Tag: urban sprawl

1968 Sydney Region Outline Plan · 1973 New Cities Campbelltown Camden Appin Structure Plan · Advertising · Attachment to place · Built heritag · Community identity · Cultural Heritage · Elderslie · Heritage · History · Land releases · Living History · Local History · Local Studies · Place making · rural-urban fringe · Storytelling · Uncategorized · Urban development · Urban growth · Urban history · Urban Planning · urban sprawl · Urbanism

Elderslie land releases 2000-2023, the background and fancy estate names

camdenhistorynotes

Elderslie part of Sydney’s strategic growth

The Elderslie area has been identified in Sydney’s strategic growth plans for land releases on the metropolitan rural-urban fringe. It is a valuable exercise to see how and when Elderslie was identified as part of Sydney’s planning framework.

Elderslie was not part of the NSW Government’s first attempt at town planning with the 1948 County of Cumberland Planning Scheme. A greenbelt surrounded the metropolitan area, and Elderslie was beyond it and not destined for the development. The scheme was prescriptive and met with significant opposition, including local government and the development industry, and the scheme was dissolved in 1963.

The County of Cumberland Planning Scheme flyer 1948 (City of Syd Archives)

The Elderslie area was included in the next planning iteration with the Askin Government’s 1968 Sydney region: Outline plan 1970-2000 A.D.: a strategy for development. This plan led to the 1973 New Cities of Campbelltown Camden Structure Plan and the Commonwealth Government’s Macarthur Growth Centre. This plan offered flexibility and changes and turned into a developer’s dream. Sydney’s urban sprawl continued to spread, and nothing much eventuated at Elderslie. (Ashton & Freestone 2008)

The first hint of real change at Elderslie occurred with the third strategic plan: the 1988 Sydney into its third century: a metropolitan strategy for the Sydney region. This plan envisaged that Sydney’s growth would be contained in newly developing areas along the transport routes: Northwest, Southwest, Bringelly and Central Coast, with higher densities to consolidate Sydney’s growth. (SRANSW 1995) These plans resulted in suburbia encroaching on the boundaries of Elderslie with the development of Mount Annan, Narellan Vale, Harrington Park and surrounding suburbs.

Air pollution and water quality issues in the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment further postponed the rezoning of land in the Elderslie area beyond 1990. (BBC Consulting) Meanwhile, another new metropolitan plan appeared in 1995, Cities for the 21st Century.

The Elderslie Urban Release Area was identified by the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning in 1995 under the 1980 Urban Development Program managed by the department. (BBC Consulting 1998) At the time, the department was looking for opportunities to drive Sydney’s urban growth (SRANSW 1995) and the identification and coordination of new residential land. (BBC Consulting 1998)  The Elderslie Release Area consisted of 180 hectares, and it was envisaged that the area might yield 2800 lots, which was revised down to 1700 lots. (BBC Consulting 1998)

Sydney’s strategic planning was further updated with the 1998 Shaping Our Cities. This plan called for higher densities with familiar themes of better integration of land use and transport and promotion of suburban activity centres with a more explicit concern with urban design at a regional scale. (Ashton & Freestone 2008)

In 2000 the state government identified the Elderslie Urban Release Area for redevelopment under  NSW Urban Development Program. The Elderslie area was zoned rural then, with a minimum subdivision of 40 ha. (Godden, Mackay and Logan 2001)

An article from the Camden press about the Elderslie Urban Land Release in 2000 by the NSW Government (The District Reporter, 3 November 2000)

The 180 ha. Elderslie Release Area was developed as part of the Camden Local Environmental Plan No 117 when it was put on public display in 2000 to replace the Camden LEP No 46. The LEP described the desired character of the area in a list of planning controls and was legislated in 2004. (Godden, Mackay and Logan 2001)

Elderslie was within the South West Growth Centre as part of the 2005 City of Cities: a plan for Sydney’s future metropolitan strategy of the state government. The plan reflected familiar urban planning themes of the end of sprawl with a more compact city, higher densities, sub-regional centred, transport integration and urban design. (Ashton & Freestone 2008)

Elderslie land releases

The names given Elderslie land releases range from the commodification of the rural aesthetic of the local area to a  locality name, names of local identities or hints of the historical past.

