Street Protest 15-8-99

Sydney - Australia

"Save Manly Dam, the Quarantine Station and Currawong"

Over 1000 people joined the peaceful march through to Manly.

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Protesters met at Queenslcliff Park north of Manly at 1pm then marcched to Manly Corso.

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Many musicians played to keep the crowd happy - donating their time and talents.

The protest was advertised as being a "Jam for Manly Dam" where musicians played in the streets and on a stage in the centre of the Corso. The Corso in Manly is a street that is always closed to traffic. People walk on the part which used to be for traffic.

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People carried messages to explain about the protest.

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Protestors were all ages - some were on bikes, roller blades and skateboards.

There were three protest actions in the one march.

People are trying to stop the developers from building hotels, housing and resorts
in bushland areas of Manly/Warringah.

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A Scottish bagpipe band helped people to march in step
as we arrived at the Corso in Manly.

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The rock bands played very loud amplified music. People clapped in time with the rhythms and children danced.

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Manly children's choir sang songs about saving the environment like "This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius".

There were many speeches but the best was one by an 8-year old girl who told us what the bushland meant to her and why she wanted endangered animals and plants
saved for the future.

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Many children held banners and placards asking the politicians to save
the bushland and our cultural heritage.

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David Barr, Member of Parliament for Manly, was there and made a speech.

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There were many tourists and visitors to Manly on that day who stopped to listen to the music and the speeches.

In the week since the Protest March, there has been some progress. There is hope that the Quarantine Station might be made part of the North Head Trust. The Warringah Council has decided to investigate buying back the land at Manly Dam and making it a National Park. But both of these solutions need the support of members of parliament.