Illawong waterfront redevelopment

It's been a while since I last posted - I think I'm meant to blog regularly! We're loving living in Illawong more and more, the bush is just so beautiful and it changes through the seasons. The exciting news recently is that the council have widened their redevelopment plans to include the Illawong waterfront area (from the old boat ramp at Old Fowler Road through to Albert de Lardes reserve), as well as a possible boardwalk down Old Ferry Road. Apparently this is the only accessible waterfront in the Menai district. Will keep an eye on this, thanks to the progress association. Here's their latest newsletter.

Albert Delardes Reserve update

The Illawong Alfords Point Progress Association, together with Sutherland Council and Thompson Berril Landscape Design, are in discussion about updating Albert Delardes Reserve. Amongst the info and possibilities discussed at the community meeting, it was mentioned that the last convict-built road was actually in the park, along with house ruins. So we went trekking to find these, see the pics below. Pretty interesting, but also pretty overgrown!

Bushfires and Illawong

Doing my daily walk this morning, I noticed a sticker on the Illawong community centre (see picture)... "Bush Fire Neighbourhood Safe Place... A Place of Last Resort"!!! I guess this just reinforces to me that we are now in a bushfire prone area! The last major fires in the area was in 1994 (we had firsthand experience with this one, defending my husband's house just across the river in Lugarno at the time). We do have a local rural fire brigade known as 'Station 20'. Not only do they fight fires, but they also bring Santa each year.

Available info about Illawong

Here are a couple of links to info existing on the web about Illawong - check out the amazing photos.

Illawong wiki entry - basic historical info and stats
Illawong Community Directory - all about Illawong and Illawong services/business
Illawong Demographics - demographics about Illawong residents
Sydney City Blogspot - Illawong - photos of the river/s from Illawong
Sydney City Blogspot - Lugarno - photos looking across the Georges River to Illawong
The Trees - Land Sale - information about new release of land for sale in Illawong
Review of Illawong - including comments from Illawong residents
Illawong Stats - statistics about who lives at Illawong
Illawong Community Portal - info re services
Illawong Village - the local shops which have been updated since the wiki photos
Illawong Community Profile - Sutherland Shire Council info about Illawong
More census info about Illawong - from Sutherland Shire Council
More Illawong Stats - more stats for those who want to visit Illawong
Illawong Suburb Guide - from the Australian Suburb Guide site
Illawong Suburb Profile - by Coldwell Banker - mentions Cranbrook house which still stands today
Another review of Illawong - by local voices