1999 Elderslie

The Elderslie land release in 1999 (Macarthur Advertiser, 25 August 1999)

2000-2014 Elderslie Masterplan and community meetings

2004-2007 Camden Acres

The cover of the Camden Acres land release in 2004 (Camden Acres)

2005-2014 The Ridges

A flyer from the developer of The Ridges land release in 2006 (The Ridges AV Jennings)

2007-2014  Vantage Point

2008-2009  Camden Hillside

2009  Mount View Estate

2010 Elderslie Estate

2010-2012  Hillcrest

2011-2013  Merino

2012-2013  Camden Heights

2013  Studley Park

2016  Franzman Ave

2017 Lodges Road

2017-2023 Argyle

Screenshot of The Argyle land release in 2023 (The Argyle)

References

BBC Consulting 1998, Elderslie Open Space and Social Plan. Camden Council, Camden.

State Records Authority of NSW 1995, Department of Environment and Planning (1980- 1988) Department of Planning [I](1988-1995). Online at https://researchdata.edu.au/department-environment-planning-i1988-1995/164536 Viewed 18 April 2023.

Ashton, Paul, Freestone, Robert, Planning, Dictionary of Sydney, 2008, http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/planning, viewed 18 Apr 2023

Godden, Mackay and Logan 2001, Elderslie Urban Release Area Heritage Assessment. Camden Council, Camden.

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Campbelltown City Council office extension 1982 – a brutalist addition

camdenhistorynotes

The confidence of brutalist office extensions

On 18 September 1982, the Governor of New South Wales, His Excellency Air Marshal Sir James Rowland AC, KBE, DFC, AFC, opened the new brutalist style office extensions for Campbelltown City Council.

Gosford architects Grenfell, Fraser, and Associates designed the office extensions and, when combined with the 1964 building, created one of the most important modernist precincts in the Macarthur region.

Campbelltown Council Admin Building Open 1982Sept16 Cover lowres
The cover of the official programme at the opening of the new administration building in 1982. (CCC)

Unprecedented growth

Mayor Thomas stated at the official opening that the city had undergone ‘unprecedented’ growth and embraced ‘enormous changes’ since 1964. (Official programme)

The city’s population growth had grown from 24,000 (1963) to 43,000 (1974), and by 1980 was 120,000.

The council’s administration was ‘strained to the limit’, and there was a risk of fragmentation of council departments. The architects recommended a new single building to accommodate council staff to avoid this.

The architects presented three sites for the council’s consideration: the existing civic centre site, Camden Road opposite the Campbelltown Catholic Club, and the Macarthur Regional Growth Centre.

Campbelltown Council Admin Buildings 1964 & 1982 Photographer John Nobley CCL 1983
The Campbelltown City Council administration buildings. The 1964 Modernist tower is on the left, and the 1982 Brutalist extension is on the right. The image shows how the architects integrated the design of the 1982 extension on the civic centre site. This image was photographed from Campbelltown Railway Station by John  Nobley in 1983. (CCL Fairfax Collection)

Moral obligation

After considering the three options, the council felt it had a ‘moral obligation’ to the existing Queen Street commercial precinct to remain at the civic centre site.

The new office building would act as an ‘anchor of confidence’, and the site would remain as the northern gateway to the commercial precinct. It would set a standard for future development in the area. (Official programme, 1982)

The council requested the architects design a ‘four-storey administrative building’ of around  2000m2 with an associated pedestrian plaza, landscaping and parking within the civic centre precinct.

In 1980 the civic centre precinct consisted of the 1966 single-floor community hall, the 1971 single-storey library building, a single-story women’s rest centre, a service station, the former fire station and a two-storey ambulance station. (Official programme, 1982)

The council needed to acquire the service station on the corner of Queen and Broughton Streets to complete the project.

Campbelltown Council Admin 1982 Extension9 2020 IW (2) lowres
Campbelltown City Council 1982 brutalist administration building showing the architectural detail and exposed concrete exterior finish to the building. (I Willis, 2020)

Dominant form

The primary design constraint on the civic centre site was the 1964 office tower of 1400m2  containing the council chambers and the administration offices.   (Proposed Civic Centre Development, Grenfell, Fraser and Associates, 1980)

The building completely dominated the precinct and was ‘considered as the major visual element in any design’ because of its height’. The architects described it as a “high rise” curtain wall construction with external sun shading’.  (Proposed Civic Centre Development, Grenfell, Fraser and Associates, 1980)

Architects Grenfell, Fraser and Associates felt that the new building extension had to integrate with the 1964 office tower in a functional and aesthetically pleasing fashion.

