Sydney set to be home to Australia’s first urban night sky park. But locals aren’t all pleased

There aren’t many places in Sydney where you can look up to the night sky for an unfettered view of the Milky Way; it’s usually an hour or two’s drive before city lights give way to clearer stars and brightly shining planets.

But that could soon change under a Northern Beaches Council plan to turn parts of Palm Beach into the country’s first urban night sky park, which would have international accreditation and welcome families for telescope stargazing or astronomer-led picnics throughout the year.

A blue torchlight beam shines over the view of Palm Beach looking south from the lighthouse.Credit: Nick Moir

Astronomers say Governor Phillip Park and Barrenjoey Headland are uniquely dark spaces for a city, since they are surrounded by water on three sides. Environmental advocates are on board because low lighting would create a more habitable environment for wildlife such as microbats and fairy penguins.

But not all locals are pleased: one residents’ group says it is concerned about safety and security risks, including burglary, because of the darkness. They are worried the park activities will deliver commercial profits to tour providers without benefitting the community and cost the council tens of thousands of dollars to install appropriate lighting.

Palm Beach and Whale Beach Association president Richard West said the organisation was concerned Governor Phillip Park was not a suitable site given its proximity to built-up areas. “We’ll be monitoring what happens in the park if it commences,” he said.

A group of councillors, including Mayor Michael Regan, last week asked for the council to halt the plan so it could scope alternative sites, as well as further investigate community views and commercial arrangements that would come with being a designated night sky location.

“The local residents who would be most impacted have expressed concern that they have not had their questions answered, and felt concerned about it becoming a 24/7 destination. I offered the opportunity to defer the item, and have them all in a room with the proponents face-to-face,” Cr Regan said. However, that motion failed.

The council will instead forge ahead with its original plans based on a motion that passed in August, with 10 votes for and five against. Next steps involve upgrading park lighting to meet dark sky standards at a cost of about $22,000, and engaging with NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service to determine whether the designated area would include Barrenjoey Headland.

The council will also work with local businesses Palm Beach Golf Club and The Boathouse to implement lighting changes to their premises, which fall within the park’s scope. It will then make a formal application to proceed.

To become an accredited night sky park with the International Dark Sky Association, the council needs to pay a fee and hold four educational events on site each year. Those events could include telescope stargazing nights for up to 50 people, or awareness activities such as astronomer talk picnics.

“The businesses on site could continue to operate as normal under their lease/s and could opt to undertake night sky activities in addition to the abovementioned four events per year at their discretion,” the motion says.

Former manager of Sydney Observatory Marnie Ogg lives in the area and has been promoting the concept since 2019.

“[The park] doesn’t have any light pollution at all, which is amazing. That’s partly because you’ve got water on three sides, you have no high density living, and no street lighting, which is one of the biggest sources of artificial lights at night,” she said.

“There’s the national park to the west, Hawkesbury running through the middle, and Pacific Ocean to your right. It’s always going to be more dark than almost anywhere else,” she said.

Keeping artificial light to a minimum would also benefit local fauna, like the area’s microbats whose food sources (small insects) are attracted to street lights and housing. It means the microbats often end up stuck in urban areas.

Baby turtles rely on the moonlight’s reflection to find their way back to water when they hatch; streetlights pose a distraction that can see them become prey to birds waiting for a feast. Pittwater is also home to fairy penguins and shore birds that learn to fly in the area.

“All are animals impacted by artificial light at night,” Ms Ogg said. “We’re lucky at the moment, there’s not terribly a lot of artificial light up there, but my goal is to see that’s kept that way.”

Avalon resident and local Greens candidate Miranda Korzy said community concerns needed to be taken seriously. “We must ensure that the council does not allow mass gatherings of hundreds of people at night that disturb residents,” she said.

“However, there is no need for this to be a commercial operation and the council, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, or some other non-profit body could run the four educational events.”

She said she thought the park was ultimately “a wonderful idea”.

“Not only will it be a great environmental benefit and educational value, but it will just be fun. It’s the sort of thing families could take their kids up to see the sky and sit on the grass or sand dunes and look up,” she said.

The International Dark Sky Association defines urban night sky places as open spaces adjacent to large urban areas where planning and design “actively promote an authentic night-time experience in the midst of significant artificial light”. Australia’s first official dark sky park was Warrumbungle in western NSW.

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