After 17 years of countless moves while renting around the inner west, I thought I knew every suburb in the area.
asserted
I → rent → area
When finally looking to buy, we discovered Hurlstone Park, a pocket of Federation charm and gardens demurely tucked away at “the Paris end of Canterbury Bankstown” (according to one of our regular Herald letter-writers, alluding to our style and many canine companions, I’m sure)
uncertain
I → look → style
You can arrive here on foot from a nearby light rail stop, on a bike via the Greenway, by bus, by train (well, by a replacement bus for the foreseeable future) and by boat via the kayak launching platform down at the Cooks River, with its abundant bird life, magical sunsets and popular play and picnic areas.
asserted
You → arrive → life
Hurlstone Park is still a place of quiet Sundays and backyards; in ours we host frogs, skinks, ringtail possums, native bees and birds (recently a young white-faced heron).
asserted
we → host → frogs
During the cooler months I am reminded, by the sounds of hollering that reach us from the fields of Ewen Park, of my now-grown children’s rite of passage playing for one of the oldest football clubs in Australia, the Hurlstone Park Wanderers.
asserted
that → remind → Australia
We honour our past here.
asserted
We → honour → past
The silhouette of our small group of shops has changed little since the suburb’s development alongside the railway, around 1900.
asserted
silhouette → change → 1900
We still have a butcher, a grocer, baker and land agent, but lost our boot maker a few years ago.
asserted
We → have → maker
Being young at heart, we’ve embraced the arrival of cafes and small bars.
asserted
we → embrace → cafes
You’ll find us at HP Bowlo on a Friday evening, when the winning ticket of the “best meat raffle in Sydney” elicits applause and excited barking.
asserted
ticket → find → applause
In Hurlstone Park we are the sum of our parts – local artists preserve our streetscapes and our many musicians get us together on weekends; my good friend pipes at the Cenotaph on Remembrance and Anzac Days.
asserted
friend → preserve → Days
A photographer beautifully portrayed us during the harsh lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a lady I know has run a huge charity jam stall for eons.
asserted
I → portray → eons
Community groups revegetate and clean up our much-loved river area, increasingly known as Goolay’yari, (pelican dreaming), reminding us of this place’s cultural history as fishing grounds.
asserted
groups → revegetate → grounds
We are newcomers, of 25 years, to this enchanting place; our neighbours put down roots some 40 to 60 years ago, from Vietnam, Lebanon, Greece, Portugal and Italy.
asserted
neighbours → put → Vietnam
We increasingly encounter young family groups strolling alongside our planted verges, too.
asserted
We → encounter → verges
There’s little crime to report, although the pinching of fruit and plants from our wondrous gardens sometimes lights up the local Facebook page.
asserted
pinching → ’ → page
This is a place where I’ve forged fantastic friendships and made unexpected connections, like meeting a European designer who was pictorially documenting the “tile risers of Hurlstone Park”, and corresponding with a man photographing the leadlights of inner western homes.
asserted
who → forge → homes
Our potent community spirit has seen us punch above our weight in the face of multiple threats to turn our village into just another railway station with a shopping mall and shoddily-built apartment blocks.
asserted
us → see → mall
We have stood our ground against developers, past councillors and the state government.
asserted
We → stand → developers
I love this place so much, some years ago I walked its leafy streets for many weeks documenting its built character; this eventually led to council heritage studies and protections, announced to a cheering crowd at the old council chambers in Campsie.
asserted
this → love → Campsie
The Hurlstone Park Association rallied the community when the state was imposing planning changes and the metro conversion of our rail line, and you can largely thank the good people of Hurlstone Park, through their numerous and quality submissions, for preventing the wrecking of many of the historic railway buildings between Sydenham and Bankstown.
asserted
you → rally → Sydenham
Another local mounted a successful campaign to have art, instead of advertising, plastered across our railway bridge.
asserted
art → mount → bridge
Hurlstone Park sits on a wobbly political stool; many of us feel inner westy, and Bankstown is a long way along congested Canterbury Road.
asserted
Bankstown → sit → Road
The first-ever Greens councillor came from here and served for many years.
asserted
councillor → come → years
If I had my way, I’d get rid of the big McDonald’s on the boundary, and the overflow carpark of the Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL Club, which is infested with poker machines anyway, and build quality public housing.
asserted
which → have → housing
The same for the investor-owned vacant block around the corner which for years has been an overgrown dumping ground.
asserted
which → own → years
Unfortunately, the type of development we get is the demolition of solid brick villas, replaced by oversized, overpriced, boxy, single dwellings or duplexes that look out of place.
asserted
that → get → place
I often wonder why people come to a beautiful spot like this only to ruin the streetscape for profit or self-aggrandisement.
asserted
people → wonder → profit
This is a place of neighbourliness and contribution that hits the high notes of liveability – transport connections, walkability, green space, attractive quiet streets and homes, proximity to public schools; even a council-run childcare centre.
asserted
that → hit → schools
I find it ironic that successive state governments have wanted to wreck Hurlstone Park to create a “great place to live”.
asserted
governments → find → place
Right now, I can hear the echoing songs of butcher birds and the screech of a yellow-tailed black cockatoo.
asserted
I → hear → cockatoo
Soon the whir of frequent metro services will infiltrate the air.
asserted
whir → infiltrate → air
I hope that the clash and bang of demolition and high-rise construction isn’t added to the mix.
asserted
clash → hope → mix
In such a scenario, I’m sure I can rely on the folks of Hurlstone Park to emerge from their garden sheds with pitchforks and pens at the ready to defend this little piece of paradise.
asserted
I → ’m → paradise
The Aporia
