Drought led to Narrabeen Lagoon being used as an airstrip in the 1920s
In 1910 a requirement was imposed on Warringah Council – as a precondition to the NSW Government agreeing to fund the extension of the tram from Brookvale – that they do works on the Narrabeen Lagoon entrance to ensure that an adequate level of water was always retained to allow recreational boating. The relevant minister, Mr Griffiths, envisioned Narrabeen as the boating capital of the Commonwealth, thus ensuring patronage for the tram.
The council, with design assistance from the Department of Public Works, made modifications at the entrance with the intention to keep the lagoon connected to the ocean at all times. Some thought this demonstrated a flawed understanding of the lagoon’s dynamics. Its surface level is usually above mean sea level. Keeping the entrance open would, depending on rainfall, potentially lower its level.
All was well for a few years but a prolonged drought in 1919/1920 resulted in the emergence of a large sand flat in the portion between the Pittwater Road bridge and the entrance. It was so solid that entrepreneurial individuals began to land airplanes on it and to run joy flights. This in turn caused traffic jams on Pittwater Road as motorists stopped to have a look.
The use of the ‘lake’ as an airfield became so established that Warringah Council granted permission to erect a tent hangar.
But eventually the council had to act. They banned cars from stopping but, more constructively, they let contractors dredge relevant parts of the lagoon. Entrepreneurs being what they are, the dredging spread to areas where it was not actually needed but it did result in the water body that we see today. By 1930 planes were gone and boats were back.
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
