Pittwater Council

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Pittwater redirects here. For the New South Wales electorate, please see Electoral district of Pittwater.
Pittwater Council
New South Wales

Population:
• Density:		 56,829
530/km²
Area: 91 km²
Mayor: Alex McTaggart
Council Seat: Mona Vale
Region: Metropolitan Sydney
State District: Pittwater
Federal Division: Mackellar
Website: http://www.pittwater.nsw.gov.au/
LGAs around Pittwater Council
Hornsby Gosford Pacific Ocean
Hornsby Pittwater Council Pacific Ocean
Warringah Warringah Pacific Ocean

Pittwater Council is a Local Government Area on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The suburbs which comprise the Pittwater LGA were detached from the Warringah local government area in 1993. It covers a region adjacent to the Tasman Sea about 30 km north of the CBD of Sydney.

Contents

[edit] Suburbs and Localities of the local government area

Suburbs serviced by Pittwater Council are:

[edit] Brief history

The Pittwater shire was named after an estuary of Broken Bay which the shire surrounds, Broken Bay forms the mouth of the Hawkesbury River, the main river which formed the Cumberland Plain and Sydney basin. Pittwater was discovered in 1788, the year the first British colony was established in Australia. However, Pittwater and the surrounding region was inhabited for many millennia by local Aboriginal tribes and much evidence of their habitation remains especially their rock etchings in Kuring-gai Chase National Park which borders Pittwater's western side. Pittwater was named in about 1800 by the colony's first Governor, Governor Phillip,[1] honouring the then British Prime Minister, William Pitt the Younger. Phillip called it "the finest piece of water I ever saw".

Pittwater in the early 1800s was developed as a new port with loading and unloading facilities erected at what is now the current Newport public wharf. As the port developed so did local industry such as sheep at Mona Vale, orchards at southern Newport (on the western ridge below Bushranger's Hill) and Church Point, salt from Saltpan Bay and Scotland Island. During the period from the 1950s to the early 1970s, sand mining operations were undertaken in the upper reaches of McCarr's Creek. After sand mining operations ceased, the tailings ponds were all that remained of the mining operation. The tailings ponds consisted of a very fine black mud which created the opportunity for "mud-larking". Participants used the mud for all sorts of activities. (this can be left to the reader's imagination). The mining area and tailings ponds were later rehabilitated into a park and re-vegetated with local flora.

Another less acknowledged industry was rum smuggling (rum being one of the earliest currencies in the original colony), a customs lookout was originally based on Barrenjoey Head with, initially a long boat (Jolly boat) manned by convict oarsmen, then later a fast Customs sloop. Even as recently as the 1990s smuggling (of illegal drugs) was still occurring in Pittwater.

Around the 1850s a school was established on the site of what is now Newport Public school. Over later periods, public (primary) schools were established at Mona Vale, Avalon, Palm Beach and Bilgola Plateau. In 1963, Pittwater high school was opened at Mona Vale (located on Pittwater Road), Barrenjoey high school (located at the southern end of Palm Beach next to Avalon beach) was opened in 1968.

Both high schools were highly innovative and front runners in establishing and offering alternative sporting activities. Pittwater was one of the first public high schools in Australia to offer sailing as a sport and even built is own 30' yacht (International Diamond class). The construction of the yacht was undertaken by the students with the assistance of local boat building companies and donations from numerous local organisations. The construction and launch of the yacht 'Kalori' in 1968-69 was even documented by Movietone news. Barrenjoey high school was one of the first public high schools in Australia to offer surfing as a sport. This being a reflection of the popularity and history of surfing which has been associated with this area for many decades. The Pittwater area has seen the development and success of a large number of world champions in both sailing and surfing along with many other elite sports people in many sporting disciplines.

