Is Narrabeen Lake what it says it is?
While Manly, Curl Curl and Dee Why certainly all have lagoons, Narrabeen is not sure whether it has a lagoon or a lake.
Early surveyors and settlers had no doubt, it was a lagoon. Where they varied was in the spelling of its name, as it was spelt Narabang, and Narrabine. But sometime in the early 1900s it began to be called a lake.
While the change was driven by real estate developers, it gained full momentum with the proposal to extend the tram from Brookvale to Narrabeen. Mr Griffith, the minister for public works, had a vision of Narrabeen as the recreational boating capital of the commonwealth. A pre-condition on the allocation of the funds for the extension was that Warringah Council do works at the entrance to ensure the maintenance of a water level.
This may seem odd today when council’s main entrance management role is to limit the maximum water level, the concern being flooding. In 1910 it was to maintain a minimum level.
At a meeting on 28 November 1910, after lengthy discussion, the council agreed to carry out the necessary work at the entrance. Total cost was to be £900, with council contributing £600 from its funds and the remaining third to be paid by ratepayers.
They also decided to invite applications for boatsheds to be built and operated at four locations on what they now clearly called a lake. They had embraced Mr Griffith’s vision.
In more recent times, council has reverted to calling the waterbody a lagoon and technically that is what it is. In 2022 it published its latest and still current Narrabeen Lagoon Entrance Management Strategy. It concerns itself solely with the threat of flooding of adjacent properties and deals only with lowering the water level. Mr Griffith has been forgotten, along with the tram.
Richard Michell is the vice-president of the Manly, Warringah and Pittwater Historical Society and the secretary of Friends of Dee Why Lagoon. Visit mwphs.org.au and fodyl.au