Cronulla site history

Transcript of Cronulla site history video

Our study site, in Cronulla, is on Dharawal Country. In fact, the name Cronulla comes from the Aboriginal word meaning 'place of pink sea shells’.

The extensive sand dunes at this site are estimated to be around 15,000 years old.

European settlers began clearing the land for cattle grazing in 1871, with the land later being subdivided and sold for suburban development in 1899.

Heading down to Cronulla beach for a bit of sea bathing became popular in the early 1900s and if you’ve ever been down to our site, you’ll know it’s still pretty popular today.

The dunes themselves also became a popular site for recreational sand boarding from the 1920s to the 1950s.

Sand mining of the Kurnell dunes begin in the 1930s and continues today, although on a much smaller scale.

In 2010 permission was granted for the Greenhills Beach suburb to begin development. The suburb is located directly behind the dune system, to the north-west of Wanda Beach. Construction of houses within this suburb continues today and it’s estimated that there will be over 700 residents at completion.

Join us as we investigate the function of a dune system, human impacts to these environments and the management strategies in place to protect and maintain them.

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