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Whatsapp A screenshot from the SCG's 2013 video pitch to government.

Green space is under pressure in cities around Australia. One of the most hotly contested areas is in inner Sydney, right on Anzac Parade. Massive trees are coming down and light rail is going in, but there may be something even bigger on the way. Mark Davis investigates.

For the past three years, the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust and some government ministries appear to have been working to a plan to completely take over the open spaces of Moore Park, a few kilometres south of the Sydney CBD.

We thought it was a white elephant but it is actually a Trojan horse.

A promotional video made by the Sydney Cricket Ground as part of a pitch to government in 2013 and obtained by Background Briefing reveals plans for a breathtaking land grab of all of the open parkland around the ground.

Moore Park, Kippax Lake and the parklands on the other side of Anzac Parade—Moore Park West—are all set be part of this 'world class sports precinct'.

'Moore Park West will be completely redesigned to include new landscaping with community sporting fields, 2,500 underground car parks and dedicated pedestrian bridges over South Dowling Street and Anzac Parade,' the video's voiceover says.

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Whatsapp An aerial photo of the Tibby Cotter walkway.

The first hint that the public have seen is the new bridge that spans Anzac Parade, named the Tibby Cotter Walkway.

For the crowds of sports fans who avoid it—crossing instead at the traffic lights to get to the Sydney Football Stadium—it goes by other names: the Bridge to Nowhere or Barry's Bridge, in honour of former premier Barry O'Farrell, who was in office when it was built.

The bridge is often mocked as a white elephant, but Background Briefing can reveal that it may be much more than just a waste of money.

For SallyAnn Hunting, the chairperson of the Centennial Parklands Community Consultative Committee, the bridge is just stage one of a bigger plan.

'I think this is Barry’s bridge,' says Hunting. 'Barry wanted to leave a legacy and I think it also part of the SCG's master plan: a way to activate pedestrians from cars from Moore Park West in towards the SCG.

'We thought it was a white elephant but it is actually a Trojan horse ... to a 5,000-seat stadium.'

Mark Speakman, the minister for the environment and assistant minister for planning, says what's built is built.

'My focus is on the future—the future of securing green space at Moore Park,' he says. 'There's no suggestion of any car park on Moore Park land.'

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Whatsapp Protesters tied themselves to trees slated for removal to make way for light rail.

The area around the mooted parkland stadium is already under extreme stress. Dozens of massive Moreton Bay fig trees are coming down to make way for a light rail extension.

Forces are gathering to save Anzac Parade and the surrounding parkland, with high-profile names like Greig Pickhaver—better known as sporting commentator HG Nelson—joining the fray.

Pickhaver says the area is ground zero for many of the pressures affecting this part of inner Sydney.

'It’s become very contested land, because even where we are sitting now could be buried under yet another football stadium,' he says.

'It may not be, if the state government had any sense.'

Hear Mark Davis's full investigation into the plans for Moore Park on Background Briefing at 8:05am on Sunday.

Subscribe to Background Briefing on iTunes, ABC Radio or your favourite podcasting app.