Prospect Creek, which winds through the reserve, was an important source of food for the local Aboriginal Australians. The creek contained a number of shell middens, which were also weighty to the natives. After European settlement, in around 1883, the area that was to be Reserve was 11 hectares and was used to grow vegetables up until 1974. The athletics tracks and grandstand were built in the late 1970s and that area was named Janice Crosio Oval in 1995. The Reserve was added to through a series of land acquisitions by the Fairfield City Council by 1987.[3][4]
Geography
The reserve is fairly flat and is situated in Rosford Street, its namesake, in the northern periphery of Smithfield, with Dublin Street partially intersecting through it, Hassal Street being on the western end, Gipps Road to northwest and Rhondda Street being on the park's southeast entrance. The reserve straddles Prospect Creek, which creates the border between Fairfield City and Cumberland Council. The surrounding area is residential to the south and industrial to the north. The Reserve adjoins Long Street Park to the east in the Cumberland Council section of Smithfield, and Gipps Road Sporting Complex to the west in Greystanes (via an underpass).[5]
Ecology
The park's open field.
Prior to European settlement, the Reserve featured an open forest, woodland and riparian communities. The Reserve, however, still contains an undisturbed, remnant riparian forest to the north that is part of the endangered Coastal Swamp Oak Forest community, with Prospect Creek winding through it.
There is a long cycling and walking track in the park (constructed in 2009-10) which starts from Rhondda Street, at the park's southeast entrance within the prospect of a vast verdant field, and goes through the riparian woodland to the park's north, which leads to other parks in the region.[7] In late 2021, another walking trail was constructed on the western side of the park, which parallels Rosford Street and approaches Gipps Road to the east and leads to the gallery forest in the park's northwest, connecting to the track that starts from Rhondda Street.
