https://www.theage.com.au/interactive/2023/cooks-river/
"On a clear day, passengers flying into Sydney enjoy sweeping views of the most
beautiful harbour in the world; a dazzling expanse of water dotted with rocky
headlands, white sails and iconic buildings. Minutes later, planes land next to
the most tortured, polluted urban river in the country.
The story of the Cooks River is one of well-meaning destruction. Over two
centuries, its wetlands and marshes have been beaten into a suburban drain, its
water poisoned with industrial waste, its vegetation ripped up, and its banks
lined with concrete and steel. It became an object of disgust and neglect;
houses were built with their backs to it, with high fences to block the stench
and floating garbage.
No Sydney river has been as bastardised. The Parramatta, Georges and Hawkesbury
are bigger, and their catchments less developed; in the contest of man versus
river, they have been harder to defeat.
By late last century, the Cooks, which begins in a Chullora backstreet and
winds for 23 kilometres through once-industrial south and inner western suburbs
into Botany Bay, became known as the river that “died of shame”. But backed by
a band of passionate supporters, which include some of the most powerful people
in the country, the Cooks is fighting back."
Via
Guardian Australia
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
