Cover Story Back to Contents Cover Story Regional Parks in NSW Steve Douglas NPA member and environmental consultant Regional parks as a reserve type are a new phenomenon.
Regional parks are areas of open space for recreation as well as for conserving fragile ecosystems.
This applies particularly in outer Sydney where remnant bushland can be protected and regenerated in regional parks. So the NPWS sees regional parks as offering recreational opportunities in or adjoining areas with high current or future recreation demands, whilst also providing conservation benefits the order of these objectives is significant. Previously an NPA-proposed national park based on high scenic values, it features numerous nationally rare and threatened flora and some threatened fauna along with substantial Aboriginal cultural heritage. The land was gazetted as a regional park in part because of long-standing community support for council management of the area support that may have lapsed if the NPWS simply took over the area. Other reasons include impacts arising from close urban settlement on two sides and the presence of a rifle range in the middle of the reserve.