During the Second World War, unlike Sydney Harbour (Port Jackson), Pittwater was not protected by a boom net. As a consequence local militia and later Australian Army were stationed at the western side of the entrance to Pittwater and were dispersed along the western shore in a network of trenches, pillboxes and gun emplacements. Most defence activity was centred around West Head with two large guns placed at the base of the cliff. Many of the WW2 defence structures still exist today although many are overgrown. One noticeable structure still very visible from the water is the "railway" which was cut into the West Head cliff and was used to supply the defenders encamped along the western shore line. The railway cutting was cut at an angle of around 60 degrees with rail sleepers concreted into place to keep the rails in place. A rudimentary wharf was constructed just south of West Head and was formed between the shore line and a rock outcrop, access to the rock outcrop was via a ramp made of two large poles and a walkway on top. The ramp poles were still in place as late as the 1980s. After WW2, an RAN torpedo testing facility was built on the northern side of Taylor's Point (eastern side of central Pittwater) with a large building perched at the end of a long wharf. Three target pontoons were permanently moored at 1 nautical mile intervals along the central and northern part of Pittwater. On a number of occasions, test torpedoes went off course and either ending up on Clareville beach or were lost only to be later found by local fishermen. The torpedo test facility has since been removed although some of the shore based buildings still remain.

Due mainly to its shallow entrance, Pittwater was never developed as a commercial port. It has remained as a waterway primarily used for either the transport of residents and visitors to the less accessible parts of the western shore or for water based activities such as sailing, boating in various forms and the occasional amphibious aircraft. Regular sight seeing flights operate between Palm Beach at the northern end of Pittwater and Rose Bay on Sydney Harbour. Pittwater is home to a number of Motor, Yacht and Sailing clubs who utilise the comparatively less congested waterway on a year round basis. Pittwater is also the starting line for the Pittwater to Coff's Harbour Yacht race which commences in early January each year. The northward Pittwater to Coffs Harbour race has become very popular as an alternative to the more demanding southward Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

[edit] Settlement of Pittwater

The Pittwater area has had European settlement since the beginning of British colonisation. Up until the early part of the 20th century, the area was primarily used for either agriculture or leisure activities. Its pristine beaches were popular for holidays and a number of camping areas, and later caravan parks, were established on or near Pittwater. After World War I, early urban settlement patterns were beginning to develop although most of the area's urbanisation occurred after the second world war with major home building activity occurring the full length of the Pittwater peninsula. The Pittwater shire is now the northern most shire of Sydney's coastal metropolitan areas. The area remains very popular and is still growing in population numbers. The area provides a vast number of leisure activities centred around the waterway and the adjacent beaches on the eastern side of the Pittwater peninsular.

[edit] Transport to Pittwater

Although there were plans to construct a railway to the area, it was never brought to fruition. Debate still remains as to the benefits and disadvantages of a railway into this area. As a consequence, access to the area has primarily been by road although in earlier times there was a regular steamer service to Newport. One of the earliest forms of public transport were horse drawn coaches from Manly on Sydney Harbour. Coach trips were an overnight event with passengers staying in a hotel at Mona Vale (which still remains beside Pittwater Road). Mona Vale was and still is the junction of Pittwater road (leads to Bayview, Church Point, McCarrs Creek, Scotland Island at the southern end of Pittwater) and Barrenjoey Road (which runs up the Pittwater peninsular leading to Newport and onto Barrenjoey Lighthouse on Barrenjoey Headland (north end of Palm Beach)). Just south of Newport is Bushranger's Hill, which provided an ideal location for watching for coaches en route to Newport. Whether there were any Bushranger "Bail Ups" of coaches, local history does not seem to indicate whether any actually occurred.

Access into the Pittwater shire is still via the original Pittwater Road and later, Mona Vale Road. The only mass form of transport available is buses although a large proportion of commuters choose to use private vehicles.

[edit] Services in Pittwater

[edit] Airports

[edit] Ambulance Stations

[edit] Churches

[edit] Fire Stations

[edit] Hospitals

[edit] Brief Geological & Environmental History of Pittwater

Pittwater, being one of a number of arms leading off the main Hawkesbury river coastal inlet of Broken Bay, was formed as a drowned river valley after sea levels rose due to the last ice age. The Pittwater estuary was originally formed by what is now McCarrs Creek, which cut its way down through Permian era Hawkesbury and Narrabeen sandstone. The sedimentary rock have interspersing layers and lenses of shale, mudstone, ironstone and mica. Most of the softer Hawksbury sandstone has weathered away although there are a few outcrops of the original light coloured Hawkesbury sandstone at various sites including Bushranger's Hill at Newport. Most of the coastal geology is the harder and yellower Narrabeen sandstone which forms most of the headlands between the beaches of the Pittwater area.

