One field underway. Now let’s finish Waterfront.

Inner West Council has submitted a revised proposal for an all-weather playing field at Waterfront Drive in Callan Park.

The revised design directly addresses the two reasons the original Development Application was refused in June 2026. Public submissions are now invited until 6 October 2026. This is an important opportunity to support a safe, reliable and accessible playing surface for thousands of local players and the wider community.

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In June, the Inner West Local Planning Panel approved the new all-weather field at Balmain Road and works are now underway.

At the same meeting, the Panel refused the Waterfront proposal for two specific reasons:

• concern that synthetic material could be released into Iron Cove during an extreme flood
• concern that alternative locations had not been sufficiently documented

The Panel did not refuse the proposal because of heritage, traffic, parking, trees, visual impact, public access or the general use of an all-weather surface.

Council has now lodged a formal review with revised designs and additional expert reports addressing both reasons for refusal.

What has changed in the revised design?

The changes are straightforward.

The lowest edge of the proposed all-weather field will be raised by 350mm. This places the entire playing surface above the modelled level of a Probable Maximum Flood and prevents floodwater from flowing onto or across the field.

The revised design also includes:

• a deeper layer of highly porous gravel beneath the field, providing additional capacity to temporarily store rainfall
• a multiple-barrier water-treatment system
• filtration to a minimum of 200 microns before water leaves the field
• additional drainage and screening pits
• minor regrading of the adjoining natural-turf field so the two fields meet safely

Expert modelling concludes that the revised field would not be inundated in any modelled storm event, including a Probable Maximum Flood. It also found that raising the field would not create additional flood hazards or materially affect surrounding properties and infrastructure.

The proposal otherwise remains substantially the same. It is still an upgrade of existing Field 2, in the same location and with the same size, surface system and intended use. There is no change to the number of games that can be played at the same time, and no change to the proposal’s peak traffic or parking impacts.

Field 1 will remain natural turf and will be renovated at the same time.

Why Waterfront was selected

Waterfront was chosen after considering other locations.

Council’s site-selection process took place over five years. Ten possible sites were initially examined, with four shortlisted for further investigation and community consultation.

Waterfront Drive was the community’s preferred location, followed by Balmain Road. Waterfront also benefits from existing sporting use, floodlighting, parking and its location beside the future BDFC clubhouse and community facility in Building 497.

The draft Callan Park Foreshore Masterplan continues to identify the Waterfront sporting fields for an all-weather upgrade.

The Heritage Council of NSW has also granted its approval for the project. The additional 350mm increase at the lowest edge of the field has subsequently been assessed as having a negligible visual impact and creating no additional heritage impacts.

Why the Waterfront all-weather field is still needed

Waterfront is BDFC’s oldest, largest and most heavily used home ground.

BDFC now has over 3,000 players, including more than 2,100 juniors and around 1,150 girls and women. More than 1,000 players use Waterfront across a typical winter weekend, while hundreds more train there during the week.

On Saturday mornings alone, approximately 550 young children participate in Tiny Tigers and Under 6 and Under 7 football at Waterfront. On Sundays, games continue throughout the day, including women’s matches into the early evening.

The fields simply cannot recover from that level of use.

Waterfront underwent a multi-million-dollar reconstruction completed in 2018, including new drainage, irrigation, lighting and high-quality turf. Council has continued to invest in turf replacement, sand grooving, top-dressing and regular maintenance.

Despite that investment, the surface deteriorates during winter and is regularly closed for training or games. The June 2026 aerial photograph of Waterfront shows the extent of the wear less than halfway through the football season.

This is not the result of choosing the wrong turf or failing to install adequate drainage. It is the consequence of trying to accommodate an extraordinary level of community participation on natural turf.

Wet-weather closures add to the problem. BDFC’s analysis of the 2024 season found that 1,146 Under 8 to Under 12 players were affected by washouts. Some girls’ teams lost close to half their scheduled matches, with these junior games cancelled rather than replayed.

An all-weather surface at Waterfront would not replace all our grass fields. It would provide one reliable field that can carry intensive use while reducing pressure on the surrounding grass fields, from Birchgrove to Rozelle Parklands.

