Plan to transform hidden tramway into cliff track at Watsons Bay
A Watsons Bay tramway — which has been off limits since 1960 — could be turned into a cliff-side walking track.
Wentworth Courier
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A plan to transform a hidden tramway in Sydney’s eastern suburbs into a cliff-side walking track has been revealed.
Woollahra Council wants to open up a sealed pathway along the old tramway route at The Gap in Watsons Bay.
It will connect the existing path along the cliff edge to a bush track over the hidden tramway road, inoperative since 1960.
The total path will be 385 metres from Military Rd to Old South Head Rd and will be 2.5 metres wide.
The plan “celebrates” the history of The Gap, including the former tram route and the location of a camera obscura which operated from the end of the 19th century until 1914.
It will also provide access to pre-European cultural and environmental features at Gap Park, the council has said.
The proposal comes after a controversial $80m bid for an accessible 3km walkway down the road at South Head by millionaire Angus Murray.
Mr Murray, through his corporate entity Nature Walks, has already spoken out on the proposal.
A post on the company’s Twitter account read: “Woollahra Council will hopefully be supporting Nature Walks’ proposal at South Head considering they are proposing the same concept ‘to convert the historic tramway route through Gap Park into an accessible path that will provide a new visitor experience through Gap Park’.”
On its website, Woollahra Council states the “accessible path will provide a new visitor experience through Gap Park”.
“The pathway will take visitors along the historic tram route, a bushland rock escarpment and an exotic rainforest gully, a quite different experience to the exposed Coastal Walk path hugging the cliff tops,” the council states.
Signs and conservation works will highlight the history of Gap Park, such as the Dunbar ship wreck, a tribute to Lieutenant Gideon Grieve, and restoration of a rusted historic anchor.
A report on the project will be discussed at council.
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