![Kirrawee 6](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Kirrawee_6.JPG)
Kirrawee is a
suburb in
southern Sydney
Southern Sydney is the southern metropolitan area of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.
Southern Sydney includes the suburbs in the local government areas of Georges River Council and part of Bayside Council (collectively know ...
, in the state of
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
,
Australia. Kirrawee is located 25 kilometres south of the
Sydney central business district in the
Sutherland Shire
Sutherland Shire is a local government area in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire comprises an area of and as at the had an estimated population of . Sutherland Shire is colloquially ...
. Kirrawee lies between
Sutherland, to the west, and
Gymea and
Grays Point, to the east. Kirrawee's southern border is formed by
The Royal National Park, while
Kareela and
Jannali
Jannali is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Jannali is located 28 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the Sutherland Shire. The majority of land use in ...
form the northern border.
Kirrawee is split between commercial and residential areas. Approximately 50% of the area to the north of the train line is occupied by commercial and industrial properties, while almost all of the area south of the train line is residential. South Kirrawee, which extends from the train line in the north to the
Royal National Park
The Royal National Park is a protected national park that is located in Sutherland Shire in the Australian state of New South Wales, just south of Sydney.
The national park is about south of the Sydney central business district near the loca ...
in the south, has many houses on quiet roads with beautiful bush outlooks. North Kirrawee is predominantly a commercial/industrial zone containing small to medium-sized factories housing local businesses. It is also home to a number of petrol stations, car dealerships and a fast food chain outlet. However, the most northerly and western sections of this part of Kirrawee are residential, with some parts also with bush outlooks.
History
The
Sutherland Shire
Sutherland Shire is a local government area in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire comprises an area of and as at the had an estimated population of . Sutherland Shire is colloquially ...
Council website suggests two possible origins for the name .
The first possibility is that it derives from an
Aboriginal word meaning 'lengthy'; the second is that it derives from a
Dharawal
The Dharawal people, also spelt Tharawal and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people, identified by the Dharawal language. Traditionally, they lived as hunter–fisher–gatherers in family groups or clans with ties of kinship, ...
word, "gi(a)rrawee(i)" (alternative spelling "garrawi"), which means 'place of white cockatoos' or '
sulphur-crested cockatoo
The sulphur-crested cockatoo (''Cacatua galerita'') is a relatively large white cockatoo found in wooded habitats in Australia, New Guinea, and some of the islands of Indonesia. They can be locally very numerous, leading to them sometimes being ...
s'.
The current signage erected by the Council uses 'place of white cockatoos' as the accepted meaning for the suburb name. The name was adopted in 1939 with the opening of the
Sutherland-Cronulla railway line.
A postal receiving office in the locality was known as 'Bladesville'. It operated from the home of Mrs Louisa Blade, was opened in 1909 and closed in 1915 when a letter delivery service commenced from the post office at
Sutherland.
Kirrawee is part of the southern
Sydney region inhabited by the
Dharawal
The Dharawal people, also spelt Tharawal and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people, identified by the Dharawal language. Traditionally, they lived as hunter–fisher–gatherers in family groups or clans with ties of kinship, ...
people at least 8,500 years prior to
European settlement. Before being subdivided as Kirrawee, the area was part of
Thomas Holt's Sutherland Estate and was accessed from Sutherland train station. In 1911 a tramway was opened, giving access to the area. At around the same time, the brickworks opened. In 1946, several blocks of land in Kirrawee went for several times their asking value - valued at £30, £60 and £64, they sold for £140, £195 and £160. As of 1949, the Department of Education had accepted a tender for a primary school to be built in Kirrawee. Some street names in Kirrawee commemorate colonial figures connected with the
Rum Rebellion
The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was a ''coup d'état'' in the then-British penal colony of New South Wales, staged by the New South Wales Corps in order to depose Governor William Bligh. Australia's first and only military coup, the name derives fr ...
: Bligh Street and Putland Close were named after
Governor William Bligh, and his daughter,
Mary Putland
Mary Bligh, Lady O'Connell (later Putland and later O'Connell) (1783–1864) was the Lady of Government House, New South Wales, Australia during the period her father William Bligh was the Governor of New South Wales.