The Pittwater estuary is approximately 10 kilometres in length and varies from several hundred metres to almost three kilometres (between Clareville in the east and Towlers Bay in the west) in width. It is bounded on the eastern side by the Pittwater Peninsular (which includes Mona Vale, Little Bongan Bongan, Bungan, Newport, Bilgola, Avalon, Whale and Palm beaches) and Commodore Heights (Kuring-gai Chase National Park) on the west side. At the southern end of Pittwater (Church Point, Bayview, Mona Vale and Newport, there are a number of smaller bays and inlets (Winji Jimmi, Crystal Bay, Maybanke Cove, Heron Cove, Horseshoe Cove and Saltpan Cove). At an earlier geological time this end of Pittwater may have been open to the sea with the peninsular plateau running north as an island disconnected from the mainland.

At the other side of the southern end of Pittwater is McCarrs creek which rises as the Wirreanda and McCarrs creeks in the southern end of the Kuring-gai Chase National Park. Also located near the confluence of the two creeks is the Upper Gledhill falls which is a popular picnic and swimming pool. Adjacent to Church Point, which marks the Pittwater entrance to McCarrs creek, is Scotland Island (approximately 500 metres north of the point and covering 35 hectares). The island was formed when a west flowing creek joined with McCarrs creek and truncated the island from the mainland.

At the northern end of Pittwater, a sand isthmus was formed as a tombolo between Barrenjoey Headland (originally an island) and Palm Beach. This geological structure is featured frequently in the popular Australian "soap opera" Home and Away. Pittwater varies in depth and is approximately 22 metres at its deepest. Adjacent to Palm Beach, a sand bank is currently forming, water depth has diminished significantly in recent times and now prevents yachts and deep draft vessels from approaching a large sections of beach on the Pittwater side of Palm Beach. Eventually, Pittwater may become land locked and form a typical coastal lagoon which are common along the New South Wales coast.

There is also a large inlet in the Pittwater peninsular called Careel Bay which is between the North Avalon and Whale Beach. Originally containing a large mangrove swamp, it was partially infilled in the 1950s and 1960s as was the policy during this period. Fortunately, there has been a better understanding recently of the important role of mangroves in the healthy coastal estuarine environment and much of the mangrove areas in this inlet and other areas of Pittwater have re-established and grown. Since the removal in the last 25 years of septic sewerage systems, with their resultant nutrient-rich ground-water runoff, the overall water quality of Pittwater has improved significantly. Unfortunately, now with the increase in the number of motor boats, there is an increasing risk to water quality from hydrocarbons (boat fuels) and faecal matter (holding tanks are now becoming mandatory).

One recent and disturbing aspect starting to occur is the poisoning of trees and mangroves on or near the shores of Pittwater. Unfortunately, selfish residents, more concerned about their views and property values, have on a number of occasions poisoned trees and mangroves. The poisoning of this flora not only detracts from the natural beauty of this area but sets a dangerous precedent for other land occupants to follow suit. Poisoning of mangroves especially has an ongoing impact on both the flora and marine environment. Soldier crabs, which were once abundant on all Pittwater beaches, and rock oysters suffered significant reductions due to the introduction in the 1950 - 70's of lead and tributyl tin based antifouling paint on boats. Only in the last 10 years have the Soldier crabs and oysters re-established themselves in suitable habitats. The poisoning of the mangroves again puts pressure on these marine creatures and an eventual decline in their numbers.

[edit] Aquatic Fauna

Residing on Lion Island (located directly north of the entrance to Pittwater in Broken Bay and formally known as Mt Elliot Island) is a colony of Little Penguins. These penguins form one of the last penguin colonies on coastal islands in Australia. As Lion Island is isolated from the mainland, no predatory feral animals were able to access the island and its penguin colony. As the island is protected as an animal sanctuary, permission must be obtained from National Parks if you wish to land on the island. At some stage, a small number of goats were released onto Lion Island but whether they survived is unknown. The Little Penguins are frequently seen and more frequently heard when on Pittwater.

