NEWINGTON ARMAMENT DEPOT AND NATURE RESERVE SYDNEY OLYMPIC PARK CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN VOLUME ONE Prepared for Sydney Olympic Park Authority September 2013 Issue C DOCUMENT / STATUS REGISTER Issue Date Purpose Written Approved P1 12 September 2011 Preliminary draft: 50% completion RL/MT/TB/MD P2 7 October 2011 Revised 50% draft issue RL/MT/TB/MD P3 October 2011 Draft for client review RL/MT/TB/MD P4 24 January 2012 Final draft for client review RL/MT/TB CMJ A February 2012 Final issue RL B 4 May 2012 NSW Heritage Office Endorsement RL CMJ C 24 September 2013 Heritage Council Endorsed Issue RL NEWINGTON ARMAMENT DEPOT AND NATURE RESERVE – CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Introduction This conservation management plan (CMP) has been prepared on behalf of the Sydney Olympic Park Authority (SOPA) by a team of heritage consultants consisting of Tanner Architects, Taylor Brammer Landscape Architects Pty Ltd, Industrial Archaeology consultant Tony Brassil, Biodiversity Monitoring Services and Australian Museum Business Services. The primary objectives of the CMP are: • To guide SOPA in the conservation and management of the place for the next five years; • To establish the cultural heritage significance of the whole of the Newington Armament Depot and Nature Reserve including its buildings, infrastructure, natural and cultural landscape and moveable heritage; • To develop clear policies and guidelines for the conservation and management of the Newington Armament Depot and Nature Reserve; • To provide guidance for the conservation of the significance of the place while recognizing and providing for the need to incrementally enhance the place, increase public uses and initiate maintenance management activities. The findings of the CMP include an assessment of the Newington Armament Depot and Nature Reserve’s significance, of which this executive summary provides an overview. History The Newington Armament Depot and Nature Reserve is a place of exceptional heritage significance. Now an integral part of the Parklands associated with Sydney Olympic Park, the site comprises an extensive open cultural landscape that is intimately associated with the development and consolidation of the buildings and infrastructure of the Newington Armory for over six decades, from the 1890s to the 1940s, and the regenerating wetland and forest of the Nature Reserve. Originally part of an estate owned by wealthy free settler John Blaxland, the site was resumed by the colonial government of New South Wales in 1882 for a powder magazine, on which construction commenced during February 1897. The first buildings and structures were completed the following year. The Newington Armory was taken over by the Commonwealth after Federation, and in 1921 control passed to the Australian Navy, which progressively upgraded it over the next 20 years for ammunition storage and associated functions. During World War II, the facility was greatly expanded, partly due to the presence of the United States of America’s Navy, which also stored ammunition at the Armory. The Australian Navy continued to occupy the site after the war ended, progressively vacating it between 1996 and 1999. The site was transferred to the Government of New South Wales in 2000. In 1993, Sydney won the right to host the 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games. As a result, the southern portion of the Newington Armory was developed as the Olympic Village, which subsequently became the suburb of Newington. The remainder of the Armory formed part of the concept for the Millennium Parklands, associated with the development and remediation of the Olympics site. The Silverwater Nature Reserve, subsequently known as the Newington Nature Reserve, was dedicated in 2000. The Sydney Olympic Park Authority was established on 1 July 2001 to manage the public assets of the 640 hectare Sydney Olympic Park, which included the Newington Armament Depot and Nature Reserve. TANNER ARCHITECTS SEPTEMBER 2013 – ISSUE C i NEWINGTON ARMAMENT DEPOT AND NATURE RESERVE – CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN Today the site is evolving as part of the developing Parklands, now receiving over 2.6 million visits annually. The site is attracting people from local and regional communities, enjoying a diversity of leisure activities, educational and interpretation programs. Heritage Significance The heritage significance of the Newington Armament Depot and Nature Reserve, which has been endorsed by inclusion in the State Heritage Register kept by the Heritage Council of NSW, is derived from its manifold natural, Aboriginal, historical and landscape attributes. Its natural significance is derived from the lands within and adjoining the Newington Nature Reserve, which although a disturbed landscape that is now regenerating, provides valuable habitat for rare and endangered flora and fauna and migratory birds, along with a limited number of Aboriginal archaeological artefacts. Its distinctive cultural landscape results from the integrated development of an industrial landscape combining buildings, berms and artificial landforms during the establishment and consolidation of the Newington Armory, spanning the decades from the 1890s to the 1940s. The character of the place is the result of deliberate isolation, which is still evident today and critical to the interpretation of the place. The role of the Newington Armament Depot and Nature Reserve has changed since the 2000 Olympics, and it is playing an increasingly important role as a valuable local and regional destination for leisure, recreation and education. Summary Statement of Significance Aboriginal values: Aboriginal stone artefact sites identified within the study area are representative of similar Aboriginal sites across Sydney and the rest of NSW. Isolated artefact sites and potential archaeological deposits previously identified within the study area have potential to contain small, relatively undisturbed subsurface archaeological deposits, and have low local significance due to their research potential. Although all Aboriginal heritage sites contain intrinsic cultural significance, MLALC did not identify any further cultural significance for the identified sites in the study area. Natural values: The wetland and forest areas within and adjoining the Newington Nature Reserve have high natural heritage values because they are rare remnants of ecological communities and ecosystems that once dominated this region. Cultural values: The cultural landscape of the Newington Armament Depot and Nature Reserve includes evidence of early nineteenth century industrial ventures and the pastoral activities of the Blaxland family. The site clearly demonstrates the combination of factors that influenced its evolution and development since the 1890s. These factors include the growth of the Royal Australian Navy, the advent of World War II, changing explosives technology and explosive ordnance regulations and the availability of land. This is reflected in the minimum separation distances between explosives storehouses, the evolving technology of the building stock, ribbon development through the wetland, the isolation of buildings around the forest and the development of the light rail system. The first buildings that were constructed at the Armory are unusual examples of the work of the Colonial Architect’s Office. The site contains a wide variety of functionally related blast containment structures, support buildings, transport networks, landforms and movable items associated with the storage and handling of explosive ordnance, all of which were closely integrated with the topography and other natural features of the site. It also contains significant natural landscapes, which preserve regionally rare ecological systems. ii SEPTEMBER 2013 – ISSUE C TANNER ARCHITECTS NEWINGTON ARMAMENT DEPOT AND NATURE RESERVE – CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN All of the structures, in combination with their operational fixtures and equipment and the way in which the natural landscapes have been utilised and modified, contribute significantly to an understanding of explosives storage and the evolution of the Armament Depot. The Armament Depot formed part of a historically significant network of naval sites in the metropolitan area that express the strategic importance of Sydney in the Pacific region in the early decades of the twentieth century. The Armament Depot played a vital role in naval fleet operations, being the major depot for the storage of explosive ordnance, and was historically linked to other magazine sites such as Goat and Spectacle Islands. The Newington Armament Depot and Nature Reserve still contains a rare combination of buildings and landscape features which were constructed by and for the Royal Australian Navy, the Royal Navy and the US Navy, which are of national significance in demonstrating the logistics support which Australia gave to its allies during World War II. The Newington Armament Depot and Nature Reserve, under the management and control of the Sydney Olympic Park Authority, demonstrates best-practice late twentieth century and early twenty- first century responses and actions to the adaptive reuse of historic sites and management of natural areas that are environmentally sensitive. The site demonstrates the changing cultural role that purpose designed facilities must undergo to enable effective conservation and public appreciation. Use of the Conservation Management Plan The CMP is structured into two volumes. Volume 1 is the principle guiding document that follows the