Chapter Four |
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W3-A7 - Needles View |
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| Sub-section |
| Start and finish |
Bundanoon Road, Engadine to Sabugal Gully (northern end of Woronora Road, Engadine) |
| Distance |
1.5km |
| Grade |
2-3 |
Time |
1hr (walking) 0.5hr (cycling) |
| Main features |
- Dramatic river views
- The Needles (short detour)
- Sabugal Causeway (shorts detours)
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| Description |
Via steep Kelton Place cul de sac to join undulating Pipeline Rd which narrows to 3 metres across creek bridges. |
| Facilities |
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| Opportunities and constraints |
- Interpretation of Journey of Drinking Water
- Where creeklines cross replace concrete culverts with natural materials/plants - Education Opportunity
- Create lookout/rest point
- Secluded location attracts antisocial behaviour eg car burning
- Bushfire Prone Area
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| Actions Required |
- Formalise agreement with Sydney Water Board
- Move ACP at Bundanoon end closer to residential area
- Construct kissing gate to allow bicycle access
- Information Sign and Safety Signs at either end
- 3 Waymarking Signs
- Seat and Look out
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| Current Status/Zoning |
Sydney Water Board Easement - no official access, Crown Land managed by SSC, zoned 7(b) |
| Priority |
B |
| Estimated cost |
$15k |
| Stakeholders Community |
Bundanoon Road Bushcare Group, WVPRA Volunteer Bushfire Brigade. |
| Agency/Land Manager |
SSC, DIPNR, Sydney Water, Gandangara LALC, NPA |
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Rationale:
- This route offers a linear focal point for community environmental projects to tackle weed infestation and poor water quality in the creeks which cross the track, providing an opportunity to build on work carried out by Forbes Creek Woronora and Bundanoon Road Bushcare Groups.
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- It has the potential to be an educational asset explaining aspects of water supply, storm-water management, creek restoration.
- The track is currently used informally by bush walkers, runners, joggers, and cyclists as a direct route to access the Needles area and its opportunities for primary contact recreation on the river.
- Consultations with the Woronora Valley Precinct Residents Association and local residents indicate that the Pipeline Trail would be a preferred route to access the Needles and Sabugal Causeway. They expressed concerns that a through route along the rivers edge (see below) would be fraught with legal problems, expensive to construct, and have adverse impacts on native flora and fauna.
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Alternate Route Investigated |
Southern River Bank
From Prince Edward Park to The Needles via the rivers edge - approx. 5km The route is problematical and there are several issues and constraints:
- At present the 1km footway through the Deepwater Estate is a. "private road - for residents only". This is a relatively recent designation, brought in by the Council in 1993, in response to lobbying by some but not all residents. For over a century prior to 1993, the route was a way of accessing the upper river from Woronora settlement.
- There are no problems with the route from Deepwater to the abandoned Sunshine Sunday School camp ground. 1.2km of fire trail and bush track often used by fishermen, crosses Crown land zoned for public recreation by Council.
- Upstream of here, for 2.5km to the Sabugal Causeway, the natural river banks are unstable and the track has been washed away over time by the river. To construct a new track to last would involve major bank stabilisation works such as a gabion type structure to protect the path from erosion. This would impact severely on riverbank vegetation and could cause erosion to accelerate on the opposite bank of the river. Works on the site are likely to add significantly to siltation of the river. As the track is not a through route due to the denial of access through Deepwater, its benefits are reduced and the likely cost of $1million might be better spent on more sustainable sections of the Woronora Way.
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• The Glen 
Sutherland Shire Environment Centre | Suite 4 (1st Floor), 2-4 Merton Street, Sutherland NSW 2232
