Flat Rock Gully Walking Track — Attraction in Sydney

Enjoy it while you still can!

It's heartbreaking to think that this incredible little pocket of bushland is facing imminent destruction. The NSW Government wants to bulldoze a large tract of community land around Flat Rock Drive to construct the Beaches Link. They are proposing to use either the baseball diamond area in Bicentennial Reserve on Flat Rock Drive or the Flat Rock Gully bushland on the other side of the Drive.

Both Bicentennial Reserve and Flat Rock Gully are important open space and community resources used by many groups in the community.

Flat Rock Gully is a critical part of the wildlife corridor in our district and is recognised for its biodiversity and as one of the last refuges for our fast disappearing small native bird population. It also provides a habitat for foraging powerful owls, swamp wallabies, lyrebirds and many other native animals.

Here are just a few of the known negative impacts of the tunnel construction on our community:

around 6 acres of well-used community space will be taken over by tunnel construction for 6 or more years for Flat Rock Gully this means the removal of hundreds of native trees and the bulldozing of bushland, seats, paths, lawns and creek works Willoughby City Council and many dedicated volunteers have worked for 25 years to remediate this bushland there is no guarantee that the Flat Rock Gully site will be returned to bushland. The RMS has offered to leave buildings and cleared areas to be used for other purposes the RMS has advised that there will be over 70 truck movements an hour carrying contaminated spoil through our already congested local roads and near local schools. They will operate from 7am to 11pm Monday to Friday and for the first half of Saturday every week for 6 years or more the tunnel will be dug through toxic fill from the old tip site. The ground is unstable and the tip is known to contain asbestos and other toxic material there will be risks of air, land, noise and water pollution from the tunnel activities to nearby homes and schools and more broadly to the Willoughby district and surrounding areas including Middle Harbour similar concerns about congestion and the movement of contaminated spoil also arise in relation to the Western Harbour Tunnel the tunnel will include unfiltered stacks; some situated near local child care centres and schools as well as local streets the NSW Government has not considered any options other than a motorway tunnel to address the traffic congestion this proposal is supposed to relieve. The Infrastructure Australia website shows that no business plan has ever been submitted.

In an era where we know so much about climate change, we need to be looking for best practice options that manage population growth whilst reducing our carbon footprint and protecting our environment. Razing this important green corridor is simply not an...

Finally took the trip with my Husky, It's a nice walk with many routes to take and well signed on each route along with maps for all. There is also an app people can download to help them with the walk. My only real issue during the walk, is that majority of people with their dogs do not keep them on a leash, or even have their dog close to them. It makes it really difficult when you have an anxious dog, and 2 or more dogs come out of no where and all be it most the time innocently want to say hello, it can cause major stress for my dog and myself. If something were to happen, no owners in site or any control. It's a shame people have to ruin what would be a nice walk due to laziness or just plain ignorance.

The local council and any groups associated with this area have done a great job. It's very clean (maybe check the water before your dog goes in for a swim) and again, for anyone who's not used to a bush walk, it's well sign posted with plenty maps dotted around.

Do take care after any rain etc as some paths can be quite muddy and slippery, especially down...

Be prepared for lovely green ferns and trees and a good Bush walk. Walked from the Willoughby Leisure Centre end and descended down towards the picturesque Flat Rock creek. It's quite steep in parts and a walking pole certainly helped on this bush trail walk. If it's not flooded you cross the creek and there's good photo ops here. The walking track emerges towards flat open spaces and takes you under the amazing Long Gully Bridge which appears to span across so high up. The clearing leads into Tunks Park where there are grassed playing fields, a water refill station and toilets. Instead of doubling back towards Willoughby you can climb over a 100+ step staircase that will lead you up to residential area and to Strathallen Ave towards the beautiful Long Gully Bridge on border between Northbridge...