Rofe Park

The view from Rofe Park across Hornsby Heights and Mount Colah.

Rofe Park is a bushland reserve in New South Wales, Australia. It has a heritage listing of local significance.[1][2]

This district park is located on Galston Road in Hornsby Heights. It is on Crown land and is maintained by Hornsby Shire Council.

History

Rofe Park was named after Councillor Thomas Ernest Rofe (born 15 June 1869[3]).

Rofe was a Sydney-based philanthropist and President of Hornsby Shire Council[4] who donated land for Hornsby Hospital that was to be situated on the land that is now Rofe Park.[5]

Archaeologist Margrit Koettig reported in 1996 that Rofe Park contains no known Aboriginal relics.[6]

Facilities

The main oval is laid out with a number of baseball diamonds. Baseball is played during summer and Aussie Rules football during winter. For training purposes, the playing area can be lit using a number of light poles, fitted with QI lamps. Surrounding the main oval is a 717 metre long concrete path that is used for walking and cycling. There are also playgrounds, a synpave tennis court, and an off-leash dog area.

A temporary helicopter landing pad set up on Rofe Park during the bushfire in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park in January 2007. Helicopters and refueling tanks are visible in this photograph.

Mobile Phone Tower

As of 2008, Telstra has applied to install a mobile phone tower in the park.[7] The application is being opposed by a number of residents of the area.[8]

The tower and associated equipment hut were installed in June and July 2009. The 30 metre tower features a compact 2100 MHz 3g Antenna array above the field lighting.

References

  1. ^ Hornsby Shire Local Environmental Plan 1994, Page 136 (PDF)
  2. ^ NSW Heritage Database
  3. ^ Item 20, Ku-ring-gai Council meeting, August 2007 (PDF)
  4. ^ Rofe, Thomas Ernest (1869 - 1945), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition
  5. ^ Community Land and Crown Reserves Generic Plan of Management (PDF)
  6. ^ Margrit Koettig, Archaeological Services (1996) Hornsby Shire Aboriginal Heritage Study.
  7. ^ Hornsby Shire Council: Development Application No. 1931/2007
  8. ^ Danielle Long, Locals, Telstra are poles apart, Hornsby Advocate, 2008-05-29

33°40′50″S 151°05′57″E / 33.680516°S 151.099245°E / -33.680516; 151.099245