Prospect Creek, an urban

watercourse A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams are ...

of the

Georges River The Georges River, also known as Tucoerah River, is an intermediate tide-dominated drowned valley estuary, located to the south and west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river travels for approximately in a north and then easterly ...

catchment, is located in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and

Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in the south-western suburbs. The area is located around the Bankstown railway line, to the west of the St George region and to the south of the Inner West region. The suburbs ...

regions of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. As Prospect Reservoir forms a part of the Sydney metropolitan water supply, the flow of the creek is regulated in accordance with the operational requirements of

Sydney Water Sydney Water, formally, Sydney Water Corporation, is a New South Wales Government owned statutory corporation that provides potable drinking water, wastewater and some stormwater services to Greater Metropolitan Sydney, the Illawarra and the B ...

. The creek is long, starting at the

Prospect Reservoir The Prospect Reservoir is a heritage-listed potable water supply and storage reservoir created by the Prospect Dam, across the Prospect Creek located in the Western Sydney suburb of Prospect, in New South Wales, Australia. The eastern boun ...

at the top of the catchment and flows to the

Georges Hall Georges Hall, a suburb of local government area City of Canterbury-Bankstown, is located 24 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is part of the South-western Sydney region ...

, as its

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

Course and features

Prospect Creek rises below Prospect Reservoir, north of Bulls Hill in Prospect, within the

Blacktown Blacktown is a suburb in the City of Blacktown, in Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Blacktown is located west of the Sydney central business district. It is one of the most multicultural places within Grea ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

, and flows generally southeast by east, through the Holroyd, Fairfield,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and

Bankstown Bankstown is a suburb south west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is located in the local government area of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, hav ...

local government areas, before reaching its

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

with the Georges River, at

, spilling into Dhurawal Bay in the

Chipping Norton Lakes Chipping Norton Lake is a artificial lake and regional park located in the Sydney suburb of , New South Wales, Australia. It is a part of the Georges River system. Chipping Norton Lake is managed by Liverpool City Council. The lake is an importa ...

. The catchment area of the creek is approximately , and is largely urbanised with industrial land uses, residential and open space for recreation.

Restrictions

Most forms of fishing are permitted in Prospect Creek, in both the tidal (lower) and freshwater (upper) catchments with fishing subject to bag and size limit regulations.

Bull shark The bull shark (''Carcharhinus leucas''), also known as the Zambezi shark (informally zambi) in Africa and Lake Nicaragua shark in Nicaragua, is a species of requiem shark commonly found worldwide in warm, shallow waters along coasts and in ri ...

s can be found in the creek as the Georges River is tidal up to the Liverpool Weir, and Prospect Creek connects below that point. As such, swimming is not recommended.

Recreation

The creek winds through a number of parks and reserves, with the most prominent ones being, Gipps Road Sporting Complex,

Rosford Street Reserve Rosford Street Reserve, or Rosford Reserve, is an urban park and nature reserve situated in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The reserve contains an open grassland, woodlands and recreational areas surrounded by nati ...

and the contiguous Long Street Park in Smithfield, Fairfield Park Precinct and Cawarra Park in Fairfield, Fairfield Road Park in

Yennora Yennora is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 29 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district. The residential part of the suburb is primarily in the local government area of the City of Fairfield, alt ...

, Makepeace Oval in Fairfield, Carrawood Park in Carramar,

Mirambeena Regional Park The Mirambeena Regional Park, within the suburbs of Georges Hall and Lansdowne Lansdowne or Lansdown may refer to: People * Lansdown Guilding (1797–1831), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines naturalist and engraver *Fenwick Lansdowne (1937–2008 ...

Lansdowne Lansdowne or Lansdown may refer to: People * Lansdown Guilding (1797–1831), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines naturalist and engraver *Fenwick Lansdowne (1937–2008), Canadian wildlife artist * George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne (1666–1735) ...

, and Henry Lawson Reserve in

, going from northwest to southeast. It also flows on the western fringes of Fairfield High School and just north of

Bland Oak The Bland Oak, or Bland's Oak Tree, is a historic Southern live oak situated in Greater Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that is approximately over 170 years old, making it one of Sydney's oldest living introduced trees and also one ...

, a historical tree. There are walkways or cycling paths that parallel the creek. The longest, continuous walking path that runs alongside creek starts from Widmere Road, adjacent to the

Liverpool–Parramatta T-way The Liverpool–Parramatta T-way is a continuous series of bus-only lanes and bus roadways between Parramatta and Liverpool in Western Sydney. Completed in February 2003, the T-way was the first bus rapid transit infrastructure to be built in S ...

, in the northern periphery of

Wetherill Park Wetherill Park is a suburb in Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wetherill Park is located 34 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Fairfield. ...

, and ends at Fairfield Road Park in Yennora, opposite of Yennora Fire Station. The walkabouts are within the surroundings of the Australian

bushland In Australia, bushland is a blanket term for land which supports remnant vegetation or land which is disturbed but still retains a predominance of the original floristics and structure. Human survival in bushland has a whole mythology evolving ...

, which include native trees such as

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

River status

In 2020 a proposal was submitted to upgrade a 6 kilometre (4 mi) stretch of Prospect Creek river status. In September 2020, this proposal went before the Geographical Names Board of NSW (GNB) after Community Advocate Lachlan Hyde with the support of local state MPs pushed the

New South Wales Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governme ...

on the matter. This section would then be named

Lennox River The Lennox River is the proposed name for a waterway located in Sydney's South-Western Suburbs. The existing waterway is the tidal reach of Prospect Creek, a tributary of the Georges River. A proposal has been made to upgrade and reclassify the ...

to honour Scottish-Australian stonemason

David Lennox David Lennox (1788 – 12 November 1873) was a Scottish-Australian bridge builder and master stonemason born in Ayr, Scotland. Personal details Trained as a stonemason, Lennox worked on Telford's Menai Suspension Bridge at Anglesey in Wales ...

who designed and oversaw the construction of the

Lansdowne Bridge The Lansdowne Bridge is a heritage-listed road bridge that carries the northbound carriageway of the Hume Highway (route A22 at this point) across Prospect Creek between Lansvale and Lansdowne. Situated in southwestern Sydney it is located on ...

which crosses this waterway.

References

External links

* {{Rivers of New South Wales , state=autocollapse Creeks and canals of Sydney Hume Highway Georges River