Elizabeth Farrelly's article 'Peat Island sale is a bridge too far', Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), 6 February 2014, was met with a wave of dismay and disbelief at the tone and inaccuracies with regard to the Middle Head aspects of the story.'Rainer the cabbie – Darlo and beyond' 6 Feb commented online "This piece of National Park is today the pearl of the harbour, to be enjoyed by locals, Sydneysiders and tourists alike."Fran Lester's Letter to the SMH Editor 7 Feb 'Harbour's beauty is for everyone, so let's protect it' got right down to the bottom line in more ways than one "It makes no difference whether it's for aged care, a cookery school or a red-light brothel. It's just the wrong thing to do."Then came the carpeting of Ms Farrelly's article with a stream of Letters to the SMH Editor on Saturday 8 Feb. The high number published was clearly the tip of a very cold iceberg of responses to what Ms Farrelly had to say. Read on!'It's about parkland for all, not just a few'SMH Letters, February 8, 2014Nearly two decades ago, communities came together to oppose the sell-off of Defence land in a legendary ''Battle for Sydney Harbour''. The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust resulted from this clamour. The original vision of the community - ''a world-class national park for all Australians'' - has been achieved. Elizabeth Farrelly (''Let Mosmanites fight for Peat Island'', February 6) is right to applaud the trust and its executive Geoff Bailey.I was one of those people all those years ago. Sadly, it is deja vu because of the trust's apparent support of a development application (by a private company) for an aged-care home on the ridge line of Middle Head, one of Australia's most loved heritage sites.Ms Farrelly is well-respected and thoughtful. This time, however, she has got it wrong. The scale is indeed large - it is nearly double the existing gross floor area. The 25-year lease is a long one and would likely be renewed if it's elderly people living there. It is akin to a sale.The trust has lost our trust.Linda BerginPresident, Headland Preservation Group, Mosman
Elizabeth Farrelly's piece on the future of Peat Island was interesting. Like many Sydneysiders, I have driven past that geographical feature of the Hawkesbury many times. With its bleak-looking buildings and towering smokestack, I'd often wonder what went on there. I can recall 20 years ago saying ''wouldn't the developers love to get their little hands on that piece of real estate''. It's taken a while but sadly looks as if it could be around the corner.Ross MacPherson Seaforth
Elizabeth Farrelly overlooks the objectives in the 2001 act establishing the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust. The proposal for the aged-care home contravenes all four of the principal objectives of the act. The proposal is also not possible without major amendments to the trust's management plan 2007. Finally the proposal is inconsistent with the trust's notice board outside the Terminal 10 building stating the original intentions.David Clarke Mosman
Elizabeth Farrelly focuses on the argument that a ''heritage-listed building needed a use'' - as if that somehow should override the fundamental principle of preserving the public parkland as public parkland in perpetuity.If it came to that, Centennial Park has much more public parkland than Middle Head, is much closer to the inner-city neighbourhoods that Farrelly raved about in a recent column and could make a much bigger contribution to solving the aged-care needs of the city.Farrelly's articles are usually well thought out and interesting. But for someone who has railed against the planning fiasco of Barangaroo to be so glib and dismissive of a proposed land grab of iconic Sydney Harbour foreshore land is both surprising and disappointing.Robert Bagnall Mosman
Elizabeth Farrelly misses the point. The proposed aged-care facility at Middle Head is all about a privatisation agenda that threatens public land that rightfully belongs to the people of Sydney and the nation. Why should we hand over our harbour foreshores to private profit?Janine Kitson Gordon
Elizabeth Farrelly should consider the words of Prince Charles: ''It seems to me that some planners and architects have consistently ignored the feelings and wishes of the mass of ordinary people in this country.'' By making demeaning comments about the ''burghers of Mosman'', Ms Farrelly clearly fails to realise that this issue goes far beyond the immediate environs of Mosman and shows that, by Prince Charles' definition, at least, she is not a good architect.Michael Robinson Cammeray
Oldies living in high care at Middle Head will have their hands too full managing medication, ravenous commercial operator and existential heebie-jeebies to appreciate one of Sydney's signature headlands. Build the facility on Allan Border Oval.Patrick Fletcher Mosman
Harbour's beauty is for everyone, so let's protect it (published 7th Feb)Elizabeth Farrelly (February 6) says the Peat Island issue ''could use some implacable Mosmanites'' to fight the cause.As a Mosmanite who lives next door to Middle Head, I'd be happy to fight for Peat Island.Ms Farrelly might be surprised to know that among all those Mosman burghers who are out rampaging on Middle Head with their pitchforks, there are quite a lot of George Smiley-like characters. They harbour other Smiley-like characteristics: industry, tenacity, intelligence. Most come from somewhere else; I am a Kogarah kid.A lot of mud gets slung at Mosmanites, so Ms Farrelly is not alone, just predictable. Mostly it's just sour grapes - look at all those toffs over there, ''latte sippers patronising popular cafes and restaurants''. But the truth is that the people who park in my street on weekends are not Mosmanites. They're from everywhere. Two Frenchmen I met here couldn't get over the beauty of the foreshore parklands. And that's great. Why? Because what matters is the parkland is for everyone.The bottom line? The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust needs money. To get it, it's prepared to forsake its charter and give a private developer the go-ahead to construct a very ugly large building in national parkland. It makes no difference whether it's for aged care, a cookery school or a red-light brothel. It's just the wrong thing to do.Fran Lester Mosman
'It's about parkland for all, not just a few'Comments, February 6, 2014The one thing overlooked in this article is the passion most Mosmanits have for their district.When the Army moved out of George's Heights the government of the day had plans to sell off the land to fill their coffers.To prevent this the local residents formed an action group and fought long and hard to return the land back to the general public and include it in the Harbour Nation Park.This cannot be written off as Nimbism. The land was then handed over to the Harbour Trust which made great use of the exciting facilities without causing any environtmental impact. The walking tracks were restored and extended to take in the unique beauty of this area.This piece of National Park is today the pearl of the harbour, to be enjoyed by locals, Sydneysiders and tourist alike. All this was achieved without any change to the existing framework of the buildings, the best compromise if ever I've seen one.This principle should never be altered so the future for one of Sydney's unique spots is secured for all in the future.Congratulations to the so called " Pitchfork brigade", your work was not in vain and keep on going for the benefit of all.CommenterRainer the cabbieDarlo and beyond
Dear Dr Farrelly,As a long time fan of your social and architectural analysis articles I am very disappointed at the lazy passion-aggressive effort you've made in this case.It was community action by the so-called 'burghers of Mosman' and the Headland Preservation Group in the late 1990s which saved Georges Heights, Middle Head and Chowder Bay from sale by the Defence Department for private residential development.It was the Headland Preservation Group and Linda Bergin OAM, Phillip Jenkyn OAM and Peter Jones AM who constructed the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust not Geoff Bailey. He is a tenant of the Harbour Trust not its architect.Cockatoo Island is a Biennale of Sydney venue because community action kept the land in public hands not because John Howard bestowed the Harbour Trust on it. Community action > public land > Harbour Trust.How about coming over to Middle Head for an alternative tour. You might see Middle Head from another perspective. We might even buy you a burger :-)Michael MangoldCommenterMichael MangoldMiddle Head, Mosman