Key elements of the core facility include:

• the 20 000 seat main arena, centred on a mature stand of Forest Red Gums (Eucalyptus teicticof s) and set into a shallow valley providing acoustic protection,

• the warm-up arena, defined by a radial grass embankment & avenue planting,

• the steeplechase course, sited to protect Aboriginal archaeological sites and embrace remnant woodlands;

• the stables, inserted into a woodland fringing Eastern Creek, which is protected by gabion retaining walls and biofiltration wetland;

• the striking curviform indoor arena, sited against a curtain of regrowth woodland, and reflected in a biofiltration pond;

• large-scale dressage rectangles, sympathetically graded into the grassed hillside; and

• the hacking area, set against the Eastern Creek Forest, which is also protected by the gabion retaining walls and a biofiltration pond;

Sustainable Stormwater Management: Biofiltration System

Within the core area, threatened woodlands are protected from the potential impact of nutrient-enriched stormwater by a system of biofiltration ponds. Horse wastes rich in phosphorus and nitrogen are removed by a macrophytic filtration process. Recirculation pumping is also used to oxygenate runoff and improve water quality.

A Major Rehabilitation Program:
The Cross-Country Course

Outside the core area, the 8 km cross-country course is threaded across 300 ha of the WSRP During the Olympics, this event is expected to attract more than 50 000 spectators daily .

In early 1997, OCA, NPWS and Greening Australia undertook a forward planting program. This joint environmental initiative involved extensive soil amelioration, weed control and the planting of over 130 000 indigenous trees.

Consultation between the OCAS course designer, landscape architect and RPU resolved a complex set of environmental and three-day event course design objectives.

Olympic Overlay: A Seamless Park Interface

As an integral part of the cross-country course, the Pimelea Picnic Precinct was developed as a dual-use facility: to function as an Olympic 'spectator service node'an invisible overlay to its primary role as a regional park.

Named after one of the site's threatened plant species and sensitively sited amongst a Grey Box (E. ntoluccana) woodland, it contains constructed wetlands, carparking, amenities, sandstone picnic/viewing terraces and 3 km of walking trails.

The `Other Sydney':
Valuing Threatened Urban Bushland

The landscape responsive planning of both the SIEC and Pimelea Picnic Precinct has resulted in a world-class Olympic venue fully integrated with a regional park. These facilities demonstrate that through environmentally based site design, threatened plant communites and major recreation developments can coexist.

While other Olympic venues will showcase the more iconic landscapes of Sydney, the Olympic Equestrian event will introduce a global audience to the Cumberland Plain Woodlands.

The world will be introduced to a lesser known side of Sydney, and the awareness of the local spectators may grow to an appreciation of the true value and threatened status of their own urban bushlands.