Great risk for the loss of heritage and cultural values of Middle Head

Dear Members and Supporters

On Middle Head, in the Sydney Harbour National Park, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service is amending its Plan of Management to allow the construction of new buildings for the establishment of an Environmental Education Centre on the most culturally sensitive and military-significant sites inside the historic 19th-century Middle Head fort.

ABOVE: The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service wants to change its plan of management to allow the construction of new buildings, including a large structure next to the historic Soldiers Institute.

Sydney Morning Herald Opinion

The Sydney Morning Herald Opinion "This cottage is a snapshot of Sydney's heritage dereliction" (9 February 2023) by Linda Bergin OAM, Advocate for public parkland and HPG Founding President, highlights the dereliction of Sydney's heritage including the great risk for the loss of heritage and cultural values of the Middle Head precinct.

Linda Bergin says, "Middle and Georges Heads are of national significance as the site of the most diverse collection of fortifications and defence sites in Australia. The defence history of the area spans from 1801 to the Vietnam War. Middle Head also has exceptional Aboriginal archaeological heritage.

"There have never been new buildings allowed in the fortifications. Developing Middle Head would be a tragedy, but it is also unnecessary because the adjacent federal Sydney Harbour Federation Trust has empty buildings away from the fortifications". These Sydney Harbour Federation Trust buildings can be adaptively re-used for an Environmental Education Centre.

Read the full Sydney Morning Herald Opinion piece here >

No new buildings on historic Middle Head

HPG strongly opposes the construction of any new buildings on Middle Head for the reasons outlined above. Not only does Middle Head hold the early history of this nation, both Indigenous and military, but it is also a place of exceptional environmental significance.

This proposal by NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service goes against their own Plan of Management for this precinct and risks the destruction of a nationally important heritage site.

ABOVE: The historic site in the Middle Head Precinct where the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service wants to lease the Soldiers Institute (the building on the right) to the Education department and change its plan of management to allow the construction of new buildings.

More information

For more information about the proposed changes to Sydney Harbour National Park Plan of Management and how it affects Middle Head, please read HPG's previous news post >

Read this article, including comments by HPG, by Michelle Giglio, North Shore Living February 2023, issue 142, page 6 >

Save this precinct, write to:

Letters to the Editor Sydney Morning Herald (guide to writing letters >)
letters@smh.com.au

James Griffin MP, Member for Manly, Minister for Environment and Heritage
manly@parliament.nsw.gov.au 

Felicity Wilson MP, Member for North Shore
northshore@parliament.nsw.gov.au

Warmest Regards,
Jill L'Estrange
President
Headland Preservation Group