A stroll through Belmore Park—the green wedge that links Haymarket with Central Station—might soon feel very different.
The City of Sydney has unveiled concept plans to revitalise the historic park, built in the late 1860s, with renewed pathways, glowing night lighting and reimagined spaces designed to make visitors linger rather than rush through. This forms part of a $44 million masterplan to revitalise the Haymarket and Chinatown precincts.
Located on Gadigal Country, Belmore Park has long been more than just an inner-city patch of grass. Its 13 acres has served as a political stage, a site of cultural celebration and an important meeting place for many communities—from Lunar New Year festivities to Aboriginal activism.
Its position at the city’s transport gateway has also made it an emotional landmark for members of the Stolen Generations returning to Country.
Now, the City of Sydney wants to hear how locals think the park should evolve.
“We’ve developed this concept design with community input—and we want Sydneysiders to help shape Belmore Park’s next chapter,” a City of Sydney spokesperson said.
A Safer, Greener Connection Point
Key features of the proposed design include simpler and smoother walking paths, movable seating, better lighting to make the park safer at night and more gardens and greenery wrapped around expanded lawn areas.
The council also plans to reinterpret the historic bandstand as a creative play zone and add new community gathering spaces with event power access. Importantly, all healthy mature trees will remain in place.
Across from Eddy Avenue, the park is considered Central Station’s “front yard,” yet for years, many residents have described it as uninviting after dark.
Comments from previous consultations included calls for “improved lighting,” “better sightlines,” and a hope to “make it unique and special”—sentiments the redesign seems eager to address.
A New Chapter for Haymarket
The Belmore Park upgrade forms part of the City’s broader Haymarket and Chinatown Revitalisation Strategy, first endorsed in 2023, which aims to breathe new life into the surrounding precinct through public space and cultural renewal.
More than 1,150 people contributed to the plan during earlier rounds of consultation, shaping ideas around safety, access and community activation.
As the concept enters its next feedback phase, residents can review detailed site plans and artist impressions—featuring reconfigured paths, sandstone seat walls, new planting beds, and creative lighting installations—on the City of Sydney’s website.
Submissions are open until Sunday, 30th March 2026, and council planners say the feedback will directly inform the next stage of design.
Whether you’re a commuter cutting through on your way to Central, a protestor taking the mic or a local pausing for lunch in the shade, Belmore Park’s reimagining aims to make the space feel safer, greener, and more distinctly Sydney—a true meeting ground between city and community.
