Mosman residents are currently preparing to rally over a proposed partial divestment of HMAS Penguin, as questions continue about the future of the Middle Head Naval Base and what could happen to its environmental, heritage and public values.
The 16.64-hectare Royal Australian Naval Base is located at Balmoral on the Lower North Shore of Sydney Harbour and has been identified by the Australian Government for a partial sale and divestment as part of a broader review of Defence Properties. The federal government plans to sell portions of the 16.64-hectare naval base, but exact boundaries have not yet been finalised.
In Short
- Partial sale proposed: The Federal Government is moving forward with a partial divestment of the 16.64-hectare HMAS Penguin naval base at Balmoral to redirect Defence resources.
- Environmental and transparency concerns: Warringah MP Zali Steggall and marine scientists are warning of potential marine pollution, untested PFAS contamination, and a lack of transparency following a denied FOI request.
- Community rally scheduled: Residents are invited to join Mosman Council and the Headland Preservation Group for a public rally at the Balmoral Rotunda on Sunday, 11 October at 11 AM.
The site was opened in 1942, and it once hosted submarine squadrons and operated the Balmoral Naval Hospital; now HMAS Penguin remains an active Royal Australian Navy facility, home to the ADF Diving School, the RAN Hydrological School and the RAN Medical School.
The proposed changes have attracted significant attention across Mosman, with concerns focused on the site’s environmental significance, military history, heritage and continued public access to the Middle Head area.
The Mosman Council has formally opposed the sale or privatisation of the site and has called for HMAS Penguin to remain a public asset.Back in August, MP for Warringah Zali Steggall issued an FOI (Freedom of Information) request to the Department of Defence covering environmental values, potential contamination including PFAS, heritage obligations, public access to foreshore areas and the implications of relocating Defence functions; however, only two relevant documents citing national security and other exemptions were identified, and access was denied to both. The MP has subsequently called for greater transparency around the assessments undertaken before any divestment proceeds.
The MP stated that recently the Sydney Institute of Marine Science presented to the Headland Preservation group and Mosman Park and Bushland Association AGMs, raising serious concerns about the impact divestment and any development will have on the waters below and surrounding ecosystems. She also stated that “development on the steep slopes above HMAS Penguin may increase polluted run-off and sediment smothering seagrass and undermine years of publicly funded restoration which is gradually improving the marine environment.”
PFAS has become one of the issues attracting local attention. The chemicals have historically been associated with firefighting foams used at some Defence sites. HMAS Penguin is not currently listed among Defence’s 28 sites being investigated and managed under its national PFAS program. PFAS are human-made chemicals that build up in soil and water and are known to cause irreversible damage to the environment due to their inability to break down naturally. Importantly, however, that does not establish that the site has been tested and cleared of PFAS contamination.
Defence maintains that the divestment program is intended to modernise its estate and redirect resources towards current and future Defence capability. The Government has said heritage protections will continue to apply and that community consultation will form part of planning for future use.
Mosman Council has confirmed that there will be a community rally held at Balmoral’s Rotunda on Sunday, 11th of October at 11 AM, describing HMAS Penguin as an issue of significant environmental, heritage, cultural and community importance. The event is supported by Council and organised by the Headland Preservation Group.
The rally comes as community groups continue to campaign for the land to remain in public ownership. The Headland Preservation Group is calling for land no longer required by Defence to be transferred to the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust, rather than sold for private development. The Government has not announced that future use of the land will be private development.
For residents around Mosman and the wider Lower North Shore, the future of HMAS Penguin remains unresolved.
With the site continuing to operate as a Navy facility and the divestment process yet to determine the exact areas involved, questions around public access, heritage, environmental protection and future land use are likely to remain part of the local conversation in the months ahead.
