Our places 
Chowder Bay
This marks another significant milestone since Sub Base Platypus was handed to the Harbour Trust to rehabilitate and revitalise the site into a fresh, new harbourside precinct for all to experience.
On Monday 25 March, the Harbour Trust hosted an intimate native tree-planting event attended by the Sub Base Platypus Community Advisory Committee and guests. The Harbour Trust acknowledged and thanked the Sub Base Platypus Community Advisory Committee for their support on this project. The opening of Wirra Birra Park is symbol of the Harbour Trust’s promise to preserve and protect this park and other Harbour Trust destinations for generations to come and all to enjoy.
Known as the Torpedo Factory Renewal Project, the former Royal Australian Navy Torpedo Maintenance Establishment (RANTME) building was partially demolished and revitalised as a sheltered public space. These works also revealed a sandstone bench, which Wirra Birra Park is now situated on. This new foreshore park provides visitors with a landscaped modern leisure space to enjoy native plants, seating and a glorious outlook overlooking Neutral Bay.
‘Wirra Birra’ is a First Nations name for Neutral Bay and means a forest of gum trees near running water. This name was chosen for the new park to respect and acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the area, the Cammeraygal people. The Harbour Trust engaged with First Nations consultant Yerrabingin on the Torpedo Factory Renewal Project, as well as an art commission by First Nations artist, Dennis Golding, to put caring for Country and connection to Country and First Nations culture at the centre of the design.
With the completion of the Torpedo Factory Renewal Project, the Harbour Trust looks forward to attracting more visitors to Sub Base Platypus with regular events and activities. In addition to the fortnightly guided tours, the Harbour Trust is set to host its first Swap and Save event on Saturday, 20 April as part of Earth Day celebrations.
Learn more about Sub Base Platypus here.
Image caption: Professor Tim Entwisle, Chair, Harbour Trust, Jessica Keen, Sub Base Platypus Community Advisory Committee member and Phil Burford, Sub Base Platypus Community Advisory Committee member.
