Locals blindsided after Balmoral Beach subject to claim from Aboriginal group that is ‘trying to claim as much land as we can’

The head of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council say he’s ‘trying to claim as much land as we can’ as ‘recompense for the loss’ after British settlement.

Mosman locals say they have been blindsided by a proposal which could result in a prize patch of land near Balmoral Beach being transferred to the local Aboriginal land council, amid fears the site could also be developed.

Mosman Councillor Roy Bendall said the council had “no idea” the claim had been lodged, amid revelations at a Mosman Council meeting Tuesday that the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council had filed a claim for crown land thought to be worth as much as $100 million at Balmoral Beach.

“It’s taken us all by surprise,” Clr Bendall said.

“This is an iconic part of Sydney and the size of the area that’s being claimed is about six or seven residential blocks right on the waterfront.

“It backs directly onto homes and our concern is that if it gets approved there’s nothing stopping the land from being rezoning or for bits of it to be sold off.

“It shouldn’t be claimable land, it’s heavily used for recreation.”

Mosman Council’s objection to the claim means the council will now have to provide evidence to NSW Crown Lands showing the land has been actively used, maintained and is essential to the public benefit.

Nathan Moran, CEO of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Mosman Council’s general manager Dominic Johnson has confirmed that the council would be unable to legally challenge the claim should it be approved by the Minister for Crown Lands.

The lodgement of the claim has also taken several locals by surprise including Mark McLoughlin, who owns the Public Dining Room restaurant directly opposite the reserve.

“No one knows exactly what’s going on or what but in my view I think the reserve should remain as it is,” he said.

“People have picnics there, sit in the park and it’s very used by the community.”

It is understood the claim covers an Indigenous site known as a coastal shell midden which comprises the remains of shellfish eaten by Aboriginal people.

Yolande Stone, a bushcare volunteer who has worked to maintain the reserve, wants to see the site remain in public hands.

“We recognise the Indigenous heritage of the place but we don’t think there’s justification for the claim,” she said.

“It’s an area well used by the community and it’s a fun part of The Esplanade.

Public Dining Room owner Mark McLoughlin said ‘no one knows exactly what’s going’.

“The work we’ve done to restore the bush has been considerable and it would be sad to see it sold off for housing.”

The land claim comes after the Metropolitan Land Council won a land claim Waverton Bowling Club site in the neighbouring North Sydney Council area in November.

The club had previously been under the control of North Sydney Council which had called for the site to be maintained for public use.

Head of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, Nathan Moran, said that he is “trying to claim as much land as we can” as “recompense for the loss” of British settlement, even if that land has no cultural significance for Indigenous people.

Mr Moran made the remarks to Ben Fordham on 2GB Wednesday morning, and said that there were more than 40,000 outstanding claims against crown land waiting to be determined in NSW.

Mr Moran said that while the law only permitted Aboriginal land councils to make claims on crown land that was not being used for its originally intended purpose and not residential, commercial, or pastoral land, his group was on the lookout for opportunities to file claims.

Land claim … The Waverton Bowling Club

“We’ve got cases where crown land has assets that are not being used in accordance with their original purpose (and) that’s when it becomes claimable by a local land council like us,” he said.

“If there is no one using the land legally in accordance with its gazettal, that’s when it becomes claimable.”

Asked what the cultural significance was of the land at Balmoral, Mr Moran said “Aboriginal land claims are not about cultural significance … (they are) about whether they are able to be claimed.”

“The Aboriginal Land Rights Act was set up as recompense … the Land Councils are here to try and acquire what land we can within our boundaries to really form the asset base that will sustain our councils.”

The land claim near Balmoral Beach was lodged in 2009 and covers approximately 2700 sqm of Lawry Plunkett Reserve opposite The Esplanade in Balmoral.