Campbelltown Council Admin 1982 Extension7 2020 IW (3) lowres
The architectural detail of the Campbelltown City Council 1982 administration building shows the exposed concrete finish to the exterior of the building. (I Willis, 2020)

The spirit of the past

The architects stated that the design of the new building extensions and its ‘scale, proportion and detailing’ recognised ‘the legacy of the district’ :

‘The “colonial” pitched roof on the new extensions reflects the graceful simplicity of colonial architecture, and the simple proportions, “depth” façade detailing and pitched roof echo the features of “old” Campbelltown buildings’. (Official programme, 1982)

Campbelltown Council Admin 1982 Extension12 2020 IW (2) lowres
A perspective of the Campbelltown City Council 1982 administration building with the pedestrian plaza in front of the building. The roofline is visible on the top level of the building. (I Willis, 2020)

The building design inspired Mayor Thomas to draw on the past and ‘old Campbelltown’ as an inspiration for his address.

The new building was a metaphor for the area’s pioneering spirit.

The mayor stated that the new building illustrated how the spirit of the Campbelltown pioneers had not ‘suppressed the basic community character of Campbelltown’s early days’.

‘The spirit of the hardy pioneer bred of early settlers is woven into the fabric of our history and community life of today’, he said.

‘The City of Campbelltown has an ancient heritage in terms of the nation’s history, and this is being matched by a vital modern record of achievement’, said the mayor.

Mayor Thomas said

The wisdom and vision of another progressive Governor of this State, Lachlan Macquarie, almost 160 years ago, formed the nucleus of the closely-knit community which continues to grow in size and stature. The spirit of the hardy pioneer breed of early settlers is woven into the fabric of our history and community life of today. (Official programme)

Scale, proportion and detailing

The new office building was set at the rear of the civic centre site and kept a ‘lower profile to Queen Street, consistent with the general two-storey nature of the older buildings’.  This design provided ‘an intermediate scale’ to help its integration with the existing higher 1964 building.   (Official programme, 1982)

The building materials for the project ensured that the external finish blended ‘aesthetically with existing buildings and landscape and are architecturally pleasing’, and the ‘finishes are dignified, tastefully chosen and dignified’. (Official programme, 1982)

The proposed building used reinforced concrete as the main structural element, with ‘precast concrete with exposed aggregate finish’ to the exterior walls with anodised aluminium window frames.  The internal walls were concrete blockwork with cement rendering.

The new design ‘provide[d] a building of similar bulk possessing a horizontal fenestration opposed the vertical nature of the existing building’ to act as a ‘counterfoil’ to the 1964 office tower. (Proposed Civic Centre Development for Campbelltown City Council feasibility study. Grenfell, Fraser and Associates, 1980)

At the end of the design phase, the architects believed the proposed scheme was both ‘aesthetically and materially adequate’ and ‘integrated functionally and aesthetically’ with the civic auditorium. (Proposed Civic Centre Development for Campbelltown City Council feasibility study. Grenfell, Fraser and Associates, 1980)

Campbelltown Council Admin 1982 Extension5 2020 IW (2) lowres
Campbelltown City Council 1982 administration building showing the architectural detail and the exposed concrete exterior finish. (I Willis, 2020)

Brutalist style

The monolithic presentation of the office building extension with a rigidly geometric style and large-scale use of poured concrete was representative of brutalist-style architecture.

Brutalism grew out of the early 20th-century modernist movement that is sometimes linked with the dynamism and self-confidence of the 1960s. The characteristics of the style are straight lines, small windows, heavy-looking materials, and modular elements with visible structural elements and a monochromic colouring.

The brutalist style appeared in the post-war years in the United Kingdom and drew inspiration from mid-century modernism. The style represented the new town movement and appeared in modernist UK cities like Milton Keynes. Brutalism was common in the Sydney area in the late 1960s and 1970s and an integral part of the 1973 New Cities of Campbelltown, Camden, Appin Structure Plan.

The New Cities Plan 1973[1]
The cover of The New Cities of Campbelltown, Camden, Appin Structure Plan 1973 (The State Planning Authority of New South Wales)

Consequently, the Campbelltown area has several brutalist-style buildings, including Airds High School (1974), Glenquarie Shopping Centre (1975), Campbelltown TAFE College (1981), Macarthur Square (1979), Campbelltown Hospital (1977), and Campbelltown Mall (1984).

Conclusion

The new 1982 office extension reflected how the winds of change from population growth had reshaped the Campbelltown area since the construction of the 1964 modernist office tower.

Campbelltown Council Admin 1982 Extension4 2020 IW (3) lowres
Campbelltown City Council 1982 Administration building showing the exposed concrete exterior. (I Willis, 2020)

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge the assistance the local studies librarians at the Campbelltown City Library provided in completing this blog post.

Updated on 8 May 2023. Originally posted on 10 June 2020.

