North Head Sanctuary, Manly: Future plans to revitalise historic site are revealed

A plan to attract more visitors to one of Sydney Harbour’s most treasured historic sites — with links to its First Nations, colonial and military past — has been revealed. Here’s your first look.

An artist's impression of a proposed use for the parade ground at the Barracks Precinct on Sydney's North Head, as part of the North Head Sanctuary Draft Master Plan put out for public submission On September 19, 2023. Picture: Cox Architecture

A detailed plan to entice more visitors to Sydney’s historic North Head by making it more attractive to walkers and bike riders has been revealed.

The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust also wants to focus more on the site’s First Nations history as well as its links to the city’s military past.

There would also be improved food and beverage outlets and a massive regeneration of its natural landscape — home to some of the city’s most endangered and rare plants and animals..

And as part of the 67-page North Head Sanctuary Draft Master Plan released for public comment on Tuesday, a new “arterial” shared pedestrian and cycle path would be created to link three proposed new “precincts” and make it easier for visitor to move around the site.

Sydney CBD seen from North Head at Manly. A detailed plan to attract visitors to the site has been released for public submissions. Picture: Jonathan Ng

The new “Central Precinct”, which sits between the former School of Artillery complex and the Second World War-era North Fort military defence zone, would accommodate a “First Nations Cultural Space” along with an ecology and environmental centre.

North Head, according to the master plan document, was thought to be a place of “great significance to First Nations peoples” and a “place of gathering and ritual”.

A “Barracks Precinct”, near the historic entry arch to the site, would include the start of the new shared path and a new walkway linking to Shelly Beach at Manly. There would also be a path between the historic Third Quarantine Station Cemetery and the neighbouring former Quarantine Station.

Third Quarantine Cemetery near The School of Artillery, North Head, Manly. Picture: Monique Harmer

The current amenities at the barracks site would be improved and its main building could be reused for more food and beverage options.

At the “North Fort Precinct” improvements would be made to the path between coastal gun battery emplacements and the existing Memorial Walk commemorating those who served in the military in war time.

The parade ground at the School of Artillery. Picture: Manly Daily

A “Defence of the Nation” interpretation space would be created, with the help of the Australian War Memorial, that would include a “partly subterranean structure emulating camouflaged gun emplacements”.

It would also educate visitors about the Japanese submarine attack on Sydney in World War II.

North Head Sanctuary was an active military site, set up to defend Sydney from attack by seas from 1936 to 1998.

A map showing the proposed three new "precincts" on Sydney's North Head, as part of the North Head Sanctuary Draft Master Plan put out for public submission on Tuesday. Picture: Cox Architecture

A map showing walking trails on Sydney's North Head, contained in the North Head Sanctuary Draft Master Plan. Picture: Cox Architecture

The plan also called for the remediation of 4000 sqm of degraded land to help the survival of species such as the endangered long-nosed bandicoot as well as 100 species of birds and 10 rare species of plants.

The nature refuge at North Head Sanctuary is home to rare Eastern Pygmy Possums. Picture: Supplied

The Trust’s executive director Janet Carding said the arterial walking and cycling path was designed for visitors to explore North Head.

It would run through the reconfigured Gate House entry, and connect all the headland’s main precincts to the ocean cliffside Fairfax Walk and the recently refurbished Burragula and Yiningma lookouts.

Gun Emplacement 2, at North Fort, in Sydney's North Head Sanctuary. Picture: Braden Fastier.

“Our vision for the North Head Sanctuary Draft Master Plan is to create a walking place, where visitors can discover the headland’s unique natural environment and explore its military heritage and First Nations significance,” Ms Carding said.

“We aim to create new experiences for visitors through making North Head Sanctuary more

accessible and welcoming, while regenerating North Head’s unique natural landscape and enhancing its important role in supporting and enhancing biodiversity on the edge of the city.”

Public submissions close at 5pm on October 31.

For more information and to have a say click here.