History of the Kurnell Peninsula Part 2

The twentieth century also saw the emergence of tourism in the Kurnell region with a ferry service between Kurnell and La Perouse, established in 1912, connecting Sydney day-trippers to the Peninsula to visit the landing site, sand dunes and the beaches. The popularity of the region centred on the Peninsula’s natural features, in comparison to an increasingly urban Sydney, and saw large numbers of campers (permanent occupants as well as campers on permits) during the 1940s and 1950s despite the absence of a connecting road, who journeyed over the sand dunes to gain access. Visitors also engaged in fishing and hunting at Kurnell and this led to the destruction of Kurnell’s koala population by the middle of the twentieth century. Until the area was taken over by the National Parks and Wildlife Service the Landing Place Reserve was one of the most popular camping venues in Sydney.

However the remoteness associated with Kurnell was compromised by the establishment of the Caltex Oil Refinery in 1951. Despite protest from the community and initial council objection to industry on the site of Cook’s landing, consent was given and construction began in 1953. This significantly transformed the landscape with the first roads built to access Kurnell, dredging in the Bay to lay a pipeline, swamps drained, an extensive wharf built, and 174 hectares taken up with refinery buildings. About this time a lighthouse was also constructed on the easternmost part of the Peninsula. The construction of a road also facilitated the expansion of Kurnell’s residential district connecting “Kurnell Village” to the rest of the Sutherland Shire and allowing permanent houses to be brought in on trucks. 

Kurnell's Oil refinery, present day
Source: www.smh.com.au/news/national/evacuation-ordered-after-third-kurnell-refinery-leak/2005/09/30/1127804646822.html

The global environmental movement during the 1960s and 1970s was also experienced in Kurnell with the Landing Place Reserve coming under the control of the National Parks and Wildlife Service in 1967. This resulted in the suspension of camping in the reserve for conservation purposes after concerns about the ecological impacts settlement and tourism had imposed on Kurnell Peninsula. Huge community support for the protection of Towra Point occurred around this time after the Department of Civil Aviation planned to build Sydney’s second international airport in the area. As a result of extensive media coverage of local campaigning Towra Point was acquired by the NSW Government in 1974, and established as a nature reserve in 1982. It was later listed as a Ramsar site in 1984 based on the criteria that it contains 50 per cent of Sydney’s wetlands and 90 per cent of its saltmarshes, it hosts many threatened species and communities, and its botanically diverse population is of great historical, scientific and environmental importance. Further recognition of the cultural and environmental importance of the Peninsula and the need to protect its ecological diversity occurred that year with the establishment of the Botany Bay National Park and later through the listing of the Kurnell Peninsula Headland on the National Heritage Trust on the 20^th September 2004 based on its historical and cultural value. However despite these legal recognitions of the need to protect Kurnell’s ecology the area still faces extensive threats from industry and residential development as well as from tourism in the area.

An important environmental victory for the area occurred in 1986 when the chemical corporation Bayer was forced to abandon its intention to establish a chemical plant at Kurnell because of the stringent conditions and controls required by an inquiry commission to protect the surrounding ecosystem. This was an important success for the local community and for the Sutherland Shire. At present the community is still battling against proposals for the redevelopment of Australand’s H6 site. This was an area of extensive sand mining for the forty years leading up to the 1990s which the company is now attempting to redevelop into a residential area against the wishes of the community. It now appears that this will be successful with the state government last month approving the rezoning of the land, which will allow for the development of 420 new homes with the rest of the land to be rehabilitated as open space, playing fields and parklands. There is also a sewage treatment plant located in Kurnell.

Recently there has been further industry controversy in Kurnell with regards to the construction of Sydney’s Desalination Plant. The decision to build this plant was made in 2006 out of concern to secure water supply during periods of prolonged drought however it was met with widespread disapproval not only from Kurnell residents but also from the NSW Opposition Leader and The Greens. Complaints were raised that it was unnecessary and would impose extra costs to the community through higher water prices. There were also numerous environmental concerns about the impact that dredging in the bay (to lay the pipelines) and the salty brine output would have on the marine ecosystem. Despite these protests construction went ahead and the plant became operational at the start of this year. 