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The Camden district in 1939

camdenhistorynotes1 Comment

The Camden District 1939

The Camden district can be hard to define and has changed over time. Dr Ian Willis conducted research in the mid-1990s to determine the extent of the Camden district at the outbreak of the Second World War. This was part of his post-graduate studies at the University of Wollongong on the effect of the Second World War in Camden.

Map Camden District 1939[2]
Map of the Camden district in 1939 showing the extent of the area with Camden in the east. The silver mining centre of Yerranderie is in the west. (I Willis, 1996)
 

The boundary of the Camden district could be: an arbitrary line on a map based on a political decision; a natural region; an idea in someone’s mind; the delivery round of a Camden business; the geographic circulation area of a Camden newspaper; the emotional attachment of a person to a general area called Camden; the catchment area of a special event in Camden; the membership of a Camden organisation; the social networks of people who live in the Camden area; or any combination of these.

 

From historical research I have conducted I have found the boundary of the Camden district to a moveable feast. By the 1930s it took in an area of 1180 square kilometres and a population of around 5000. The result is on the attached map. It is a combination of the factors outlined above.

 

Origins of the Camden district

The concept of the Camden district was set in motion by 1827 when the early pattern of the early land grants had determined the road network. This process was re-enforced by the arrival of the tramway in 1882, the road traffic along the Hume Highway going to Goulburn, and the movement of silver from Yerrandarie and coal from the Burragorang Valley to the Camden railhead. As a result, the town became an important transport interchange and centre for economic activity for a district, which extended out to Burragorang Valley and Yerrandarie.

 

By the 1930s the growth of the town had attracted additional businesses and the town had become the centre for government services and community organisations. The town was a meeting place for local people and acted as a stepping off point to the rest of the outside world.

Cover Pictorial History Camden District Ian Willis 2015
Front Cover of Ian Willis’s Pictorial History of Camden and District (Kingsclear, 2015)

 

The district’s population came together on Sale Day (still Tuesdays) to meet and do business. The livestock sales were the town’s busiest day of the week  The annual Camden Show was (and still is) always a popular attraction and people came from a wide area to compete and exhibit their crafts, produce and livestock.

 

Daily life in the Camden district is recorded in the two local newspapers

District life was reported in detail in Camden’s two newspapers, the Camden News and the Camden Advertiser, which were widely circulated in the area. Camden businesses had customers from all over the local area. Some had regular delivery runs that reached to Burragorang Valley and beyond.

 

Since the 1930s many things have happened. The largest change has been the growth in population, and the town and district are now part of the Greater Metropolitan Area of Sydney. Despite this, the district still has a discernable identity in the minds of local people.

1973 New Cities Plan

The creation of The new cities of Campbelltown, Camden, Appin: structure plan (1973) was one of the most profound changes to the Camden district. The New Cities proposal was part of the 1968 Sydney Region Outline Plan developed by the State Planning Authority of the Askin Liberal government and became a developers’ dream.

The New Cities Plan 1973[1]
The New Cities Plan 1973
 

Current planners, bureaucrats, businesses, and residents need to have an understanding of this local identity and build on the opportunities that it presents.

Today the Camden district is part of the Macarthur region.

Macarthur regional tourist guide
Macarthur Regional Tourist Promotion by Camden and Campbelltown Councils

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The Rotolactor, a Menangle milking marvel

camdenhistorynotes

A rotating wonder

One of the largest tourist attractions in the local area in the mid-20th century was a local milking marvel known as the Rotolactor.

Truly a scientific wonder, the Rotolactor captured people’s imagination at a time when scientific marvels instilled excitement in the general public.

In these days of post-modernism and fake news, this excitement seems hard to understand.

Menangle Rotolactor Post Card 1950s
Menangle Rotolactor in the 1950s Postcard (Camden Images)

What was the Rotolactor?

The Rotolactor was an automated circular milking machine with a rotating platform introduced into the Camden Park operation in 1952 by Edward Macarthur Onslow from the USA.

Part of agricultural modernism, the Rotolactor was installed by the Macarthur family on their colonial property of Camden Park Estate to improve their dairying operations in the mid-20th century.

The idea of a rotating milking platform was American and first introduced in New Jersey in the mid-1920s.

Camden Belgenny Farm Rotolacotor Model2 2018
Camden Belgenny Farm Rotolactor Model 2 model in 2018 (I Willis)

The 1940s manager of Camden Park, Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Macarthur Onslow, inspected an American Rotolactor while overseas on a business trip and returned to Australia full of enthusiasm to build one at Camden Park.

The Menangle Rotolactor was the first in Australia and only the third of its kind in the world.

