Save Spring Gully – Protect the Royal National Park

We are fighting to conserve 15.5 hectares of world heritage value bushland and wetland at Spring Gully, Bundeena, adjoining the Royal National Park. We call upon the Sutherland Shire Council and the NSW Government to ensure this land remains undeveloped, conserved and added to the adjoining Royal National Park.

Endangered Ecological Communities of Spring Gully:

Coastal Upland Swamp,

Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub,

Sydney Freshwater Wetland,

Coastal Sand Bangalay Forest,

Swamp Sclerophyll Forest,

Swamp Oak Floodplain Forest.

“The Council lands [at Spring Gully] have exceptional scientific values that are part of the suite of ecological qualities identified to support a World Heritage nomination for the Royal National Park” - Prof. David Keith, UNSW, Senior Principal Research Scientist, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage.

“The plant species Bloodwood Coryumbia gummifera, a eucalypt, occurs in important stands in this area. The uniqueness of their sand dune habitat here has led individuals of this species to adapt and develop a mallee growth form with lignotubers of truly gigantic size... They are of outstanding conservation significance” – Robert Crombe, First National Park Committee.

The land we are seeking to conserve and add to the adjoining National Park are:

Former Scout land 5.6Ha,

Sutherland Shire Council bushland 8.5Ha,

Unmade road reserves 1.5Ha.

The zoning of this land in the draft Sutherland Shire Local Environment Plan is currently on public exhibition for comment.

Your submission to our petition will send an email to the Sutherland Shire Council, The Hon. Rob Stokes MP, the NSW Minister for the Environment and The Hon. Lee Evans MP, Member for Heathcote.

These lands adjoin the opening stretch of the Coast Track. The Royal National Park receives four million visitors per year and the Coast Track is the most popular walk in the park. The World Heritage nomination of the Royal National Park is an opportunity that will benefit the local community including the walking tours, whale watching tours, our existing bed and breakfasts, art studios, cafes, clubs and shops. Development of Spring Gully and the huge asset protection zone clearings required will have direct negative impacts on the amenity of the coast track and pose serious threats to the Royal National Park and the Bundeena wetlands. Development of Spring Gully threatens the very qualities and values that support World Heritage nomination for the Park.