The $12 million proposal is being driven by Marine Rescue NSW,which wants to demolish parts of the state heritage-listed Cronulla Fisheries Research Centre precinct at Hungry Point Reserve to build a four-storey training school with accommodation,conference and dining areas,and a simulation pool beside Port Hacking.
Southerland Shire Historical Society president Pauline Curby and Cronulla resident Bruce Howell,a Wiradjuri man,with one of the waterfront buildings proposed for demolition.Cole Bennetts
Marine Rescue NSW says the facility will improve training for its 3000 volunteers who help provide emergency marine search,rescue and communication services to help prevent injury and death on the state’s waterways.
Opponents say the proposed development would ruin heritage,compromise Aboriginal sites,and jeopardise a long-promised extension of The Esplanade walking track between Salmon Haul Reserve and Darook Park.
Sutherland Shire Historical Society president Pauline Curby said the reserve was significant because of its rich Aboriginal heritage,and its past use as a site for fisheries research and migrant hostel accommodation. She said residents worried the proposal meant public access to the headland would gradually be “whittled away”.
“Locals feel they’re going to be locked out,” Curby said.
The battle over more intensive development at the headland underscores debate about balancing the preservation and use of Sydney’s heritage-listed structures in prized public parkland from Rozelle to Parramatta.
Plans submitted to Heritage NSW show Marine Rescue wants to redevelop three sites on the headland. The site was home to the first fisheries research facility in the southern hemisphere when the centre opened in 1905. The state government controversially closed the facility in 2013,but promised the site would remain in public hands.
Under the proposal,several buildings would be demolished to allow for the construction of the four-storey training academy with an outdoor terrace,and the two-storey pool complex on the waterfront.
The complex would include upgrades to an existing pool structure and two other buildings would be refurbished for classrooms.
Marine Rescue NSW wants to build a training academy at Hungry Point Reserve on the Cronulla peninsula.Marine Rescue NSW
Curby said while the historical society did not oppose the demolition of some newer buildings on the reserve,it did not support the destruction of the former fisheries laboratory,which was built in 1946.
It also “strenuously” objects to the size of the four-storey training school as out of character for the site,and worried the pool complex would become a “dominating feature,especially when viewed from the water”.
Cronulla resident Bruce Howell,who is vice chair of the Sutherland Shire Council Aboriginal Advisory Committee,said the land between Salmon Haul Bay,Hungry Point Reserve and Darook Park at Gunnamatta Bay was significant because it represented a “contiguous area of Aboriginal occupation that stretches back several thousand years”.
He said the reserve had 14 registered Aboriginal sites,most of which were classified as shell middens. Howell believed there should not be any new buildings at the site,and said the agency should reconsider its proposal.
The proposal would redevelop three sites at the heritage-listed reserve.Supplied
“It’s a sacred area. There are very few sites on the northern side of Port Hacking that carry the same amount of significance as Hungry Point Reserve and its adjoining land,” Howell said.
Curby said residents were also worried the proposal would mean a long-promised extension of The Esplanade along the cliffs to Gunnamatta Bay would never eventuate.
Cronulla MP Mark Speakman last week intervened to have the public consultation period for the proposal extended to late October,after an estimated 350 people attended a rally protesting against the plans.
Speakman said the consultation process had been inadequate. He reiterated his “in principle” support for the training academy,which was announced in 2020.
Marine Rescue NSW says the redevelopment,which would include a simulation pool,would provide thousands of volunteers with more time in the water.Marine Rescue NSW
He said:“Hungry Point is a special site. Any future use has to be sympathetic to its rich heritage and beauty and ... ensure public access to the open parkland and a walkway around the entire clifftop and waterway,not just part of it.”
Speakman said the training academy was considered the best proposal to retain and maintain important buildings following an expressions of interest process conducted by the Hungry Point Reserve Land Manager.
“This public purpose use would allow greatly improved training of Marine Rescue volunteers,improving recruitment and water safety and ultimately saving lives,” Speakman said.
Marine Rescue NSW,which has used the headland for its headquarters since 2013,said public access to the parkland would remain,and the proposal included provision for public toilets for people using the reserve.
“There is an opportunity for the future inclusion of a public eatery or cafe,and this will be subject to a separate development application process with Sutherland Shire Council.”
Speakman said the NSW Heritage Council was considering the plan for the walkway extension.
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