Camden Belgenny Farm Rotolacotor Model3 2018
Camden Belgenny Farm Rotolactor Model 3 display in 2018 (I Willis)

The rotating dairy could milk 1,000 cows twice a day. It held 50 cows at a time and was fed at as they were milked. The platform rotated about every  12 minutes.

The Rotolactor was a huge tourist attraction for Menangle village and provided many local jobs.

In 1953 it was attracting 600 visitors on a weekend, with up to 2000 visitors a week at its peak. (The Land, 27 March 1953)

Town planning disruption

In 1968 town planning disrupted things. The Askin state government released the  Sydney Regional Outline Plan, followed by the 1973 New Cities of Campbelltown Camden Appin Structure Plan, which later became the Macarthur Growth Centre in 1975.

The structure plan did recognise the importance of the Rotolactor and the cultural heritage of the Menangle village. (The State Planning Authority of New South Wales, 1973, p. 84)

These events, combined with declining farming profits, encouraged the Macarthur family to sell out of  Camden Park including the Rotolactor and the private village of Menangle.

The Rotolactor continued operations until 1977 and then remained unused for several years. It was then purchased by Halfpenny dairy interests from Menangle, who operated the facility until it finally closed in 1983. (Walsh 2016, pp.91-94)

Community festival celebrates the Rotolactor

In 2017 the Menangle Community Association organised a festival to celebrate the history of the Rotolactor. It was called the Menangle Milk-Shake Up and was a huge success.

Menangle Promo MilkShake UP
Menangle Milk Shake Up Community Festival, organised by the Menangle Community Association in 2017 (MCA)

The Festival exceeded all the expectations of the organisers from the Menangle Community Association when it attracted over 5000 people to the village from all over Australia. (Wollondilly Advertiser, 18 September 2017)

The Menangle Community Association Facebook page described it this way:

A true country event like in the old days. So many visitors came dressed up in their original 50s clothes, and all those wonderful well selected stall holders. It was pure joy.

Despite these sentiments, the event just covered costs (Wollondilly Advertiser, 5 April 2018)

The festival’s success was a double-edged sword for the organisers from the Menangle Community Association.

Urban development

The festival’s success demonstrated to local development interests that Rotolactor nostalgia could be marketized and had considerable commercial potential.

The Menangle Community Association attempted to lift the memory of the Rotolator and use it as a weapon to protect the village from the forces of urban development  and neo-liberalism

Menangle land developers also used the festival’s success to further their interests.

Developer Halfpenny made numerous public statements supporting the restoration of the Rotolactor as a function centre and celebrating its past. (The Sydney Morning Herald, 22 December 2017).

Menangle Rotolactor Paddock 2016 Karen
Menangle Rotolactor in a derelict condition in 2016 (Image by Karen)

The newspaper article announced that the site’s owner, local developer Ernest Dupre of Souwest Developments, has pledged to build a micro-brewery, distillery, two restaurants, a farmers market, a children’s farm, a vegetable garden, and a hotel with 30 rooms.

In 2017  the state government planning panel approved the re-zoning of the site for 350 houses and a tourist precinct. Housing construction will be completed by Mirvac.

Mr Dupre stated that he wanted to turn the derelict Rotolactor into a function with the adjoining Creamery building as a brewery next to the Menangle Railway Station.

He expected the development to cost $15 million and take two years. The plan includes an outdoor concert theatre for 8000 people and a lemon grove.

Facebook Comments 6 August 2021

Reply as Camden History Notes

  • Bev WatersonRemember it well. My parents would take us there quite regularly.

JD GoreyThanks Elizabeth Searle ! I’ll show him! He’ll be interested for sure!! 👍

 Elizabeth SearleJD Gorey, The pilot was asking about this during our trip to the farm. He may be interested in the article 👍Originally posted 19 July 2019. Updated 6 April 2021.

Facebook comments 9 May 2023

  • Craige Cole I remember travelling from our family dairy farm on the far south coast to visit the Rotalactor in the late 60s and recall the total awe of my parents. I know that visit was the catalyst for us installing a new more efficient dairy setup.
  • Julie ClarkeMy dad worked on the rotolactor.

Updated 9 May 2023. Originally posted on 19 July 2019.

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The lost world of Carinya

camdenhistorynotes

A 2010 meeting of Camden Council on Sydney’s southern outskirts voted five to four to demolish a simple 1890 Federation farm cottage known as Carinya at Harrington Park. The owner, Nepean Pastoral Company, wants to develop a 97-residential lot subdivision on the farm site.

Carinya Cottage
Carinya Cottage c.1890 is a simple Edwardian brick farm cottage at Harrington Park demolished in 2010 (Camden Historical Society)

 

The decision illustrates a wider malaise that has enveloped heritage in this state — a worrying trend that is seeing our past disappear.

