This 1200 metres of the creek was reconstructed to 100-year flood capacity, saving 75 properties from flooding. The project also involved the replanting of hundreds of propagated local trees and shrubs along the creek banks and revegetation of a denuded reserve just upstream of the works. As well, a cycleway was constructed along the length of the new channel for recreation and maintenance. The project was only able to proceed when affected landowners, on whose properties the original creek meandered, agreed at public meetings to give up small portions of their land without compensation or acquisition, to allow the creek to be widened. As well, in 1998, a common Plan of Management and Development Control Plan for this creek corridor was finally adopted by both councils: the first time such a thing has been achieved.

Location
Greystanes Creek rises on the slopes of Prospect Hill in the south western corner of the catchment and flows north east to meet Toongabbie and Pendle Hill Creeks immediately downstream of McCoy Park at Toongabbie. Reconstruction works were undertaken in 1993 along the 1200 metre reach between Memphis Crescent and Octavia Street Toongabbie.

Purpose
The works involved channel realignment and widening in two stages to create a greater floodway area and protect some 75 properties from flooding including 20 houses with above floor flooding. In 1992, 80 residents petitioned Blacktown City Council to rectify the local flooding problems. The petition noted that ten floods in five years had caused property damage and erosion of the channel. The channel works complemented the flood mitigation provided by three large flood retarding basins constructed upstream on land owned by the CSIRO, the then Department of Planning and the Fox Hills Golf Club. These basins reduced flood peaks in major storms but not enough to contain flood waters within what was then a narrow and obstructed creek channel, much of which meandered through private property. Many owners had the creek running through the middle of their yards and were unable to access the rear portion of their land during floods.

A bike path was constructed along the length of the reconstructed channel to improve public access and significant tree planting occurred along the length especially within adjoining reserves where the growth would not present a barrier to floodwaters. A third stage was proposed which included a large wetland to provide water quality, educational, recreational and amenity opportunities, however this was not implemented because of the prohibitive cost.

Design
The reconstruction involved a grass lined bed and banks with a rock-lined low flow invert to facilitate fish passage in place of the narrow, overgrown channel which had become a dumping ground. Between Octavia Street and Portia Road, the new channel followed the existing stream but upstream from Portia Road to Memphis Crescent the creek bed (which also formed the Council boundary) was realigned to the rear of properties on the western bank.

The new channel was designed to keep the 100-year flood flow within the banks of the creek and within the public drainage reserve, which was created at the same time. Some 40 owners agreed to give up a 5 to 10 metre wide strip of their property for the widened channel without any compensation. The owners were consulted both individually and collectively to ensure that they had adequate input to the proposed design.

Construction
The civil construction was built by contractors supervised by Blacktown City Council between May and September 1993. Two contracts were run simultaneously to meet the timing requirements of the grant funding. 100 truck loads of rubbish, including car bodies, washing machines and shopping trolleys, were removed before the civil works commenced on site.

Current Works (December 2003)
Ongoing support has been provided by the two Councils and the Trust to fund a Bushland Officer to oversight maintenance of the riparian corridor. This work has included extensive bank restoration and erosion control works, together with revegetation and regeneration of the creek-line and reserve. A Plan of Management for the creek was adopted by both Councils in 1998. The Plan proposed a Development Control Plan (DCP) that would prevent any building on private lots adjacent to the creek within 5 metres of the rear property boundary and require that this strip be plated with suitable native trees and shrubs to create a vegetated buffer along either creek bank to filter runoff, increase infiltration and reduce bank erosion and improve habitat and stream ecology. Unfortunately, It took some time for both councils to adopt such a DCP. By then most of the now-flood free lots had been redeveloped with medium density housing.

Funding
The overall cost of the project was $2.6 million with contributions (through the Western Sydney Drainage Initiative) from the Commonwealth Government ($864,000), the State Government ($864,000), the Trust ($432,000) and Blacktown and Holroyd City Councils ($216,000 each).