Living in the Sutherland Shire

By Alex May

It sounds like something out of a children’s story book … Just 18km south of Sydney’s CBD over Tom Ugly’s Bridge lies another world known as The Shire.

The people who live there proudly proclaim The Shire to be the best place in the world – a land where the sun always shines, the surf is always up and there is plenty of sport for everyone to enjoy.
And the icing on the cake for this fairy tale is that Sydney’s Sutherland Shire is booming.
In the last year, local real estate agents say the price of prestige waterfront properties in Burraneer, Dolans Bay, Cronulla and Kangaroo Point has almost doubled.
“There are only 60 houses on Gunnamatta Bay and the benchmark to get into one of those is now about $4 million,” says local agent Bill Noonan. “Just 12 months ago you could buy along the bay for $2 million.”

TALES OF BOOM

Home Price Guide statistics show Cronulla’s median house price has leapt from $315,000 in 1993 to $960,000 in 2003 – a whopping 205 per cent increase. In the same time period, Palm Beach’s median price has gone from $514,000 to $1,230,000; a 139 per cent increase.
Even median house prices in modest Shire suburbs like Engadine, Jannali and Loftus - where the 2003 median price was around the mid to high $400,000s - have had increases of around 20 per cent since 2002.
Macquarie Bank’s Rod Cornish says the price surges in The Shire have been the result of the under-valued area catching up to the rest of Sydney’s growing prices.
“The whole Shire has had a kickalong because of the seachange thing and desire for lifestyle,” he says.
Agent Bill Noonan says the unique geography of The Shire is the reason for the rebirth of the area’s prices.
“The Shire is one big cul-de-sac – it’s bounded by water on three sides and National Park to the south,” he says.
“The prices are booming because everyone wants a piece of the lifestyle and there simply isn’t enough supply to keep up with demand.”
Agents report that demand is 90 per cent from local Shire buyers upgrading from outer Shire areas and the other 10 per cent is from people priced out of areas like the eastern suburbs and north shore.
“We are getting a lot of people from the southern eastern suburbs like Maroubra and Coogee who are into boating and want access to better waterways with rivers,” says McGrath’s Matthew King.

SO WHAT’S ON OFFER?

The Shire seems a million miles from the hustle and bustle of the inner city – and that’s the attraction.
Shire dwellers like Nicole Godfrey (see breakout), don’t mind commuting 40 minutes or more to work each day as long as they can enjoy the beach lifestyle on the weekends.
Local agent John Greig says The Shire became closer to the CBD since the M5 extension was completed, cutting commuting times to the city and the airport.
And don’t forget the train services. Every Shire dweller speaks proudly of the Illawarra train line that can take you from beachside Cronulla to the heart of Sydney in around 45 minutes.
Sutherland Shire mayor Phil Blight naturally proclaims that no area of Sydney is as beautiful or well-served by transport and recreational facilities as The Shire.
“We know we have a popular area and other people in Sydney seem to be finding it out,” he says.
“Our leisure centre is so good that it’s good enough to attract Thorpey(swimmer Ian Thorpe).”

SPORT: BE IN IT

Aaah, sport. If there is one constant in the Shire, it’s sport. It might be all talk, but Shire dwellers profess a love of sport that goes way beyond just watching it on TV.
McGrath agent Matthew King proudly talks about the athletes that live in The Shire – basketballer Shane Heal, swimmer Susie Maroney and footballers galore.
Mayor Phil Blight says the Cronulla Sharks happily share their sports fields with traditional rugby rivals, and the local sporting facilities like athletics tracks, soccer fields and swim centres are well-patronised.
Sutherland Leisure Centre’s Kristen Denny says the council-run swimming facilities in The Shire are the largest in Australia, with more than a million visits each year.
Sutherland Shire Cycling Club secretary Gail Brennan says the area attracts sports lovers because of the excellent facilities in the area.
“Maybe the area attracts people who are into sports because we’ve got bushwalking tracks, good cycling areas in the National Park, baths and beaches for swimming and lots of ovals,” she says. “Or maybe we are just healthier than other areas of Sydney – I don’t know.”

AND THE JOKE IS?

