Canterbury’s Past, Present and possible Future

Canterbury in Sydney’s south-west seems more like a place to travel through or use as a transport exchange, rather than a destination unless you live there.

However, according to NSW Planning’s website, big plans are afoot.

In the past, Canterbury Racecourse was Canterbury’s major attraction.

Canterbury Racecourse Saddling Paddock 1905, The Town and Country Journal

Canterbury Racecourse empty, today

The racecourse is no longer as popular as it was in 1905. Planning NSW received feedback from the community that, ‘Canterbury Racecourse should be considered for potential residential development and public open space.’

In the mid-1800s, a toll of three shillings was charged to cross Prout’s Bridge over the Cooks River. This was a very unpopular toll.

The Belmore ’bus accident at the Cooks River Bridge, Canterbury, caused by heavy rain and flooding, The Town and Country Journal, June 1889

Cooks River Bridge, today

Canterbury’s heart appears to be the railway station on busy Canterbury Road. According to Planning NSW, the public would like the town centre to be revived and for there to be a civic hub, ‘including improvements to the streetscape and existing public open space.’

Here are some of the items currently at the railway station.

Decorative bikes

Street Library

Planning NSW envisages a new railway station entrance and an urban plaza on Broughton Street, possibly where the Art Deco-style public toilets now stand.

Public toilets to the north of the railway line on Broughton Street, Canterbury

Broughton Street, Canterbury with the public toilets to the left

The southern side of the railway station

Planning NSW would ideally like to ‘retain heritage items’ for any future developments and ‘provide active retail frontages at street level.’

Pierson Street, just up from the station, features these two items side by side.

Below are some of the street frontages and heritage items currently on Canterbury Road.

Planning NSW also hopes that, ‘The potential for a new linear park along the metro line could create a new and interesting place for leisure and recreation.’

The current walking and cycle track beside the Cooks River, Canterbury

There could also be underpasses under Canterbury Road to ‘connect riverside paths and facilitate continuous exercise loops (Tribe Studio, 2016).’

Within the next twenty years a further 35,000 people are expected to move to Canterbury. Many of them may end up using the linear parks and the continuous exercise loops once they’re built. These are some of the apartments current residents of Canterbury already live in.

This is just the beginning of Canterbury’s possible future.