Park Golf Course into public green space and community sporting facilities! For the thousands of people in or moving into apartments in the Green Square urban renewal area, Moore Park is their back yard. Soon the fences will be brought down and this large and growing community invited to enjoy the beautiful parkland freely.

Sydney has changed since public land at Moore Park was allocated for a golf course in 1913. The surrounding land was predominantly industrial, now it neighbours one of the most densely-populated residential communities in Australia – the sort of density that is crucial if we are to address the housing crisis. In the face of increasing need for public open space, we asked the Government: “Is an 18 hole golf course still the best use of inner city public land?” That question is fundamentally one of equity and putting our public land to its best use in the community interest.

Australian Golf Digest also published an article on 25 June 2025.

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Have Your Say on Sydney’s New Park

Moore Park South Discussion Paper

In October 2023 the NSW State Government announced that 20 hectares of the Moore Park Golf Course, on Crown land, will be transformed into a new public park, leaving a 9-hole golf course to the south of Dacey Avenue. This proposal will transform a section of Moore Park South into green open space for community recreation in one of the densest parts of the city. The community is now being asked to share views on how they would like to use the new park and how the existing golf offering at Moore Park could be reimagined.

Future of Moore Park South Discussion Paper released by the NSW Government outlines the decision to transform the area on the western side of Moore Park Golf Course on the north of Dacey Avenue to public open space while retaining the 9-hole golf course, driving range and clubhouse.  Greater Sydney Parklands invites you to share your ideas on these plans for a new public park and golf offer within Moore Park.

Read the Discussion Paper. Consultation will be open until 10 April 2024.

The Paddington Society Response

The Paddington Society welcomes the additional open space in Moore Park for the benefit of nearby residents and greater Sydney. The new park will need good connections to the rest of Moore Park, Centennial Park and surrounding residential areas, as major roads currently isolate it. We recommend the introduction of pedestrian crossings and bridges/overpasses.

The new park will also need a landscape design that includes passive recreation, and Child Play, as a priority, since the rest of Moore Park largely caters for organised sport. The landscape design should also feature indigenous history, and utilise endemic species that encourage bio-diversity. We also believe that the new park needs a viable funding and maintenance plan to keep it public and not require the introduction of commercial enterprises.

In the interests of transparency, we request that Infrastructure NSW prepare a Business Case for the new Park, as they did for the Sydney Football Stadium. Submissions close on April 10 but late submissions are often considered.

Read the Paddington Society submission.

Submissions can be made by email to the NSW Planning Portal by April 10, 2024.

See more information on the Centennial Parklands website which includes the Discussion Paper.