Former Department of Defence sites on Sydney Harbour faced the irreversible threat of private residential and commercial development.
CAMPAIGN aim
To save former defense sites from commercial development and create parklands for all Australians to enjoy.
OUTCOME
HPG campaigned to achieve the successful outcome with the establishment of the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust.
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The Headland Preservation Group Inc. (the HPG), founded by a group of Mosman environmentalists in 1996, successfully campaigned to prevent the sale of the Defence Department’s historic foreshore lands around Sydney Harbour. In 1997, HPG joined the Defenders of Sydney Harbour Coalition. The culmination of the successful HPG Defenders campaign was the creation of the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust (Harbour Trust) in 2001.
ABOVE: A memorial plaque dedicated to HPG, “A tribute to Community Action” was unveiled in March 2010.
What we accomplished:
1.
In the post-campaign period the HPG played a significant advocacy role in the development of the Sydney Harbour Trust’s statutory management plans. 8 out of a total of 14 Precinct Plans (around 60%) are in Headland Park.
2.
In 2001, just after the establishment of the Harbour Trust, the then Mosman Council attempted to acquire a large portion of the Harbour Trust’s parkland for a sporting centre. HPG defeated this in another hard-fought public campaign.
ABOVE: Defence Department’s ceremonial of handover of the headland on 18 March 2001. Image HPG Archive
3.
HPG’s other accomplishments with the Harbour Trust:
1913 army Drill Hall adaptive reuse for an indoor sports centre in conjunction with Mosman Council.
An exhibition in Building 21 (Ward I) commemorating the medical staff and soldiers who worked and recuperated at the Hospital on the Hill. The third largest military hospital in Australia, Hospital on the Hill, was built at Georges Heights to accommodate the increasing number of World War I casualties returning from the trenches of the Western Front. The hospital operated until 1921, and many of the timber-framed buildings are still intact today.
Preservation of most post-war “Swedish cottages”, which were scheduled to be demolished.
Support for sale of some lots at Market Close to provide financial support to Trust, and in obtaining in 2003 $115.5m appropriation from the Federal Government.