A proposal to name a prime lookout spot at Fairlight after former Liberal Manly Mayor Jean Hay has been abandoned.
The site of the lookout is an outcrop of land jutting into North Harbour, to the west of Fairlight Beach. Triangular in shape, it is approximately 20 metres from the southern tip to the Fairlight Walk footpath to the north, which runs approximately 50 metres along its longest edge.
Below the point are a bed of rocks accessible at low tide and above it the rear of dwellings along Fairlight Crescent.
Council had proposed to name the site ‘Jean Hay Lookout’ earlier this year, which was met with mixed community reactions.
Council asked for feedback on the proposal but the Geographical Names Board of NSW recently clarified that it considered the spot to be a geographical feature and not a facility.
Naming a geographical feature requires the Board’s approval and the nominee to have been deceased for at least a year. Ms Hay is still very much alive.
Given this advice a community engagement report is not required, and it has been recommended not to proceed with the proposal.
A report about this naming proposal will be considered at the Council meeting to be held Tuesday 15 October 2024.
- View the Council Report (Item 11.3)
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The initial proposal was thought not to require the approval of the Geographical Names Board and was therefore going to be determined by Council following review of community feedback.
“This naming recognises Mrs Jean Hay, AM’s service and commitment to the community and local government, including as Mayor of Manly Council from 1999 to 2004 and from 2008 to 2016,” the initial proposal stated.
“Should the proposal go ahead, we will upgrade the existing picnic setting and install an interpretative sign to further acknowledge Mrs Jean Hay, AM’s contributions to our community.”
At present the only furniture consists of a picnic table with seating on one side and a bench with a plaque commemorating Harold and Doris Bowman the other.
The proposal continued, “Following a review of Mrs Jean Hay, AM’s career, it is considered that naming a lookout area in Fairlight would be a suitable way to honour the breadth of her career and contributions to the Northern Beaches community over many years.
Opponents of the proposal asserted that not enough has been done to acknowledge the former Indigenous inhabitants of the region, the Kayemegal and Borogegal.
These Aboriginal clans gathered shellfish along the foreshores and fished the waters of North Harbour in bark canoes for centuries prior to British colonisation.
The chosen site for the lookout is part of a stretch of foreshore that follows the Manly to Spit Bridge Walking Trail (AKA Manly Scenic Walkway) where there are numerous Aboriginal engravings, shell middens and rock shelters.
In 2023, international travel advice website TripAdviser recognised the 10km coastal trail as “one of the leading attractions in the world.”
