Green Ban victory: Pirrama Park

Pyrmont residents gathered yesterday to celebrate their success in creating a new public park.

Pirrama Park came to fruition because of the hard work of residents and the help of Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union green bans, Sydney City councillor Marcelle Hoff said.

Before being elected to council, Cr Hoff was the founding president of Friends of Pyrmont Point, which campaigned to create the park.

In 2002 the state government started planning to sell a site on the foreshore at Pyrmont that had been home to the Water Police.

Some residents believed the land should be kept in public ownership rather than sold for private housing.

Cr Hoff said 12 people were soon joined by many other residents and a diverse mix of schools, churches and business people.

She was also influenced by an early meeting with Jack Mundey, who is considered by many to be the father of the green ban movement of the 1970s that stopped many building projects that would have damaged important environmental and heritage sites.

With the help of the union and state Labor MP John Robertson, a green ban was placed on the Pyrmont site, so that no unionists would agree to work there.

The park – named Pirrama because records show that was the name Aboriginal people gave to the area – cost more than $37 million to create. It features native trees, sandstone artefacts and a playground for children. It has also won numerous design awards.

Union secretary Andrew Ferguson said undertaking green bans was not risk-free for unions.

"I have been a union leader for 30 years and the laws today compared to then are horrific," he said. "There are very serious consequences for the unions now."

In the case of Pirrama Park, the union did not suffer any ill consequences.

After the 2004 Sydney City elections, a newly elected council voted to purchase the site from the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority and use it as a public space.

"I think the ban had clear merit and a lot of broad community support. The last thing we need is a Hong Kong-style shoreline with high-rise developments everywhere," Mr Ferguson said.