Early life
Mary Bligh was ...
, respectively;
Johnston Avenue was named after George Bain Johnston, a
First Fleet lieutenant who arrested Governor Bligh;
Kemp Avenue was named after Anthony Fenn Kemp, a captain in charge of government stores who was also involved in Bligh's arrest.
In February 1966
Kirrawee High School
Kirrawee High School is a comprehensive co-educational high school located in Kirrawee, New South Wales, Australia, adjacent to the Royal National Park.
The school was opened in 1966 and now caters for around 1,200 students, most continuing th ...
opened. In that same year, the Housing Commission built low-cost fibro homes in Kirrawee. In October 1968, bushfires went close to Kirrawee and residents prepared to evacuate, but the fire was brought under control.
There are three houses that are heritage-listed in Kirrawee, as well as the brick pit site.
Commercial area
Kirrawee has a small shopping village on Oak Road, adjacent to the
Kirrawee train station. It consists of a number of food outlets, newsagent, law firm, accountant, dentist, real estate agents and bike shop, among others. The train station and shopping village are located in the geographical centre of the suburb and are serviced by a 150 space carpark. A number of painted murals located around the shopping village and train station are an interesting feature in the suburb.
Approximately 50% of the area to the north of the train line is occupied by commercial and industrial properties, while almost all of the area south of the train line is residential. North Kirrawee is predominantly a commercial/industrial zone containing small to medium-sized factories housing local businesses. It is also home to a number of petrol stations, car dealerships and a fast food chain outlet.
Sylvanvale, a disability services provider, is headquartered in Kirrawee.
Rudi's Butchery, a German artisan butcher, opened in Kirrawee in 1983.
In the 1990s, shops specialising in hardware, furniture, bulky goods and electrical goods drew customers to the industrial area of Kirrawee. The Shark Island Brewery is located in the industrial area of Kirrawee,
which opened in 2015.
There is also a small shopping area in Putland Close, behind Kirrawee High School. In 2012, an application to have a liquor store near Kirrawee High School was refused.
In 2016, McDonald's Kirrawee applied to redevelop its site to have a dual-lane drive-through.
A hotel, The Prince, opened diagonally opposite the Kirrawee brick pit in early 2017, aiming to target families as part of their clientele. The site previously had a service station and mechanical repair shop. The Prince was a finalist in the 2017
Australian Hotels Association
The Australian Hotels Association (AHA) is a federation of not-for-profit employer associations in the hotel and hospitality industry, registered under the Fair Work Act and respective State Laws. The AHA's role is to further and protect the inte ...
's "Hotel of the Year City" award division.
In 2019, resident pressure persuaded local Councillors to purchase a proposed 2000 square metre development site next to the local shopping area on the south-east corner of the railway bridge on Oak Rd, allocating the site to parkland to prevent a controversial proposed 50-room boarding house to go ahead on the site.
Following the Council's decision, another development proposal was lodged for a large boarding house, this one proposed to accommodate up to 129 people in a five-story building adjoining the railway station car park.
Sydney Turpentine Ironbark Forest
Kirrawee contains several important remnants of
Sydney Turpentine Ironbark Forest (STIF), a critically endangered
ecological community. STIF is distinctly different from the surrounding plant communities that grow on sandstone soils, as it typically grows on clay soils derived from
Wianamatta Shale
The Wianamatta Group is a geological feature of the Sydney Basin, New South Wales, Australia that directly overlies the older (but still Triassic in age) Hawkesbury sandstone and generally comprise fine grained sedimentary rocks such as shales an ...
.
Kirrawee's small patches of STIF vegetation are representative of the original forest between Sutherland and Wooloware, before residential development. Although this type of forest remains, for the most part, only as heavily fragmented patches or even isolated trees surviving amongst suburban dwellings, small remnants yet survive and can be seen growing around Kirrawee - in protected sites such as Flora Street Reserve, and Pollard Park on Kirrawee main street; and in long-undeveloped sites such as the old Kirrawee Brickpit and the Telstra depot (also a former brickpit). These latter sites are now subject to urban development plans.
