Little Bay, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Little Bay
city = Sydney
state = NSW


caption = The Coast Golf Course, Little Bay
lga = City of Randwick
postcode = 2036
est =
pop =
area =
propval =
stategov = Maroubra
fedgov = Kingsford Smith
near-nw = Matraville
near-n = Chifley
near-ne = Malabar
near-w = Phillip Bay
near-e = "Tasman Sea"
near-sw = La Perouse
near-s = La Perouse
near-se =
dist1 = 14
dir1 = south-east
location1= Sydney CBD

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.

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. ["The Book of Sydney Suburbs", Compiled by Frances Pollon, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8]

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. [http://www.randwick.nsw.gov.au/default.php?id=42 Street, Park & Place Names of Randwick City]

In 1969, the international artist Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude created the world’s largest sculpture at Little Bay called: “Wrapped Coast – One Million Square Feet, Little Bay, Sydney, Australia”. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/gnt/history/Transcripts/s1090226.htm Christo: ] ] 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. [ [http://www.kaldorartprojects.org.au/pastproject.asp?idExhibition=22&idArtist=135&id
] ] 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.

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 the evening of 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, [Estensen, Miriam The Life of George Bass: Surgeon and Sailor of the Enlightenment. Allen & Unwin, 2005 (hardcover ISBN 1 74114 130 3)] 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 is not a surf beach and does not have an undertow or "rip" unless there is strong wind and sea from the south or south-east running into the bay.

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. [ [http://www.nswoceanbaths.info/pools/b049.htm Little Bay Rock Pool] ] The pool is still partially intact.

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 and 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 1990, the beaches to the south became significantly cleaner within a very short space of time. [Weekly Southern Courier (newspaper) 30 October 1990]

Today Little Bay is consistently one of the cleanest beaches in Sydney, in terms of water clarity and bacteria counts. [ [http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/beach/ Beachwatch Program Data] ] However, the beach has been 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. [http://www.idoc.com.au/bricks/ Brick Pollution Little Bay Beach April 2007 - May 2008] [http://littlebaybeach.blogspot.com/ Little Bay Beach Blog]

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 [http://www.michaelmcfadyenscuba.info/viewpage.php?page_id=70] on what is called Pussycat Island. [ http://www.randwick.nsw.gov.au/default.php?id=179 Shipwrecks of Randwick: SS Minmi] 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.
* Prince Henry Hospital
* Spinal Cord Injuries Australia [http://www.scia.org.au/home]
* Aboriginal Health College [http://www.ahmrc.org.au/archive%20Aboriginal%20Health%20College.htm]
* Prince Henry Development Project [http://www.princehenry.com.au/content.htm]
* Little Bay Weather Station [http://www-cluster.bom.gov.au/products/IDN60701/IDN60701.94780.shtml]

treet Names

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

Adapted from: [http://www.randwick.nsw.gov.au/default.php?id=42 Street, Park & Place Names of Randwick City]

Transport

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

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

port and recreation

* Little Bay Sporting Complex [http://www.sport.unsw.edu.au/aboutTheSA/facilities/littlebay.htm]
* St Michael's Golf Club [http://www.stmichaelsgolf.com.au/welcome/index.mhtml]
* The Coast Golf Club [http://www.coastgolf.com.au/welcome/index.mhtml]

References

External links