Green Ban Park

What a great little oasis in Newtown. Right across the street from a Woolies this clean, manicured park was a great place to enjoy a coffee whilst sitting in the shade of the well established mature trees. A respite for the kiddos too with a swing set complete with a baby seat. Nice of the council to include a Magpie warning sign too. The bins were full indicating lots of use for this park. great green space for all

Green Ban Park is a nice park within the boundary of Erskineville and Newtown. The park features a large Fig tree providing shade as well as children’s swings and grassed areas. Park benches, rubbish bin and disposable bags are available as well. Great public green space to get away from the apartment or the busy streets of Newtown. The park is traversed by Albert Street and the busy Erskineville Road and is also bounded by The Inner West Train Line to the north therefore it can be noisy.

Green Ban Parks are two small neighbourhood parks at the corner of Erskineville Rd and Albert St, Erskineville. They are rare pockets of open space in an area of high-density housing, train lines and narrow back streets. Between 1992 and 1998, residents campaigned to save the land from being sold by the state government for redevelopment. The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) joined the campaign and placed ‘Green Bans’ on any private development. It was this action that saved the parks, which is how they got their name. The tiles tell the story of the community activism that created the parks. Each frieze includes a panel of text and a screened image taken from archival and contemporary photographs, cartoons and drawings. Most of the text was drawn from the diary of Jim Plotrowski, an activist who kept a journal of the community struggle as it happened. There are also quotes from park users.

GBP is a great place to chill out and relax especially on a sunny day! Chill with coffee, snacks and or a book and enjoy been close to nature (as possible)

Walked to Woolworths from the station and after shopping for some snacks, went to sit in this park. It was incredibly relaxing, refreshing, and quiet. I saw a fully grown man on the swings vaping once. I've ended up back at this park a few times.