The scenic road that curves along the coast of the Northern Illawarra is named after aviation pioneer Lawrence Hargrave, famous for his world-leading experiments with box kites at Stanwell Park in the 1890s. Now the local Lawrence Hargrave Society is campaigning for the international terminal at Western Sydney’s airport to bear his name too. 

“It is not a high level issue in this crazy world, but it is something that would put a smile on people’s faces and help let people know about this remarkable man and what he did here in our own backyard,” the president of the Lawrence Hargrave Society, Robert Deacon, told the Illawarra Flame.

“Telling a good news story is always a good thing to do, especially one that, although it is 131 years old, helped change the world. Lawrence Hargrave wanted the flying machine to bring the world closer together, his contribution to its development helped make that happen.”

Rob is leading a letter writing campaign to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Catherine King MP, and the society would also like to see a ‘Pioneers of Australian Aviation Display’, featuring the Smith brothers, Bert Hinkler, Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Nancy Bird Walton at Western Sydney’s International Terminal.

Support for suggestion is widespread

In this campaign, Rob has had the support of everyone from local groups, such as the Helensburgh and District Historical Society, to the Lord Mayor of Wollongong, Tania Brown.

Cr Brown told the Illawarra Flame she likes the idea of Hargrave’s name featuring in the new airport.

“It is part of our history,” the Lord Mayor said. “I think a tribute to the aviators at an airport is entirely appropriate, and would be happy to support the campaign.”

Cr Brown said she would float the idea on October 1 at the next meeting of the LG8, a new local government alliance of eight councils.

The group's initial focus has been on the roads and rail out of Western Sydney airport and its draft masterplan, which was the subject of a Mayoral Minute at August 25’s council meeting, citing the airport’s potential to bring “significant benefits”.

Buckle up for historic growth

Addressing August's council meeting, Cr Brown said: “We formed a strategic collaboration with the eight councils that make up the Illawarra, Shoalhaven, Macarthur and Southern Highlands region, which we're now calling the LG8.

“As our first workshop recently up at Picton, we discussed the issue of connectivity from the Western Sydney Airport through to the port of Port Kembla, and this dominated our conversation, along with connectivity requirements south and south-west of the new airport.

“We spoke of the growth corridors delivering new housing. In fact, 120,000 homes are predicted on that economic arc from the airport … taking in West Dapto, through to our region. And the need then for the infrastructure to go with that.

"Our Macarthur colleagues tell me they expect many of the 3000 jobs created by the airport will be filled by people living in the south-west through to the Illawarra region – again, highlighting how important adequate road infrastructure is.

“As part of the LG8, our developing mandate is to support each other as we collectively seek to lift the entire region and champion causes important to us all.”

Last week, the Lord Mayor attended the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue in Campbelltown to support the rising need for infrastructure stemming from the airport.

Wollongong is set to grow, with about 19,000 new homes expected in West Dapto over the next few decades. Cr Brown told the Illawarra Flame that talking to other regional leaders had provided more insights, such as how the Camden area is booming, something that is evident in the size of public school classes at Oran Park. “When they opened a new school, it had 21 kindergarten classes,” she said. “That fact alone has blown me away.”

Tribute to Australia's aviation greats

While the LG8 and its mayors plan for a prosperous future, a tribute to our past may yet take off, but it will need community backing, Lawrence Hargrave Society president Rob Deacon said.

Originally, the society asked for the Western Sydney airport to bear Hargrave's name. But that honour went to Nancy Bird Walton, Australia’s first woman to gain her commercial pilot’s licence. Nicknamed ‘Nancy-Bird’ by her husband, she got her class A flying licence at age 17 and went on to pioneer outback ambulance services and found the Australian Women’s Pilots Association.

“I knew Nancy-Bird Walton in her final years and she was a great admirer of Lawrence Hargrave,” said Rob, who has lived locally since the 1990s and is well-known as a teacher and the long-serving volunteer club captain at Coalcliff Surf Life Saving Club.

“Nancy-Bird Walton accepted an invitation to be the patron of the Schools Kite Day. Prior to that she was guest of honour at the Centenary Celebrations at Stanwell Park of the Lawrence Hargrave box kite flight in 1994."

Hargrave is best known for his experiments at Stanwell Park in 1894, when he used box kites to achieve the first stable heavier-than-air lift-off. He also invented the radial engine and helped develop the aerofoil, and his decision to forgo patents paved a path for others, including the Wright brothers. A display celebrating his work can be seen at HARS Aviation Museum at Shellharbour Airport.

The Hargrave Society has made several attempts to achieve wider recognition for our local inventor, including about two years ago, when Cunningham MP Alison Byrnes and then Whitlam MP Stephen Jones backed the International Terminal naming idea.

But to finally get off the ground, the campaign will need help, Rob said. “For something like this to happen, there needs to be a significant number of people asking for it to happen.”

To support the idea of naming the new airport terminal after Lawrence Hargrave, he recommended writing to the Hon Catherine King, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government.

For more information about Lawrence Hargrave, visit the society's website.