Our Community: Past, Present and Future

What you need to know

Aboriginal Heritage of the Cammerygal people may be at risk

• Sites in and around the Harbour and Waverton have been identified as at risk due to the Western Harbour project. The scoping and design documents for the Beaches Link did not adequately detail the  148 Aboriginal Heritage sites in the Willoughby area, including Flat Rock Gully and along foreshore areas such as Folly’s Point. Flat Rock Gully is believed to have been a key camp site of the Cammeragal people. We are awaiting the Beaches EIS to see more but we know that key Aboriginal sites on the Beaches will be impacted.

• Construction, pollution and tunnelling may mean that sites are damaged, lost or are made inaccessible.

Naremburn once again impacted by construction

• Naremburn is one of the oldest settlements on the North Shore. In 1984 it was classified by the National Trust as an Urban Conservation Area. Naremburn’s history and heritage have already been heavily impacted by the intersection of two expressways over the past decades. Many buildings are on shallow foundations sitting on top of clay requiring regular upkeep due to their age and the instability of the ground.

• The preferred route for the Northern Beaches tunnel runs directly below the oldest parts of Naremburn (between Brook St and Willoughby Rd) and surfaces close by where it will play home to the major temporary dive site for the tunnels. Residents have worked hard and are committed to restoring what remains for future generations. To support the mainline tunnels there will need to be ramps and access tunnels so drilling is likely to be shallow at several points in Naremburn and Cammeray.

Henry Lawson cave  and old Quarry Site

• As a past Naremburn resident, Henry Lawson is regularly celebrated with poetry readings in his cave. Several of his poems describe the area from the church steeple, to the houses, to the beauty of the Flat Rock area. Construction in this area would render it unrecognisable to readers of his poetry and be a significant loss to our nation’s history. The old quarry site and bushman hut is very close to the proposed  dive site.

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Cammeray’s and Waverton's heritage is also at risk

• The heritage listed Tarella House began construction in 1872. Like many houses in the conservation area, this almost 150-year-old building backs onto the Warringah expressway at Amherst St, where significant reconfiguration and portal construction works are planned to take place. The scoping documents refer to risks to buildings from vibration and acquisition. Damage and construction represent a significant risk to our local heritage.

• The Cammeray water course runs through Cammeray Golf Course and feeds the Willoughby falls at Primrose Park – it’s a significant piece of Aboriginal and colonial history. Construction work at or close to the Cammeray Oval and Golf Course may lead to contamination and environmental damage.

• St Leonards Park was one of the first planned parks  on the North Shore and plays home to significant natural and built heritage. Part of the park will be permanently lost to the onramp for the Western Harbour Tunnel (near the bowling club) and a significant amount of dusty/ noisy work will take place there over several years. 

• The tunnel at Waverton comes up under the historic coal leader site. Drilling operations and Harbour Dredging put the site and historic areas in the vicinity under threat.

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Tunnelling under conservation and heritage areas - damage

• The proposed construction corridors cross through or under the conservation areas of Cammeray, Naremburn, Crows Nest, North Sydney and Willoughby. There are many listed buildings, original houses and workers cottages in these areas. According to the Western Harbour and Warringah Freeway EIS, properties are at significant risk from tunnelling, blasts and heavy vehicle movements.  Residents have worked hard and invested heavily to preserve these buildings and environments for the next generation – something local Councils demand.

Construction Impact,

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• Construction of the three stages of the project is expected to be stretched over 10 years. For suburbs that will be heavily impacted by all three stages (such as Cammeray, Naremburn and Artarmon) this is a significant concern

• Artarmon will house the operations/ control centre for both he Western Harbour and Beaches Link  Tunnels as well as another unfiltered stack. A considerable number of daily truck movements and noise will be a feature of these sites over the ten year period.

• 70 trucks per hour are expected to haul spoil from Flat Rock to disposal sites with a set of lights at the base of the gully road. This is expected to cause significant traffic disruption over the five years of operation and will force traffic to rat run via Northbridge , Narmeburn and Willoughby.

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Visual Amenity and Property Value

• A 30x30Metre Pollution Stack will be built on the Warringah Freeway between  Anzac Park and Cammeray Golf Course. The EIS demonstrates that this stack will be visible from much of Cammeray, Neutral Bay and Crows Nest.The facility will be built as part of the Western Harbour Tunnel Project but will also house the ventilation stack for the yet to be approved Beaches Link project.  Many real estate agents are concerned about the implications of an unfiltered  pollution  stack and  large permanent operations facilities being placed so close to residential homes.

Want to know more?

A detailed analysis of the Western Harbour Tunnel and Warringah Freeway Environmental Impact Statement/ Plans can be found on the final plans page under "Our Analysis". Further summaries will be added to this page once the Beaches Link Environmental Impact Assessment becomes available in the 3rd quarter of 2020. Information has been gathered from scoping reports, reference design documents interviews with technical experts and government representatives.

To read our original scoping analysis which includes community background information please see:  report on this site 

To read the original government documents and community submissions go to  Learn More

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Page updated June 2020

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