Demolition of Carinya

Camden Council’s decision to approve Carinya’s demolition was based on reports written by heritage consultants, Urbis. Urbis stated that, while the cottage was intact and in reasonable condition, it was not of local significance. In their view Federation cottages, while rare in the Narellan area, are not rare in the Camden local government area (LGA). Secondly, Carinya has little associative value with the Cross and Paxton families who lived there.

Many people do agree with these conclusions. In the past Carinya has been overlooked in heritage surveys of the Camden LGA and had not been included on any local lists of historic houses. While not a reason for demolition, it is a contributing factor.

Jonathon Chancellor noted recently in a story on the fight to save the Tilba residence in Burwood Heights that many councils had “neglectful heritage lists” and included Camden.

Even more damming, ”heritage listing at the local level does not provide much protection at all”, wrote Graeme Aplin, from Macquarie University, in Australian Quarterly (May-June 2009).

”What we have witnessed over the last five years is the systematic dismantling of heritage protection,” stated Sylvia Hale, Greens spokeswoman on planning (”Heritage at risk”, National Trust Magazine, February-April 2010).

More than this the imminent loss of Carinya reflects wider problems in heritage affairs across New South Wales. There is a blatant disregard of the importance of simple cottages of historic value especially at a local level. They represent the lives of ordinary folk. Simple salt of the earth people who struggled to make a living from the soil.

The story of Carinya fits within the Australian Historic Themes identified by the Australian Government (Australian Heritage Commission 2001). These are common national standards for idenfication and conservation of heritage places. Yet this does not qualify Carinya for recognition of local significance.

Even examples of Australia’s important early colonial houses on Sydney’s urban fringe, which are of national significance, such as like Oran Park House and Maryland suffer from indecision and dithering by the authorities.

Conflict of interest in heritage

There is a real, or at least a perceived, conflict of interest for some by heritage consultants in the assessment process. Consultants are a gun for hire. There needs to be a separation of roles in the assessment process of historic houses. The judgment concerning the assessment of significance should be conducted by an independent third party. Heritage consultants should not be judge, jury and hangman. There is a need for due diligence.

The assessment process needs the expertise of professional historians to examine the appropriate historical evidence. There were no historians engaged in the assessment process of Carinya. Urbis has largely relied on a cursory examination of documents at the local library and museum.

Carinya Cottage B&W
Carinya Cottage c.1890 is a simple Edwardian brick farm cottage at Harrington Park demolished in 2010 (Camden Historical Society)

 

Council planning and development officers are under incredible pressure to meet timely decisions for development applications. This particularly applies in the Camden LGA, which is a designated growth area for Sydney.

Council officers and their elected councilors rely on reports written by heritage consultants. Officers and councilors may have had little or no specific training assessing heritage significance, local or otherwise. They are not experts in history and heritage.

One of the casualties in the assessment process is the thorough and considered assessment of historic houses.

Loss of interest in heritage

The current political climate in NSW is not conducive to the protection of historic houses. Heritage is not a high priority. Crowded Sydney and a shortfall in housing stock are political priorities. For this read new estates on the urban fringe, like the approved Carinya farm subdivision.

The developers of Carinya farm housing estate are selling a dream that is just that, a dream. The new estates create a bland homogenised suburban streetscape with little charm or character.

The Carinya farm sub-division is part of Sydney’s urbanisation. An octopus that devours all in its path — including ethical standards, community identity, sense of place and apparently local heritage and history.

The destruction of simple charming 19th century cottages is unnecessary. There is a demand from house buyers who want to live in historic cottages. These buyers restore the cottages to their former glory.

What have we come to in the new century? We have certainly not come to appreciate our past, our inheritance.

Learn more

Heritage and urban planning

Originally published in the Sydney Morning Herald online as Heritage: a dismal state of affairs 16 April 2010

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Elderslie, a suburb on Sydney’s fringe

camdenhistorynotes3 Comments

A history of continuity and change

Elderslie is a suburb of Camden, the traditional land of the Dharawal people.  It lies on the southern end of the Camden Municipality, 62 km southwest of Sydney, on the rural-urban fringe.

Elderslie borders the Nepean River to the west, Narellan Creek to the north, Camden By-Pass to the south, and Studley Park Golf Course to the east. The population at the 2001 census was 2,638.

Elderslie Autumn Scene Camden Valley Way 2014 (IWillis)
Elderslie Autumn Scene Camden Valley Way 2014 (IWillis)

Under Governor Macquarie’s stewardship, the area now known as Elderslie was the site of several smallholder land grants along the Nepean River between 1812 and 1815.