It is estimated that only 0.5% of the original area of STIF remains in the Sydney region, with these small remnants now protected under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 and the Federal Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The main threat to the ecological community is clearing for urban development, and the subsequent impacts from fragmentation.
Kirrawee's protected areas of STIF are used to collect seeds that can be planted as street trees or on private property to assist in sustaining the biodiversity of the area and protecting the unique flora that provides habitat for native fauna. Kirrawee's STIF reserves are largely maintained by the local council and Bushcare volunteers from the community. The Sutherland Shire Council and Bushcare volunteers maintain a Plant Nursery that sells native plants sourced from local species, and its website includes a native plant selector that encourages locals to purchase and protect species suited to the local ecosystem.
Kirrawee Brick Pit
![Kirrawee brick pit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Kirrawee_brick_pit.jpg)
Kirrawee's long-disused former brick pit is a 4.5ha site just north of the main shopping village, and its future has been the source of much debate by local residents, politicians, potential developers, and media in the locality.
Original development
Used for industrial purposes between 1912 and 1979, the land was owned by various brick manufacturers, including Sutherland Brick Co, Refractory Bricks, and Punchbowl Brick and Tile Co. The buildings on the site were demolished in 1968.
Sydney Water Board acquired the land in 1974 for water-storage purposes, but instead it became an equipment storage facility.
Lagoon & wildlife habitat
Until recent development of the site, a deep pit covered approximately 50 - 60% of the total brick pit site and measured about 230 metres long by about 80 metres wide and was about 16 metres deep. The entire site was enclosed by a cyclone fence, preventing public access. Over many years, the pit had become half-filled with water, making a natural
lagoon
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') ...
. The remainder of the site was covered with overgrown trees and plants and had become home to many diverse species of animals
most notably bird life, which could be seen nesting and swimming on and around the water.
The threatened
Grey-headed Flying Fox
The grey-headed flying fox (''Pteropus poliocephalus'') is a megabat native to Australia. The species shares mainland Australia with three other members of the genus ''Pteropus'': the little red '' P. scapulatus'', spectacled '' P. conspicill ...
has been observed drinking from the lake.
Re-development and controversy
This site has been the subject of much controversy over recent years.
When it was evident Sydney Water had no further use for the site, the State Government proposed to sell the site to developers for use as a mix of apartments, business units, and a small park. Kirrawee Chamber of Commerce and a residents' group instead proposed that the site be turned into a performing arts centre and large park.
In 2001, a 20-month program commenced to consult with the community about the future use of the site. This project was a joint initiative between the local council, the
Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources (DIPNR),
Sydney Water
Sydney Water, formally, Sydney Water Corporation, is a New South Wales Government owned statutory corporation that provides potable drinking water, wastewater and some stormwater services to Greater Metropolitan Sydney, the Illawarra and the B ...
(the then-owner of the site), and the local community. The Local Environment Plan (LEP) produced a master plan for the Kirrawee shopping village and brick pit which involved rezoning the site to a mix of commercial, residential, and 20% open public space.
In April 2005, after the election of a new councillor, 45 amendments were passed with regards to the LEP.
Barry Collier was critical of these amendments, which changed the zoning to make the
Princes Highway frontage commercial and the remainder "special uses". It was specifically noted that "...educational establishments are a permissible use in both zones".
Sutherland Shire Council moved to change the plan, but NSW state government Planning Minister,
Frank Sartor
Francesco Ernest "Frank" Sartor AO (born 9 November 1951) is a former Australian politician who served as New South Wales Minister for Climate Change and the Environment and Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer) between 2009 and ...
cemented the original proposal in a rewritten local environment plan.
It was estimated in 2006 that there were 42.7 million litres of water in the brick pit lake.
In July 2007, a development group called Kirrawee Centre Pty Ltd, with directors including architect, George Revay, and brothers Stanley and John Roth, purchased the site from Sydney Water for $22.5million. The State Government had previously said the buyer would have to develop it in accordance with a comprehensive master plan, which includes a mix of multi-storey apartments, business units and a one-hectare public park.
