Harris Park’s Little India will get welcome gate, but it’s already running late

3 hours ago 3

It’s been nicknamed the “Arc de Triomphe of Little India”, but the final design of the long-promised welcome gate for Harris Park will be far from the grand scale originally envisioned after the City of Parramatta Council backed a simplified version.

For the first time this year, every seat in the public gallery at last week’s Parramatta council meeting was filled, with Harris Park residents and business owners all invested in the outcome of the planned welcome gate.

The sign that now welcomes visitors to the area, on Wigram Street in Harris Park.

The initial design for the project, revealed in July, was put on hold after backlash from the community due to the promised Chinatown-style arch being reduced to four floral statues.

During the meeting, councillors were presented with three options for the artwork: the original floral statues design, a “simplified” lighting gateway on Marion Street similar to installations in Singapore’s Little India, and a traditional gateway that incorporates Indian motifs that would be built in a nearby park.

The Australian-Indian business community in Harris Park supported the traditional gateway, with members present in the gallery holding up signs that read “Australia-India friendship gate”, while many Harris Park residents favoured the smaller, lighting gateway. Councillors were also divided, but after much debate the smaller gate in Marion Street won.

Labor councillor Patricia Prociv voted for the light welcome gate on Marion Street but criticised the business community for bypassing a committee the council had set up for community consultation. She described the lobbying efforts for the traditional gate as “very disturbing”.

The lighting in Singapore that served as inspiration for the Harris Park Little India welcome gate.

“We have had many cultures move through Harris Park in the time that I’ve lived there, including Lebanese, Vietnamese, Greek – they’ve all come through,” she said.

“But we have never, ever had such a divisive campaign by any members of those communities about an issue such as this gate.”

Liberal councillor Sreeni Pillamarri had argued that the traditional gate design would be a compromise for both Harris Park business owners and residents as it would be positioned in a park instead of over a road.

“Marion Street has got a gate where it’s going to upset everyone … so what we are trying to do is get an option that is going to satisfy everyone,” he said before the vote.

The rejected traditional design option for the Little India welcome gate.

“The people who are living there matter, leadership matters, business there matters, the local economy matters, and that is exactly what we are standing for.”

The gate is to be funded through a $3.5 million federal government grant, which was given to the council to go towards the streetscape beautification of Harris Park. A City of Parramatta media release from 2024 described the artwork as a “South Asian-inspired welcome gate”.

The grant deed specifies a practical completion date of May 1, 2026, but with design and installation works expected to take up to nine months, the council is behind schedule.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.