A proposal has been submitted to rename Undercliff Reserve, located at the southern end of Freshwater Beach, to ‘Irene Crump Reserve’ in honour of the late environmentalist.
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The application to rename the reserve was submitted by Friends of Freshwater Inc, which aims to recognise Irene Crump’s outstanding contribution in securing public ownership of the reserve and saving it from private development.
In the 1970s, a development application was lodged to construct home units on the site and down onto the sand and that, whilst still under assessment, the developer attempted to clear the site.
Upon hearing this, Mrs Crump went to the site and climbed what is understood to have been a large Coral tree and refused to come down until work stopped. She was dubbed “Harbord’s bravest woman” because of what she did.
Mrs Crump also opposed the proposed development in court for around two months, which helped scale back the development. Part of the land was eventually retained for community use.
“The community requested for the reserve to be named the Irene Crump Reserve, the council rejected this at the time because Mrs Crump was still alive. In fact, she lived a long life and died on 11 March, 2012, aged 91,” Friends of Freshwater Inc stated.
Despite that, Council, at the time,agreed to the installation of a plaque which read:
“THIS LAND WAS PRESERVED AS A PUBLIC RESERVE LARGELY DUE TO THE EFFORTS OF IRENE CRUMP, PRE-SCHOOL DIRECTOR, RESPECTED LOCAL CITIZEN DEDICATED TO THE WELFARE OF CHILDREN.”
Beyond her works as a community activist and environmentalist, Mrs Crump was a resident of Freshwater who also served as the Director of Harbord Community Pre-School for more than two decades.
Community Support
The community has shown their support in renaming the Undercliff Reserve to Irene Crump Reserve.
According to Northern Beaches Mayor Michael Regan, Mrs Crump’s bravery and dedication in fighting to protect the reserve for the benefit of the community for future generations is admirable.
“As legend has it, Ms Crump, who was also the Director of Harbord community Pre-School, stopped at nothing to save this beloved space so it could be retained for local children by climbing a large Moreton Bay fig tree and refusing to come down when contractors came in to start developing the site,” Mayor Regan said.
The request will be forwarded to the Geographical Names Board of NSW (GNB) who will undertake its own public notification period prior to considering official assigning of the name.
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The Northern Beaches Council will inform the community of approved changes to the name of the reserve. This may include additional signage and community notifications.
