Cronulla Town Centre Stage 2C – Town Square

Council has been working towards an upgrade of Cronulla for some time. Work completed in 2018 within Ocean Grove was an early stage of our overall Masterplan and provided the best indication of what a ‘refreshed’ Cronulla Plaza would look like. We are excited to have completed several stages of the project now, with on-site work commencing soon on Stage 2C. Our Masterplan provides a unique chance to improve Cronulla Town Centre and the Town Square and for future generations, providing a refreshed space that is comfortable, safe and inviting for people to shop, stroll, meet, gather and be entertained.

The upgrade of the Cronulla Town Centre will happen in stages, some have already been completed:

Stage 1 – Ocean Grove Upgrade – Completed 2018

Stage 2A – Kingsway Upgrade – Completed 2022

Stage 2B – Cronulla Plaza – Completed 2024

Stage 2C – Cronulla Town Square – June 2025

At Council, we only remove trees when necessary, as maintaining a ‘green’ Sutherland Shire is important to us and our community. The Stage 2C upgrade of the Town Square will includes landscaping that will deliver more palms and trees, long-term shade, and an inviting public space.

New plantings will be advanced canopy, native species suitable for the local environment. All new palms and trees will be planted to fit in with new circulation requirements (both pedestrian and vehicular). They will be planted using current best practice root management systems and will have both short-term irrigation for establishment and long-term passive irrigation from surrounding drainage to ensure they reach their full potential. This also helps reduce future disturbance to paved areas.

Following further project design assessment, all existing palms in the Town Square will be removed due to a combination of poor health, risk of disease, impact of surrounding work and to allow for the Town Square upgrade.

These trees will be replaced with 25 advanced native palms, several other advanced tree species and ground planting, in addition to other replacement planting.

When work is complete, there will be more palms and trees in the Town Square than there are now.

New palms and trees will be planted using best practice management techniques including new planting cells technology and irrigation systems to ensure they thrive.

We have replaced diseased palms with indigenous Australian palm species in other areas across Cronulla, maintaining Cronulla's iconic character. Our Stage 2C landscaping will enhance the local character of “palms” while replacing vulnerable species with robust indigenous palms.

Additionally, under Council’s Urban Tree and Bushland Policy, for every tree removed, four new trees will be planted.

The Cronulla clock is being relocated as part of the Cronulla Town Centre works. The clock mechanism is the oldest public clock in Australia, built in 1770.

It will be housed within a renewed façade of the Cronulla Central building, fronting the plaza. This location will maintain the clock's close relationship with the plaza and improve visibility of the clock mechanism by providing a glass façade. The clock has been carefully removed from the clock tower by a specialist clock master and will be serviced before being placed in storage until the Cronulla Central façade update is complete.

We will provide further updates as the project progresses via this webpage.