In May 2008 a new development application was proposed for the site including a shopping centre with 2 supermarkets and 63 apartments.
The development tick-tacked between council and the developer and eventually a far more commercially based development proposal was lodged with the
Land and Environment Court of NSW and heard over February, April, June and July 2009, with a judgement made on 7 August 2009. In the case of ''Restifa Pty Ltd v Sutherland Shire Council & Ors
009NSWLEC 1267'', the developer appealed against the Council's refusal of the development Master Plan for the site and of construction of Stage 1 for a mixed retail, commercial, residential development with a child care centre, basement car parking and open space recreation area. In the judgement, it was pointed out that, during the course of the hearing, there were many amendments and six sets of plans submitted. The retail component of the development was amended from the two supermarkets totalling about 7,000 square metres, with total retail 10,500 square metres, to a proposal of one 4,500 square metres supermarket and total retail of about 8,000 square metres. The development was ultimately rejected.
Most recent development proposals
In July 2010, Henroth Investments Pty Ltd, bypassed Sutherland Shire Council, lodging a new development application with the NSW Planning Department for a $220 million, nine-storey development, including nearly 500 residential units, over 13,500 square metres of retail space and 1,378 car spaces.
The local council at the time was "strongly opposed" to the project, and the developer took it to the Planning and Assessment Commission.
The Henroth application had 30 percent more units than the proposal refused by the
Land and Environment Court in August 2009, which raised a number of concerns including the impact on retailers in Kirrawee and Sutherland, the design of the public open space, and the ecological impact. Local retailer
Supabarn
Supabarn is a family owned supermarket chain based in Canberra with shops across the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra) and New South Wales in Australia with its head office located in Canberra. The chain has been in operation since 1991.
...
was one of many to protest strongly, particularly after the group spent $18 million to develop a supermarket site in nearby Sutherland.
In February 2011 the brick pit area was rezoned from public open space to being mixed use. On 28 August 2012 the re-development of Kirrawee Brick Pit was approved.
The Planning Assessment Commission in February 2015 approved the developer's concept plan modifications, allowing them to increase the number of apartments from 432 to 749. This was reported to be a blend of
housing commission dwellings and general residential, but DeiCorp has stated that none of the 808 units of housing is planned to be affordable housing or public housing.
The developer of the South Village shopping centre at the brick pit site initially sought to include childcare facilities, but this was later scrapped due to concerns about pickup issues. It was suggested in local media that
Sutherland Library may move its main branch to the South Village shopping centre, instead of having a "technology hub" at the site, but this idea was later scrapped.
Roadworks have been completed on the Princes Highway, Oak Road and Flora Street to improve traffic flow to ameliorate the expected impact of the South Village shopping centre on traffic in Kirrawee. Over 1500 jobs were expected to be created by the South Village project, with hundreds of ongoing retail positions in the shopping centre.
Transport
Kirrawee railway station is on the
Cronulla line which links
Sydney's
southern suburbs to the
CBD. Kirrawee is approximately 40 minutes by train to the CBD. Kirrawee was one of the last remaining single platform stations in
Sydney. Duplication of the train line from
Sutherland to
Cronulla
Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is located 26 kilometres south of the Sydne ...
commenced in May 2006 and was completed in 2010.
Parts of Kirrawee are earmarked to become part of an extension to the
Princes Motorway
The Princes Motorway is a predominantly dual carriage untolled motorway that links Sydney to Wollongong and further south through the Illawarra region to . Part of the Australian Highway 1 network, the motorway is designated with the route ...
.
In 1940, a bus service ran from Hurstville to Kirrawee via Yowie Bay.
Transdev NSW
Transdev NSW is a bus operator in the northern, southern and western suburbs of Sydney, Australia, operating on behalf of Transport for NSW. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Australasia. It is a different subsidiary to Transdev John Holland, whi ...
operates two routes via President Avenue, near
Kirrawee railway station:
*976:
Sutherland station to
Grays Point
*993:
Westfield Miranda
Westfield Miranda (previously known as Miranda Fair) is a large shopping centre in the suburb of Miranda, New South Wales, Miranda in Sutherland Shire of Sydney.
