NIRAG welcomes land in public ownership at last!

In response to community requests Council agreed to review the strategic value of having the C2 ‘Ray Hannah’ land at Sandon Point, Bulli as public reserve. A report went to Council on 29 June recommending acquisition of 6.84 ha, zoned C2, Environmental Conservation. 

 At the Council meeting, I had the opportunity to thank Councillors, the General Manager and council officers for listening to the community, and for finding a way for this private land to complete a public green corridor at Sandon Point. I also thanked our State MP, Maryanne Stuart, for her advice and support. 

This decision is greatly appreciated and will be remembered as a landmark moment – the result of a community effort spanning more than 30 years: 30 years of frustration, and persistence. Most had given up hope that this land would ever be protected by being in public ownership. 

Council deserves wholehearted congratulations for its review and for seizing this opportunity to connect the escarpment to the foreshore in line with Goal 1 of the Community Strategic Plan: “The community to be actively involved in the expansion, improvement, and preservation of our … green corridors, and other natural areas connecting the escarpment to the sea.”

Some will remember that until the 1990s, before the cycleway, Sandon Point was an unmown paddock with two horses tethered on the headland, a cow and calf along the creek, lantana, blackberries, dollar weed and kikuyu everywhere, and only a few stunted casuarinas along Tramway Creek. Today it is a diverse habitat supporting migratory birds and native wildlife. 

NIRAG began in 1984, originally focused on stopping the coal bins at Sandon Point. In 1994 we incorporated, and this enabled us to apply for grant funding in 1997 from CoastCare and later on from the Environmental Trust, to actively heal and regenerate the coastal dunes, wetlands and creek corridors. 

Over the next decade we secured six grants totalling more than $151,000. Led by Marcel Van Wijk, a qualified Bush Regenerator, and project-managed by Jill Merrin and myself, these projects involved volunteers and school children. They transformed neglected Sandon Point dunes and creek lines of Whartons, Slacky and Tramway creeks from Woonona to Thirroul. Jan and Rob Miller were also early advocates who worked to achieve a Green Corridor. 

The land now in public hands was rezoned 7(a) Special Environment Protection as far back as 1997 by Planning Minister Frank Sartor, which effectively stopped any residential development (except around the edges) from then on. This zoning later became C2 Environmental Conservation, with much the same conditions. 

After the August 1998 flood, Hannah’s proposal for 30 residential lots and a 215-site caravan park was rejected. Then when Council purchased 4 ha of the eastern part of his land in 1999, NIRAG urged that all of it be acquired for environmental reasons – but without success.

The Community Picket protest achieved wider revegetated corridors along Tramway, Woodland and Hewitts Creeks, which might otherwise have been piped. The 2003 Commission of Inquiry, and in 2005 the Charles Hill Report and Planning Minister Sartor all recommended that the Hannah land become public, but there was no mechanism or funding to make it happen.

Over time, it became clearer that this missing piece of the green corridor in private ownership was an anomaly. Since 2019 NIRAG and TVC had maintained a dialogue with the developer and repeatedly asked Council to include the land in its strategic acquisition plan. We explored biodiversity offsets, petitions, Lands Council options, State Government support and even crowd funding. 

I want to thank everyone who has contributed to make this a reality. Special thanks to Thirroul resident John Corker, author of the forthcoming book Sandon Point, Why Didn’t We Win, for his encouragement and networking skills, and
Annette Jones and Elliot Stein for TVC support. Ian McKinlay, who leads Hewitts Creek Bushcare and spoke at Council, deserves particular recognition. Rehabilitation will take time, but Macca and his team of more than 20 volunteers are committed to the task.

Looking ahead, I see this whole area – together with the Sandon Point Aboriginal Place – becoming a coastal wetland destination, known and valued for its Indigenous and early European heritage; for active tourism; appreciated by walkers, cyclists, bird watchers and also for quiet recreation.

About NIRAG

The Northern Illawarra Residents Action Group (NIRAG) supports preservation of open space and the retention and enhancement of our Natural Environment, European and Indigenous Heritage. Residents of Neighbourhood Forum 3 area (Woonona, Bulli, Thirroul and Austinmer) are welcomed to attend NIRAG meetings to contribute to local community issues and concerns.

The next NIRAG quarterly meeting will be on Wednesday, 12 August 2026 at 7pm, upstairs in the Bulli Community Centre. All are welcome to share and contribute. 

Contact Ross Dearden, Hon Secretary, by email: nirag@bigpond.com