A History of Whites Creek and Wetlands

With plenty of local chatter lately about keeping Whites Creek Wetlands healthy and alive, I thought it was a good moment to step back and look at how this much loved place came to be. This piece traces Whites Creek from its early days as a natural waterway, through its long period underground as part of the city’s drainage system, to its revival as a community-driven wetland. It also looks at how the wetlands work today, why they need ongoing care, and the community passion for this local gem.

Long before the houses and streets, there was Whites Creek, named after John White, surgeon to the First Fleet, whose land grant at Hamond Hill Farm was spread across what we now call Annandale. The creek ran naturally north to Rozelle Bay, part of what was then a network of small waterways criss-crossing the inner west.

In the 1800s as Annandale grew, this natural stream started to look less like nature and more like infrastructure. Urban development and poor sanitation pushed engineers to tame the waterway. Between 1898 and the 1930s, the creek was channelled into a concrete stormwater drain to carry runoff away from homes and businesses. What had once been a visible creek became part of Sydney’s engineered drainage system, flowing invisibly beneath our feet.

The White’s Creek Aqueduct, built in 1897-98 still stands as a heritage reminder of the time when sewerage and waterways were being reconfigured across the growing city.

For much of the 1900s, Whites Creek was, for most people, simply a functional storm drain. But in the 1990s, a new idea began to take shape: what if this buried waterway could become a place for nature and community?

Friends of the Earth and local volunteers pushed a vision of a constructed wetland next to the creek. What started as leaflets and community sketches became a real project, with design input from the University of Technology Sydney and eventual approval from Leichhardt Council. By 2002, the Whites Creek Wetlands opened on Smith Street, offering a place where stormwater could be naturally filtered, wildlife could thrive, and locals could enjoy an unexpected pocket of freshwater habitat in the middle of suburbia.

The wetlands are engineered to slow water down, letting sediments settle and plants take up nutrients before water flows on toward Sydney Harbour. They consist of a series of ponds and native vegetation that make this little patch feel a world away from nearby traffic and houses.

In the years since their opening, the wetlands have become a quiet local success story. Much to locals’ delight, birds, frogs, and native plants are regularly spotted alongside the water. But as with many urban environmental projects, they need ongoing care: sediment periodically has to be removed, litter is monitored, pumps checked, and the native plantings tended to make sure they continue functioning as intended.

Community interest remains strong as for many locals, the space is both a scenic stop on a walk and an emblem of what can happen when residents and council work together for a greener patch of suburbia. Ongoing changes and new development pressures mean maintenance and open communication will continue to matter if this little wetland is to stay healthy for decades to come.