Little Bay, New South Wales

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"Little Bay" redirects here. For other uses, see Little Bay (disambiguation).
Little Bay
Sydney, NSW

The Coast Golf Course, Little Bay
Postcode: 2036
Location: 14 km (9 mi) south-east of Sydney CBD
LGA: City of Randwick
State District: Maroubra
Federal Division: Kingsford Smith
Suburbs around Little Bay:
Matraville Chifley Malabar
Phillip Bay Little Bay Tasman Sea
La Perouse La Perouse
St Michael's Golf Course, Little Bay
St Michael's Golf Course, Little Bay

Little Bay is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Little Bay is located 14 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Randwick.

Little Bay is a coastal suburb, to the north of Botany Bay. The suburb takes its name from the geographical formation called Little Bay, which also features a small beach. The Prince Henry Hospital, was a famous landmark once located at Little Bay.

Contents

[edit] History

The beach at Little Bay was first used as a makeshift camp during Sydney's smallpox outbreak in 1881-82, to isolate sufferers of the disease. After 1885, further smallpox outbreaks and a typhoid epidemic convinced the government to build a permanent hospital here to treat infectious diseases. Little Bay was an ideal location because it was isolated from settlements but still close enough to Sydney. The Coast Hospital was particularly valuable during the bubonic plague in Sydney of 1900 and then again when soldiers returning from Europe brought the influenza virus back in 1919. The Coast Hospital became Prince Henry Hospital in 1934. In 2001 services were transferred to Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney and the hospital site became available for residential use.

Little Bay was originally called Yarra Junction but mail would end up in Melbourne (Vic) so the residents asked for the suburb's name to be changed. This was granted and changed to Phillip Bay Heights (Phillip Bay is a suburb located between Little Bay and Botany Bay) but as everyone called the area Little Bay this was the name that was eventually officially adopted. During the 1950s, much of the land was provided to returned servicemen via War Ballots.

In 1969, the international artist Christo and his wife Jean-Claude created the world’s largest sculpture at Little Bay called: “Wrapped Coast – One Million Square Feet, Little Bay, Sydney, Australia”. [1] Many Australian artists and students volunteered to assist them wrapping 2.4 kilometres of coastline, which was 46 to 244 metres wide, up to 26 metres high at the northern cliffs, and at sea level at the southern sandy beach. [2] It introduced a radical work of art which at the time was controversial and polarised the community. It marked the beginning of a new chapter of contemporary art in Australia and today is considered a triumphant project. Christo went on to wrap cars, galleries, islands, and even the Reichstag building in Germany.

[edit] Little Bay Beach

In the stretch of coastline south of Sydney Harbour (Port Jackson), Little Bay Beach is the last significant sand beach before Botany Bay. Little Bay took its name from the obvious comparison to nearby Long Bay at Malabar. On 3 December 1797, George Bass, at the commencement of his first major voyage of discovery in the waters of southern Australia, anchored there in his open whaleboat with a crew of six, referring to it in his journal as Little Harbour.

The beach is semi-circular in shape and enclosed by headlands to the south and north. Its narrow entrance provides significant shelter from prevailing sea conditions. It not a surf beach and does not have an undertow or "rip".

[edit] Little Bay Rock Pool

A ring-of-rocks bathing pool known as Little Bay Rock Pool or Little Bay Baths was created from beach rocks at the southern end of the beach in the early 1900s to provide safe shark-free bathing for nurses resident nearby at the Coast Hospital. [3] The pool is still partially intact.

[edit] Pollution

As the population of Sydney grew, the beaches south of the Malabar sewage treatment plant, including Little Bay, became increasingly polluted. By the 1980s, Little Bay was very dirty as a result of the sewage effluent discharged from the Malabar treatment plant. It was worse when a north easterly wind blew, turning the water brown and depositing fat on the sand and the rocks, making them slimy and smelly.

After the Malabar Deep Ocean Outfall commenced operation in September 1990, scuba divers reported that the beaches to the south of it became significantly cleaner within a very short space of time (Weekly Southern Courier Oct 30 1990). Today Little Bay is consistently one of the cleanest beaches in Sydney both in terms of water clarity and bacteria counts. [4]

However, the beach is currently disfigured by gross physical pollution, consisting of building waste that was dumped nearby or used as landfill, and which has subsequently spilled on to the beach - see Brick Pollution Little Bay Beach April 2007 - May 2008 and Little Bay Beach Blog.

[edit] Landmarks

The north headland of Botany Bay (Henry Head) has a number of features including an abandoned cemetery, two old army gun placements, an unattended lighhouse and the wreck of the SS Minmi on what is called Pussycat Island.[5] The older of the gun placements was originally built just after the completion of Bare Island to provide additional coverage of the entrance to Botany Bay.

Aboriginal Health College
Little Bay Sporting Complex
Little Bay Weather Station
Prince Henry Development Project
Prince Henry Hospital
Spinal Cord Injuries Australia
St Michael's Golf Club
The Coast Golf Club

[edit] Street Names

The suburb of Little Bay comprises 20 public streets. Most names were derived from Aboriginal words or eminent people.

Name Derivation
Abbe Receveur Place Named after Louis Receveur, a Franciscan friar and scientist who sailed with La Perouse
Alkoo Avenue Aboriginal word meaning "visitor"
Anzac Parade Named to commemorate the occasion when the First Australian Imperial Force camped at Kensington Racecourse
Bega Avenue Aboriginal word meaning "large camping ground"
Binda Crescent Aboriginal word meaning "deep water"
Budd Avenue Named after an early female resident
Bunnerong Road Aboriginal word meaning "sleeping lizard"
Dawes Avenue Names after Lieutenant William Dawes who was on the First Fleet
Dwyer Avenue Names after Matt Dwyer, former Mayor of Randwick
Gipps Avenue Named after Sir George Gipps, former Governor of NSW
Goora Street Aboriginal word meaning "long" or "tall"
Grose Street Named after Francis Grose, first Lieutenant-Governor of NSW
Little Bay Road Named after nearby Little Bay
Marconi Place Named after Guglielmo Marconi, Italian physicist who developed the wireless telegraph
Mirrabooka Crescent Aboriginal word for the "Southern Cross"
Noora Avenue Aboriginal word meaning "camp"
Nurla Avenue Aboriginal word meaning "plenty"
Reservoir Street Named because there is a water reservoir nearby
Woomera Road Aboriginal word – see woomera
Woonah Street (information needed)

Adapted from: Street, Park & Place Names of Randwick City

[edit] Transport

Little Bay is served by four different bus services operated by Sydney Buses:

Regular

service

 Express

service

 Limited stops

service

 From To Via
392 X92 n/a Little Bay Circular Quay Chifley, Matraville and Eastgardens
393 n/a n/a Little Bay Railway Square Maroubra
394 X94 L94 La Perouse Circular Quay Maroubra
399 X99 n/a Little Bay Circular Quay Malabar and Maroubra

All routes pass Kingsford, the University of NSW and Kensington, although express services do not stop between Kingsford and the city.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Christo:
  2. ^ Christo and Jeanne-Claude - Wrapped Coast – one million square feet | Kaldor Art Projects - international contemporary art in Australia
  3. ^ Little Bay Rock Pool
  4. ^ Beachwatch Program Data
  5. ^ Shipwrecks of Randwick: SS Minmi

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Suburbs and localities within the City of Randwick · Eastern Suburbs · Sydney
List of Sydney suburbs