One large grant was given to John Oxley, a member of the colonial gentry, in 1816. He called it ‘Ellerslie’, although by 1828, he had changed it to ‘Elderslie’. Oxley’s grant was one of the five large estates in the Camden area that used convict labour.

Elderslie can lay claim to the first building in the Camden area. This was a small hut erected at the Nepean River crossing, after the 1803 visit of Governor King, for the government man who looked after the cattle in the Cowpastures.  It is reported that the hut was still in existence in 1822.

View of the Government Hut at Cowpastures, 1804. State Library of NSW SSV1B / Cowp D / 1
View of the Government Hut at Cowpastures, 1804. State Library of NSW SSV1B / Cowp D / 1

The village of Elderslie was planned along the Great Northern Road (now Camden Valley Way) with a subdivision and sites for a church, parsonage and marketplace.

A post office was opened in 1839 – and closed in 1841 when it was moved to Camden. Several village blocks were sold by auction in 1841; three months after the Elderslie land sales, the village was effectively overwhelmed by land sales across the river in Camden.

The first church in Elderslie was St Mark’s Anglican Church, built in 1902 of plain timber construction. The church is framed by a substantial 150-year-old camphor laurel tree and has only ceased functioning in recent years.

This charming image taken by John Kooyman in 1998 shows St Mark’s Church of England and the hall at the rear of the church under the shade of the magnificent camphor laurel tree. (Camden Images)

Hilsyde is one of the more significant homes in the Elderslie area and was built in 1888 by Walter Furner, a local builder. Several significant cottages were owned by the Bruchhauser family, who were viticulturists and orchardists in the Elderslie area, as were the Fuchs, Thurns, and most recently, the Carmagnolas.

Viticulture has been re-established at Camden Estate Vineyards on the deep alluvial soils of the Nepean floodplain. There were plantings of mixed varieties in 1975 by Norman Hanckel, and in the 1990s, these had been entirely converted to Chardonnay, which best suited the soil and climate of the area. Grapes for wine had previously been grown in this location by Martin Thurn, one of the six German vinedressers brought out by the Macarthurs of Camden Park in 1852.

Table grapes were grown throughout the Elderslie area and sold in the Sydney markets. Vegetables were grown on the floodplain adjacent to Narellan Creek by Sun Chong Key, one of several Chinese market gardeners in the Camden area, in the first half of the 20th century. Apart from farming, the floodplain and surrounding areas have been subject to extensive sand mining for the Sydney building industry.

Elderslie was the first stop after Camden on the tramway between Camden and Campbelltown, which began operations in 1882. The locomotive (affectionately known as Pansy) had 24 services each weekday, including passenger and goods services.

Observant travellers to the area can still make out the earthworks of the tramway on the northern side of Camden Valley Way along the floodplain. The tramway operated until 1963, when several branch lines in the Sydney area were shut. The tramway, which ran beside the Hume Highway between Elderslie and Camden, was often closed due to flooding.

Little Sandy with footbridge across the Nepean River at Camden c.1950. This area on the Nepean River was always a popular swimming spot. Diving board in foreground. (Camden Images)
Little Sandy with a footbridge across the Nepean River at Camden c.1950. This area on the Nepean River was always a popular swimming spot. Diving board in the foreground. (Camden Images)

Swimming became one of Elderslie earliest organized sporting activities after the Nepean River was dammed in 1908 with the construction of the Camden Weir. Water backed up behind the weir for four kilometres through the Elderslie area and provided relatively deep water suitable for swimming. The Camden Aquatic Sports Carnival was organized in 1909 and attracted over 1000 spectators, and this was the location of the Camden Swimming Club in the 1920s.

There were two popular swimming holes at Kings Bush Reserve and Little Sandy, where the Australian Army built a footbridge during World War II (and there is still one in that location today). By the 1950s, increasing river pollution put pressure on authorities for a town swimming pool, which was eventually opened in Camden in 1964.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the growth of coal mining contributed to local population growth and demand for residential land releases on farmland adjacent to the floodplain.  This created a need for education facilities and led to the establishment of Mawarra Primary School (1972) and Elderslie High School (1976).

A view of John Oxley Cottage, which is the home of the Camden Visitors Information Centre at 46 Camden Valley Way, Elderslie. The late 19th-century Victorian workman’s cottage is now located in Curry Reserve. The silhouette was moved to this location from John Oxley Reserve on Macquarie Grove Road at Kirkham. (I Willis, 2020)

Elderslie was also identified as part of the growth area for Greater Sydney, initially as part of the Macarthur Growth Centre Plan (1973), then the Metropolitan Strategy (1988) and most recently in the Cities for the 21st Century plan (1995). Some of these land releases caused concerns over air quality issues and deteriorating water quality in the Hawkesbury-Nepean River, and consequently, they were deferred until 2005.