According to Aboriginal rock carvings, there were turtles in Pittwater. One very sad episode occurred in the early 1960s when the last turtle (and estimated to be older than 100 years) was speared in or near Pittwater. Residents prior to this episode had known of the turtle's existence and reports of its sighting had been occurring for many years going back to the previous century. Occasionally, injured turtles do appear on the beaches but there are none resident in Pittwater.

On rare occasions, Pittwater suffers a proliferation of jellyfish which encourage sunfish to enter Broken Bay & Pittwater.

More recently (2005), dolphins and whales (most likely Humpback) have now been sighted within Pittwater.

[edit] Places of Interest at Pittwater

  • The Newport Arms Hotel on Saturday or Sunday afternoon
  • The Barenjoey Guesthouse Hotel on Saturday or Sunday afternoon
  • The Basin (Coaster's Retreat)
  • Palm Beach Sand Dune at the north of Palm Beach.
  • Barrenjoey Lighthouse on Barrenjoey Headland
  • West Head lookout at the northern end of Kuring-Gai Chase
  • Lion Island (no landing permitted to protect penguins)
  • Upper Gledhill Falls and the Duck Ponds on McCarrs Creek Road
  • The Bahá'í House of Worship at Tumble Down Dick/Ingleside
  • St Michael's Cave at the border of Avalon Beach and Palm Beach
  • Little Reef at Newport
  • Portuguese Beach on the western side of Pittwater
  • Commodore Heights (Kuring-Gai Chase National Park)

[edit] Sport in Pittwater

Various sporting activities have always been part of life in the Pittwater area. Many different types of sport and other leisure activities are available in the area;

(please add any other sports)

[edit] Pittwater Sailing/Yacht Clubs

  • Avalon Sailing Club
  • Bayview Yacht Racing Association
  • Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club
  • Royal Motor Yacht Club
  • Pittwater Aquatic Club
  • Palm Beach Sailing Club
  • Sailability Pittwater (Bayview)

[edit] Surf Life Saving Clubs

  • Warriewood Beach
  • Mona Vale Beach
  • Bungan Beach
  • Newport Beach
  • Bilgola Beach
  • Avalon Beach
  • Whale Beach
  • Palm Beach
  • North Palm Beach

[edit] Swimming Clubs

  • Avalon Bilgola Amateur Swimming Club
  • Narrabeen Swimming Club
  • Narrabeen Ladies Amateur Swimming Club

[edit] Golf Clubs

  • Mona Vale Golf Club
  • Bayview Golf Club
  • Avalon Golf Club
  • Palm Beach Golf Club

[edit] RSL Clubs

  • Pittwater RSL (Mona Vale)
  • Avalon RSL
  • Palm Beach RSL
  • Elanora Heights RSL

[edit] Football Clubs (All Codes)

  • Palm Beach/Whale Beach Soccer Club (Junior)

[edit] Netball Clubs

  • Avalon Netball Club

[edit] AFL Clubs

  • Pittwater Tigers (Junior)

[edit] Tennis

  • Careel Bay Tennis Club - whilst existing on community land this club operates as a private club restricting membership to 215 persons and insisting that applicants must have a minimum playing standard of INT7 (International Tennis Number).

There are moves underway to hand this facility back to the community and in this way provide tennis to people of all ages and abilities.

  • Mona Vale Tennis Club - whilst owing its existence to community land this club has been largely taken over by a private coach. The result of this is that the courts are not provided to the public at the lowest possible cost of around $6.00 per hour but are inflated to include profit. This may be acceptable if the courts were on private land but it is unacceptable in the existing circumstances.
  • Bayview Tennis Club
  • Elanora Heights Tennis Club

[edit] Canoeing

  • Pittwater Outrigging Canoe Club
  • Bei Loon Dragon Boat Club

(please add any other types of sports and community clubs)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ernest Scott, A Short History of Australia [1]

[edit] External links


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