The listing ensures Balls Head Reserve will be protected for years to come.
The heritage listing recognises Balls Head Reserve's deep Aboriginal cultural connections, natural beauty and historical importance. Council negotiated activity exemptions that allow us to continue to manage the site – including caring for the fragile bushland and maintaining visitor facilities.
The rocky bushland headland stands as a rare and intact remnant of Sydney’s natural harbour landscape and its sweeping views of the city skyline, Sydney Harbour Bridge and southern shores have inspired generations of artists.
The reserve was also the site of early environmental activism. In the 1920s and 1930s, conservationists Annie Wyatt, Walter W. Froggatt, and David Stead led a campaign to protect and restore the headland. Their efforts saw Balls Head dedicated as public land and replanted with native species, allowing the bushland to regenerate and thrive.
Balls Head Reserve joins several other foreshore reserves that have all been heritage listed by the NSW Government, completing Sydney Harbour’s heritage-listed ‘green necklace’.
The 'necklace' is comprised of waterfront parks, reserves and bushland fragments including Carradah Park in Waverton, Badangi Reserve in Wollstonecraft, and Ballast Point and Yurulbin Park in Birchgrove. The heritage listing of the 'green necklace' sites recognises their unique cultural, environmental and industrial histories while safeguarding Sydney Harbour’s natural beauty for generations to come.