Source: www.aecom.com/What+We+Do/Water/Water/_projectsList/Sydney+Desalination+Plant

Today, Kurnell paradoxically contains some of Sydney’s most ecologically diverse and threatened ecosystems alongside heavy industry. The community is both dependent on industry for economic growth and critical of its development in the area and despite its significance as “the birthplace of modern Australia” (as labelled by Salt) it is considered “Sydney’s Back Door”. The impact of this history of industrial development in the Peninsula on the community, environment and Indigenous population will be discussed in depth through case studies on this website. 

See it for yourself!

Visit Kurnell Peninsula to see the monument at Captain Cook's landing place, visit the Discovery Centre, and follow the Monument Track as well as walking several other tracks. To find out more visit:

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/contact/KurnellBotanyBayNationalPark.htm 

For a pictorial history of the Kurnell area and further information please visit
www.ssec.org.au/our_environment/our_bioregion/kurnell/history/index.htm 

Sources

Anderson, D.J. (ed) 1973, A handbook of the Botany Bay region: some preliminary background papers, O’Grady & Sons Pty Ltd for Botany Bay Project Committee, Marrickville

Australian Government, Kurnell Peninsula Headland, Australian Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, accessed 7 September 2010 <http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/publications/about/pubs/national-heritage-kurnell-brochure.pdf>

Australian Heritage Council 2008, Cook’s Landing Site—Kurnell Peninsula, New South Wales, Australian Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, accessed 7 September 2010 <http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/kurnell/index.html>

Australian Heritage Database 2004, National Heritage List Report for Kurnell Peninsula Headland, Australian Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, accessed 7 September 2010, <http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/ahdb/search.pl?mode=place_detail;place_id=105812>

Australia’s National Heritage, Kurnell Peninsula: Captain Cook’s Landing Place, Australian Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, accessed 7 September 2010, <http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/publications/about/pubs/national-heritage-kurnell.pdf>

Grant, C 2010, “Sydney gets its first taste of desalinated water”, ABC News, 28 January, accessed 10 September 2010, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/28/2803186.htm>

Nature Conservation Council of NSW, Desalination Protest Meeting, Nature Conservation Council of NSW, accessed 10 September 2010, <http://nccnsw.org.au/index.php?Itemid=890&id=1755&option=com_content&task=view>

NSW Government, Towra Point Nature Reserve, NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change & Water, accessed 10 September 2010, <http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/NationalParks/parkRamsar.aspx?id=N0551>  

Salt, D.F. 2000, Kurnell: Birthplace of Modern Australia: A Pictorial History, Clarion House, Sydney

Sutherland Shire Council, Kurnell- Birthplace of a Modern Nation, Sutherland Shire Council, accessed 10 September 2010, <http://www.sutherlandshireaustralia.com.au/area_towns_kurnell.asp?s=home>

Sutherland Shire Environment Centre, H6 Site Australand Site, SSEC, accessed 10 September 2010  

 <http://www.ssec.org.au/our_environment/our_bioregion/kurnell/issues/h6.htm>  

Sydney Water, Desalination, Sydney Water, accessed 10 September 2010

<http://www.sydneywater.com.au/Water4Life/Desalination/index.cfm>

Sydney Water, Overall project documentation, Sydney Water, accessed 10 September 2010, <http://www.sydneywater.com.au/Water4Life/Desalination/overalldocumentation.cfm>   

Tobin, M 2009, “Desalination plant ‘a monument to stupidity’”, ABC News, 21 December, accessed 10 September 2010, <http://abc.gov.au/news/stories/2009/12/21/2777867.htm?site=news>  

2010 “Australand welcomes Kurnell rezoning”, Brisbane Times, 25 August, accessed 10 September 2010, <http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-business/australand-welcomes-kurnell-rezoning-20100825-13r2u.html>