Some of Sydney may snigger at the suburban sanctuary that is The Shire, but the locals are in on the joke – in fact, they are the first to laugh at their own parochialism and the first to laugh at the rest of Sydney for missing out on the lifestyle on offer down south.
“Of course you need a passport to get in and get out,” says Sutherland Leisure Centre’s Kristen Denny. “People in The Shire feel they have all that they need here – there are national parks, beaches, sports facilities, major shopping centres and restaurants so there is just no need to cross that bridge.”
Local restaurateur Claude Allouche – who owns swish beachside restaurant Sealevel - says The Shire “is very insular”.
“People are born here, go to school here and while they aren’t interbreeding just yet, they certainly don’t like to move away.
“But can you blame them? We’ve got beaches, national parks and good cafes and restaurants.”
When ABC 702 broadcaster James Valentine did a radio show from Westfield Miranda last month, he was gob-smacked by the pride people showed in The Shire.
“They were all happy to say ‘yes, we don’t like outsiders’, ‘yes, we are homogoneous’ and it really struck me that The Shire doesn’t have an identity in the broader Sydney identity,” he says.
“I mean, you’ve got eastern suburbs yuppies, north shore toffs and inner city wankers but there is no nickname for The Shire, it’s just The Shire.”

NICOLE GODFREY

Nicole Godfrey is a devoted Sutherland Shire dweller with a mortgage to prove it – the 32-year-old paid more than a million dollars to buy a house she plans to knock down in south Cronulla.
The marketing executive and her husband have been dreaming of moving to Cronulla since they rented in the busy beachside suburb seven years ago.
“Cronulla is the kind of place where you park your car on Friday and you don’t need to get back in it until Monday morning because you can eat there, go to the beach there, catch up with friends there and walk absolutely everywhere,” she says.
Godfrey grew up in Jannali where her family’s leisure time revolved around sport.
“We did little athletics in the summer and I did netball in the winter and played touch footy during the week,” she says.
“Sport brings the Shire together - we are used to being in teams and everyone knows everyone. When you go to a Sharks game you will see stacks of people who you either play sports with or went to school with.”
Godfrey has never been happy living away from the Shire.
“When I lived in Neutral Bay I went home every weekend anyway because that’s where my family and friends were,” she says.
“The north shore just doesn’t have the same community spirit or family atmosphere.”
Godfrey and her husband bought their first house in Kirrawee in 1996 and soon upgraded to a large house on 970 square metres of land in Kareela. They bought in Cronulla in July this year.
“We bought a knockdown for more than a million dollars, which sounds ridiculous. The block is half the size of what we had at Kareela and the house is only a two bedroom plus study with a woeful kitchen – but that’s what we had to do to get in to this area,” she says.

A SUTHERLAND SHIRE SNAPSHOT

National Parks: The Royal National Park to the south of the Shire is the largest, with surf beaches, lagoons, cycle tracks and picnic spots. There is also Heathcote National Park to the west of Engadine and Helensburgh which has swimming areas and walks.
Parts of suburbs like Engadine, Heathcote and Loftus have excellent views of the national park, while secluded suburbs Maianbar and Bundeena are only accessible by road through the Royal National Park.

Transport:

The Shire has one of the closest Sydney train lines to the water with Cronulla station just 500 metres from Gunnamatta Bay. The Illawarra line services The Shire and can take people to the CBD or to Wollongong within an hour. The Illawarra line also goes through to Bondi Junction. There are also bus services and three road bridges linking The Shire with Sydney (Tom Ugly’s Bridge, Captain Cook bridge and Alfords Point bridge).

Sports facilities:

The Sutherland Leisure Centre, where Ian Thorpe trains is the largest pool in the area. There are numerous soccer fields, recreational sporting competitions like touch football and netball, cycling areas on the freeway and in the national parks. Mayor Phil Blight says more sporting facilities for The Shire are on the way.

Beaches:

There are good surf beaches at Wattamolla in the Royal National Park or North Cronulla. There are rockpools at Shelly Beach, Oak Park and Cronulla. There are numerous bays along Port Hacking and the Georges River.

Rivers:

The Woronora and Georges rivers run through The Shire, with boat lovers attracted to the easy access through Botany Bay to the ocean. Sylvania Waters is the primo suburb for boat lovers, with deep water access and a 15-minute boat trip through Botany Bay out to the ocean.

Shopping:

Miranda Westfield – or Miranda Fair, as the locals still call it – is the hub of shopping. There are major shopping centres in most suburbs, especially Cronulla and Sutherland.

Prices for houses:

Most houses are three-bedrooms or more and are on blocks of land that are usually more than 500 square metres. Outer Shire suburbs like Engadine and Woronora may have older style homes available for under $500,000 while prestige properties on Gunnamatta Bay will cost you at least $3 million.

Prices for units:

Units are a more affordable entry point to The Shire, with older style units starting at around $300,000 in places like Sutherland and Cronulla. There are ritzy penthouses in Cronulla, and new developments in Sylvania where prices are starting at $2 million.