A 1930s debate

The beautiful view and outlook offered from Parriwi Road faced a threat in 1932, when the Mosman Council favoured Parriwi Park as a site for the installation of a garbage incinerator, replacing the site which was at the time used as a quarry. A January 1933 article in The Daily Telegraph emphatically stated that ‘the projected erection of a garbage incinerator at The Spit is an outrage… [we] cannot understand anybody picking such a beauty spot, one known all over Australia.’[1] A refusal from the Minister for Lands to provide permission to build on the site fortunately saved Parriwi.[2] In June 1934, the Council purchased a site at Balgowlah after negotiation with Warringah Shire Council and Mosman’s garbage incineration plant opened at this location in December 1936.[3]

[1] “Mar Beauty of Spit: Objections to New Incinerator,” The Daily Telegraph, January 20, 1933, p. 9. Trove, <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article247113968>, accessed 8 October 2021.

[2] Souter, Mosman, p. 209.

[3] Souter, Mosman, p. 209.