Transport
The Cronulla railway line, Cronulla line offers frequent services to M ...
to
Engadine Engadine may refer to:
Places
*Engadin, Engadin(e), a valley region in Switzerland
*Engadine, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia
*Engadine, Michigan, unincorporated community in Michigan
*Engadine (Candler, North Carolina), a building l ...
In addition to these bus services, as of 2017, part of Kirrawee south of the
Princes Highway was served by the on-demand Transdevlink ride service pilot. The service was revised in January 2019, when all of Kirrawee was included. It ceased 17 November 2019.
On the day of the 2016 census, 19.8% of employed people in Kirrawee used public transport to get to work and 64.1% travelled by car.
[
]
Schools
Education facilities within Kirrawee include Kirrawee High School
Kirrawee High School is a comprehensive co-educational high school located in Kirrawee, New South Wales, Australia, adjacent to the Royal National Park.
The school was opened in 1966 and now caters for around 1,200 students, most continuing th ...
and Kirrawee Public School, along with a number of pre-school
A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary scho ...
s and childcare
Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...
centres. Gymea Technology High School
Gymea Technology High School (abbreviated as GTHS) is a technology oriented, public and co-educational high school, located on the Princes Highway in the suburb of Gymea, in the Sutherland Shire, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, next to Gym ...
also lies on Kirrawee's outskirts.
Churches
St. Mary, St. Bakhomious and St. Shenouda Coptic Orthodox Church, located in Bath Road, was consecrated in 1996. The Soul Revival (Anglican) church meets in Flora Street, Kirrawee. The President Avenue Community Church meets in Kirrawee. There is a Latter Day Saint Ward in Bath Road, an outpost of the larger LDS church at Mortdale
Mortdale is a suburb located in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mortdale is located 20 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Mortdale is situated in the ...
.
Parks and sporting facilities
Helena Street has an off-leash dog park. Nearby, the Kirrawee Oval provides a floodlighted sporting facility. Kirrawee Oval is used by the St. Patrick's Sutherland Football Club.
Bowie Park, Betham Place Reserve, Nyrang Place Reserve, Flora Street Reserve, Tea Tree Street Reserve, and Biddy Giles Park provide playgrounds.
A lawn bowls
Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...
club operates in Oak Road, named Club Kirrawee.
There is an indoor climbing centre in Waratah Street, Kirrawee.
Population
According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 9,278 people in Kirrawee.
* Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.2% of the population.
* 77.2% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 3.7%, New Zealand 1.8% and China 1.5%.
* 84.6% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 1.3% and Cantonese 1.3%.
* The most common responses for religion were Catholic 28.0%, No Religion 25.2% and Anglican 21.7%.[
]
Politics
Kirrawee is part of the Sutherland Shire
Sutherland Shire is a local government area in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire comprises an area of and as at the had an estimated population of . Sutherland Shire is colloquially ...
Government Area in Southern Sydney
Southern Sydney is the southern metropolitan area of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.
Southern Sydney includes the suburbs in the local government areas of Georges River Council and part of Bayside Council (collectively know ...
. For local government purposes, the Sutherland Shire is split into 5 wards, A through to E. These wards are reviewed every 4 years. Kirrawee is split between Wards D, B and C.
At state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
level, some of Kirrawee is located within the seat of Miranda, some of Kirrawee is located within the seat of Cronulla, and some of Kirrawee is located within the seat of Heathcote.
In Federal parliament
The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-gen ...
, Kirrawee is in the electorate
Electorate may refer to:
* The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate''
* The dominion of a Prince-elector
The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, ...
for the Division of Hughes
The Division of Hughes is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.
History
The division was created in 1955 and is named for Billy Hughes, who was Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923. Originally a marginal L ...
as of the redistribution of February 2016. Prior to this, some of Kirrawee was within the Division of Cook.
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
External links
Sutherland Shire Council Website
Kirrawee High School
Royal National Park link
*
{{Sydney Sutherland suburbs
Suburbs of Sydney
Sutherland Shire