Hawkesbury Highline
Julia Morton, Nicky Coss & David Johnston

The Hawkesbury Highline: a past connection, re-imagined for a green and blue future.

The Hawkesbury Highline spans the Hawkesbury River at Brooklyn to complete the Great North Walk (GNW). The imagined elevated green cycle/walkway atop the disused railway pylons connects both sides of the river and completes the GNW’s missing link.

The project’s adaptive re-use/placemaking foundation will celebrate and enhance connections to the waterways, green space and heritage. Easily accessible by public transport, the project is within an hour’s travel of millions of residents of Sydney, the Central Coast and tourists alike.
Just like the passengers of the Lucinda, who drafted the Australian Constitution on the Hawkesbury River, the Hawkesbury Highline offers an opportunity for Sydneysiders to immerse themselves in nature – connecting with the water, the bushland and themselves.

Great public space is delivered by storytelling that connects the past with the future. The project re-imagines disused iconic infrastructure to celebrate our heritage and create a pedestrian connection. An engineering masterpiece, these Federation era pylons are of national historical significance. The proposal imagines an accessible, green cycle/walkway atop the pylons. It is also an opportunity to tell the story of Darug, Guringai and Darkinjung people who have a connection to the river (Deerubbin).

A growing Sydney needs to understand its heritage and the Hawkesbury is a large part of this story. A bold and iconic drawcard for the region – the Hawkesbury Highline will provide a recreational attraction that will celebrate and honour the past and provide a destination for the future as well as serving the practical function of connecting the GNW.