Cooper Park Archives - Bellevue Hill News

Roll Up Your Sleeves: Help Restore Bellevue Hill’s Cooper Park This National Tree Day

One of Sydney’s most quietly remarkable green spaces is about to get a little wilder. Cooper Park in Bellevue Hill is one of the local planting sites where residents can roll up their sleeves and help expand the park’s locally native bushland.

National Tree Day falls on Sunday 26 July. The free planting session runs from 9:30am to 11:30am near the corner of Northland Road and Holland Road. Registration is required, with all primary planting tools and equipment provided.

Registration is required, with all primary planting tools and equipment provided. Volunteers are welcome to bring their own trowels if they prefer.

A bushland unlike any other

Covering 38 acres from Victoria Road, Bellevue Hill to Manning Road, Double Bay, Cooper Park is the largest area of bushland in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, and the only park in the area with its own natural creek system.

Aboriginal engravings and rock shelters dating back between 200 and more than 2,000 years sit within the park, and a volcanic dyke formed during the Jurassic age runs beneath Cooper Creek. It is heritage listed and entirely irreplaceable.

The wildlife that calls it home is equally worth the effort. Kookaburras, lorikeets and cockatoos live alongside possums and bandicoots, and the creek corridor supports rainforest understorey plants that depend on continuous native canopy to survive. Planting on the park’s edges directly extends that habitat.

Planting for the future

Volunteers plant locally native species chosen to suit Cooper Park’s specific ecology, working along the boundary where managed bushland meets open space.

No experience is needed, no tools are required, and the event is genuinely suitable for all ages.

Tree planting — *Photo Credit: National Tree Day*

After planting wraps up, there is a native wildlife program for kids and snacks for everyone. It is a morning that manages to be both productive and relaxed, which is exactly what a Sunday in July should be.

Book your spot

Spots are free but registration is required. Book your place and find full event details here.

The event is at Cooper Park near the corner of Northland Road and Holland Road, Bellevue Hill.

Published 13-July-2026

Draft Plans Chart New Chapter For Cooper Park Bellevue Hill

Photo Credit: WoollahraMunicipalCouncil

At 17.7 hectares, Cooper Park is the largest urban bushland in the area, and new draft plans have now set out how this Bellevue Hill landmark will be managed and improved.

A Historic Bushland Reserve

Cooper Park was gazetted as a public park in 1917 and has since become a defining green space in Bellevue Hill. It contains 12 hectares of bushland, walking tracks, sportsfields, picnic areas, and heritage structures such as the 1930s amphitheatre and the Moon Bridge. The park is already listed on the Woollahra Local Environmental Plan 2014, with Council also pursuing recognition on the State Heritage Register.

Cooper Park Master Plan — *Photo Credit: WoollahraMunicipalCouncil*

Features of the Draft Plan

The draft Plan of Management, prepared under the Local Government Act 1993, sets out five categories of land: Park, Sportsground, General Community Use, Natural Area – Bushland, and Natural Area – Watercourse. These categories ensure clear guidance for recreation, heritage, and conservation.

The Master Plan proposes a range of upgrades over the next 10 to 15 years:

A reconfigured Bunna Place entry and carpark with traffic calming and additional parking bays.
Expanded play areas and picnic grounds, with new lawn spaces and creek-edge improvements.
Amphitheatre enhancements including terraces, seating, and a fitness station to support small events.
Creek and pond rehabilitation through water sensitive urban design to improve water quality and habitat.
Designated dog off-leash areas at selected sites and time-restricted access at Lower Cooper Park.

urban bushland — *Photo Credit: WoollahraMunicipalCouncil*

Community Consultation and Feedback

The draft plans follow two stages of consultation. Between November 2023 and February 2024, 155 submissions were received from the community. A further exhibition period took place from 23 April to 6 June 2025, supported by three community pop-up sessions and a statutory public hearing on 28 May 2025.

Feedback highlighted the community’s strong attachment to the park’s bushland setting, along with requests for better facilities and the need to balance competing uses such as sport, family recreation, and dog exercise.

Next Steps for Bellevue Hill

The Cooper Park draft Plan of Management and Master Plan, now updated with community input, was presented to Woollahra Council’s Environmental Planning Committee on Monday, 1 September 2025, at 6:30 p.m. If adopted, the plans will guide the long-term future of Cooper Park, ensuring it remains a central natural and heritage space for Bellevue Hill.

Published 3-Sep-2025

A Canine Perspective By Cheecka, the Poodle

Bellevue Hill, a suburb known for its millionaire’s mansions and pricey private schools, has a different charm when seen from below the knee. For me, Cheecka, a resident poodle, the real action happens in the parks and on the streets.

Living with my fellow canine, Freddie, and our three humans in Bondi Junction, we find the suburb lacking in dog-friendly spaces. However, a quick walk along Victoria Road takes us to Bellevue Hill, home to our favourite parks in Sydney.

The heritage-listed Cooper Park is a beautiful bushland reserve with walking tracks, tennis courts, cricket nets, and sports fields. Freddie and I love running down the steep stairs from Victoria Road, past the sweaty humans and their personal trainers, and rolling around in the dirt.

**Cheecka and Freddie stroll through Cooper Park with their human**
Photo Credit: Wolter Peeters

Bellevue Park, hidden behind the primary school, offers spectacular views of Sydney Harbour, South Head, and Bondi Beach. It’s also my favourite spot to relieve myself, although the council could provide more dog poo bags and water taps for our convenience.

Bellevue Hill is a haven for dogs, with its grassy and tree-shaded streets. There are a few cats to dodge, especially a ginger tabby on Birriga Road, but Freddie and I can usually scare them away with our bark.

We always receive a lot of attention from shoppers at the Bellevue Hill shops, who stop to pat us and admire our looks. Not all shop owners allow dogs inside, but we sometimes accompany our human to Crave Wares, a homeware store.

Further down Bellevue Road are Gin Heaven and the Bellevue Hill Bottle Shop, popular spots with the humans. Freddie and I prefer The Grumpy Baker, where the staff always leave water bowls and sometimes share a bite of a croissant.

**Meeting some fur friends at The Grumpy Baker**
Photo Credit: Wolter Peeters

The local vet clinic hosts regular puppy parties for youngsters to meet new playmates. The vets are always gentle when they give us vaccinations or worm us, even if one asked my owner about my weight.

In the eastern suburbs, you can never be too skinny or rich, but for us dogs, it’s all about the parks, the pats, and the puppy parties.

Published 16-January-2024