Currawong Beach

Coordinates: 33°35.797′S 151°17.9406′E / 33.596617°S 151.2990100°E / -33.596617; 151.2990100 Currawong Beach is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Currawong Beach is 42 kilometres (26 mi) north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Pittwater Council.^[1]

Currawong Beach is located in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, on the western shores of Pittwater, beside Great Mackerel Beach and north of The Basin. Coasters Retreat and Palm Beach are located nearby.

History

Currawong, originally named Little Mackaral Beach, was settled by John Clarke in 1823, a NSW Military Veteran. The land was purchased by William Burke in 1824. Governor Thomas Brisbane formally granted the land to Burke on 16 January 1835. Burke had arrived in NSW in 1815 and had farmed in Bringelly from 1820. In 1835 Burke leased part of the land to Patrick Flinn, a convict.

The Wilson family owned Little Mackarel from 1871 until 1908, when the property was known as "Wilsons Beach" In 1908 Little Mackerel Beach came into the possession of Pink Marie Stiles, who was married to Dr. Bernard Tarlton Stiles, a physician. The Wilson house, occupied by the Stiles family, was destroyed by fire before 1917. Between 1916 and 1917 a house named "Africa" was built by the Stiles family. This house survives today, albeit renamed "Midholme". The Stiles family also constructed a house known as "Wildenerss" or "Southend", used as a general store and guest house. Little Mackarel Beach was purchased by the Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company in 1942.

Currawong Workers' Holiday Camp

In 1949 the Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Co sold the Beach to the New South Wales Trades and Labour Council for £10,000, including 4 cottages.^[2] Following on from the legislated 40-hour working week, and two weeks of paid annual leave, the Labour Council proceeded to use the site for holiday accommodation. 8 Cabins were constructed between 1949 and 1952 and an additional "Vandyke" style cabins between 1950–1953 and in 1990 a managers house was constructed.

Controversy regarding environmental protection

A group of local residents, led by actor Shane Whithington, established the Friends of Currawong to lobby for its protection. In the 1990s, Michael Costa, then secretary of Currawong's owner Unions New South Wales, attempted to lease the land to Maharishi TM Incorporated, a transcendental meditation group. This deal was aborted when a development deadline was missed. In 2007, Currawong was sold to developers Allen Linz for $15,000,000. The Liberal Party of Australia NSW Division and Pittwater Liberal Candidate Rob Stokes, during the 2007 State election campaign, stated that a NSW Liberal Government would Heritage list the site with a goal of buying the site and gazetting it as part of the Ku Ring Gai Chase National Park. Independent State Member and Mayor of Pittwater Alex McTaggart announced a policy for the Council to manage the site on a long term lease basis.

Following the 1997 NSW State election Newly elected MP Rob Stokes sought assurances from Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull and NSW State Environmental Minister Phil Koperberg that they would use their statutory powers to protect Currawong. These assurances were given in particularly that a road will not be built through the National Park to link the site with West Head Road, however final say lay with Planning Minister Frank Sartor. On 7 November 2007, The NSW Heritage Council voted to include Currawong on the NSW Heritage Register, however the Planning Minister has not signed the documents confirming this. Pittwater council has since lost planning control over the site with NSW Department of Planning and Natural Resources becoming the statutory planning authority.

Currawong was listed on the State Heritage Register on 12 May 2009.^[3]

Gallery

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  "Africa" built by Dr. Bernard Stiles in 1916–1917 and later renamed "Midholme".

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  holiday cabins

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  tidal creek at the north of Currawong Beach

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  grassy area at Currawong Beach, showing sandstone cliffs in the adjacent Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Currawong Beach, New South Wales.