Benefits for the whole community

The Waterfront all-weather field would provide:

• a safer and more consistent surface throughout the season
• fewer cancelled games and training sessions
• more reliable opportunities for children, adults, girls and women to participate
• improved access for players with a disability or limited mobility
• greater capacity for schools, community groups and football programs
• more time for surrounding grass fields to rest and recover
• year-round use of an existing community sporting field

The field would remain a Council-managed public facility. It would not become a private BDFC field. Together with the restoration of Building 497 as a modern clubhouse and community facility, the field would help create an active, accessible and welcoming community recreation precinct at Waterfront.

Waterfront all-weather field: Myths vs Facts

Myth: A new sporting field is being built over Callan Park open space

Fact: The proposal upgrades the surface of one existing and heavily used sporting field.

There is no additional playing field, no expansion into another part of Callan Park, no perimeter fencing and no removal of trees. Field 1 will remain natural turf and available for sport and informal recreation.

Myth: Better drainage or a different variety of grass would solve the problem

Fact: Waterfront has already received a multi-million-dollar upgrade incorporating modern drainage, irrigation and high-quality turf.

Council has also continued intensive maintenance and repair work. The field nevertheless deteriorates because natural turf cannot consistently carry the amount of use required at Waterfront and still have enough time to recover.

An all-weather surface is not a substitute for maintaining natural turf. It is a way of taking pressure off the surrounding grass fields.

Myth: The all-weather field will flood and wash synthetic material into Iron Cove

Fact: This was the central flood concern raised by the Planning Panel and it has been directly addressed in the revised design.

The field will be raised above the modelled level of a Probable Maximum Flood. The design also provides additional underground water-storage capacity and multiple layers of drainage and filtration.

The revised modelling concludes that floodwater will not inundate or flow across the field, while rainfall falling directly onto the surface will be stored, treated and filtered before leaving it.

Myth: The proposal uses rubber-crumb infill

Fact: The proposed field uses organic infill, not the black recycled-rubber crumb associated with many older synthetic fields.

Capturing any synthetic turf fibres is a central part of the project-specific containment system. The design includes a raised perimeter kerb, cleaning points at field exits, underground filtration and 200-micron filters within the drainage system.

The relevant question is not whether synthetic material exists. It is how the field is designed to prevent that material from leaving the site.

Myth: All synthetic fields are dangerously hot

Fact: Surface temperature varies according to the field design, infill material, weather and how the facility is managed.

The Waterfront proposal uses organic infill rather than old-fashioned rubber-crumb. Its performance specifications include thermal requirements, and the field will operate under appropriate heat-management procedures.

Waterfront is also ideally located in an open area, with cooling breezes and tree-lined boundaries.

As with grass fields, and in accordance with FNSW policies, play can be modified or suspended when weather conditions are unsafe.

Myth: The field will be fenced off for the exclusive use of BDFC

Fact: The proposal does not include perimeter fencing and the field will remain a Council-managed public sporting facility.

It will continue to be used through Council’s normal sporting-field booking arrangements and remain available to schools, community groups and members of the public when it is not booked.

Myth: Building the Balmain Road field removes the need for Waterfront

Fact: The two fields serve different clubs, programs and parts of the community.

Balmain Road is primarily used by Leichhardt Saints and APIA Leichhardt Juniors FC. Waterfront is the main home ground of BDFC, which has over 3,000 players and does not have a comparable all-weather home facility.

Council supported the development of two fields because one field cannot meet the level of existing demand across the local football community.

Myth: The Planning Panel rejected the Waterfront proposal on environmental, heritage and community-impact grounds generally

Fact: The Panel gave two specific reasons for refusing the original application: extreme-flood water-quality risk and the documentation of alternative locations.

The revised design and additional reports directly respond to both points. The Panel approved the Balmain Road all-weather field at the same meeting, demonstrating that its decision was not a rejection of modern all-weather fields generally.

How you can support the Waterfront field

Make a submission

Even if you supported the original Development Application, please lodge a fresh submission supporting the revised proposal by 6 October 2026.

Submissions do not need to be long or technical. A short, personal explanation of why a reliable all-weather field matters to you, your family or the wider community can be powerful.

The application reference is REV/2026/0005.

READ OUR STEP-BY-STEP SUBMISSION GUIDE

Sign and share the petition

If you have not already signed our petition supporting the Callan Park all-weather fields, you can add your name at:

change.org/callanpark

If you have already signed, please share it with your family, teammates, friends and local community.

Balmain Road is underway. With a revised design that answers the Panel’s concerns, now is the time to finish Waterfront.