Overhanging beach rock in Balgowlah altered due to safety fears
AN UNUSUAL rock overhang at a beach spot in Sydney’s north has been altered due to safety fears following a ‘serious rock slip’ nearby.
Manly
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AN UNUSUAL rock overhang that is popular with locals has been altered by Northern Beaches Council to protect residents.
The council’s acting general manager of environment Steve Lawler told the Manly Daily a rock slip occurred in April adjacent to Cathedral Rock, near Balgowlah’s Forty Baskets Beach.
“The safety of the public is council’s upmost concern,” he said. “Recently, a serious rock slip occurred adjacent to Cathedral Rock, near Forty Baskets Reserve, posing a significant risk to the public who regularly use the track.”
In 2006, the Aboriginal Heritage Office identified the rock as a heritage site.
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Mr Lawler said a geological assessment of the rock has been undertaken by an engineer.
“Knowing that this is an Aboriginal heritage site, council immediately sought and obtained a directive from the Office of Environment and Heritage to carry out restoration works at the site,” he said.
He said the Aboriginal Heritage Office, Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council and nearby residents were informed of the works.
“The honeycomb shelter overhang (Cathedral Rock) is still in place,” Mr Lawler said. “It now rests at a slightly different angle following the remedial works, as would have occurred should the area be left to weather and fall naturally, but with identified risk to the public removed.”
The site is a point of contention with the former Manly council in 2004 planning to move the rock for fear it could break, crumble and hurt a resident.
However, community opposition led to a rethink.
The council then attempted to remove the rock in 2011, with then-general manager Henry Wong saying it was the best way to ensure public safety.
“A lot of kids play underneath it,” he told the Manly Daily at the time.
“We want to retain the heritage value of this landscape but there is no other option.”
Mr Lawler moved to reassure the community that every effort had been made to preserve the rock.
“All efforts have been made to protect the Aboriginal heritage interests and special care has been taken to preserve Cathedral Rock itself as an iconic natural location,” he said.
The site is expected to be closed to public access for at least two weeks while the council carries out further stabilisation work at the location.