In the most recent Elderslie land releases, developers have commodified the rural mythology and imagery of ‘the country town’ and associated rural vistas, with names like ‘Camden Acres’, ‘The Ridges’ and ‘Vantage Point’. These values have attracted ‘outsiders’ to the area, hoping to find places where ‘the country still looks like the country’. Part of this imagery is found in Elderslie’s older residential streets, a picture in November when the Jacarandas provide a colourful show of purple and mauve.

One of Elderslie’s most notable residents was possibly the Australian poet and actor Hugh McCrae (1876-1958). He lived in River Road in the 1930s and occasionally after that. He was a member of the Sydney Bohemian set, a friend of Norman Lindsay and a member of the Camden elite: for example, local surgeon Dr RM Crookston and his wife, Zoe. McCrae wrote about the local area in works like ‘October in Camden’ and ‘Camden Magpie’. He was awarded an OBE (1953) for services to Australian Literature.

Henry Patterson and his family lived in a cottage in Elderslie, now the Tourist Information Centre. (M Patterson)

References

A helpful summary of secondary sources on Elderslie can be found in the Camden Bibliography.

Atkinson, Alan, Camden, Farm and Village Life in Early New South Wales, Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 1988.

Mylrea, PJ, Camden District, A History to the 1840s, Camden: Camden Historical Society, 2002.

Camden History, Journal of the Camden Historical Society.

Updated 18 April 2023. Originally posted on 24 June 2016.

1968 Sydney Region Outline Plan · 1973 New Cities Campbelltown Camden Appin Structure Plan · 20th century · Attachment to place · Camden · Campbelltown · Collective Memory · Country town · Cultural Heritage · Local History · Local Studies · Macarthur · Macarthur region · Memory · Peri-urban region · Place making · Placemaking · Regionalism · rural-urban fringe · Ruralism · Sense of place · Stereotypes · Storytelling · Sydney's rural-urban fringe · Urban development · Urban growth · Urban history · Urban Planning · Urbanism

Sydney’s urban sprawl invades the Macarthur region

camdenhistorynotes1 Comment

Urban development on Sydney’s rural-urban fringe

Sydney’s urban growth is about to invade the Macarthur region yet again. This is a re-run of the planning disasters in Campbelltown of the late 1970s. These planning decisions were originally part of the 1968 Sydney Region Outline Plan and the 1973 New Cities of Campbelltown, Camden, Appin Structure Plan.

These urban plans were grossly over-optimistic then and only appeared in the Camden LGA in the 1980s at Mount Annan and Currans Hill. Tracts of land were sold off for housing in 1973, including part of Camden Park Estate, while historic buildings in Camden were demolished – Royal Hotel.

The areas in the current proposal are: Appin & West Appin, Wilton Junction, South Campbelltown, Menangle Park, Mount Gilead and Menangle areas.

Read more @ Massive boost to housing supply for Greater Sydney with biggest release of land in 10 years (ABC News)

and more on the Department Planning website for Sydney’s south west region.

Read about the land release at Menangle Park here  (Urban Growth NSW)

Mount Annan around 2002 CHS2005
Mount Annan, NSW, a new suburb on Sydney’s urban fringe, 2002 (CHS2005/P.Mylrea)

Sydney’s metropolitan fringe is a theatre for the creation and loss of collective memories, cultural myths and community grieving around cultural icons, traditions and rituals. European settlement took the Aboriginal dreaming and then had its own dream removed by an east invasion in the form of Sydney’s urban growth.

The re-making of place in and around the fringe community of Camden and Campbelltown illustrates the destruction and reconstruction of cultural landscapes. Locals dream of retaining the aesthetics of inter-war country towns and have created an illusion of a historical myth of a ‘country town idyll’.

In the new suburbs of Oran Park, Mt Annan and Harrington Park, urbanites have invaded the area drawn by developer spin, which promised to fulfil hopes and dreams and never really lived up to the hype. Unfulfilled expectations mean that Sydney’s rural-urban fringe is a transition zone where waves of invasion and succession have created perceptions of reality, and all that is left is imagination.

Learn more about urban development in the Macarthur region.

Read more at the Sydney Journal

Read more about the suburbs on Sydney’s rural-urban fringe at the Dictionary of Sydney

Read more about the country town idyll at Camden NSW

Updated 16 May 2023. Originally posted on 21 September 2015 as ‘Development of Sydney’s urban fringe’