Progress
How the community has rallied to defend Glenlee – from making representations in the council chamber and the Land and Environment Court to harnessing the media and taking to the streets
The campaign so far
The Friends of Glenlee Incorporated was registered and continues to fight to save Glenlee on many fronts – by lobbying both local and state governments, writing articles for local media, leafletting, and supporting the publication of a photographic book on Glenlee's history by our local historian Glenyss Barnham.
Actions taken
With its more than 200 submissions to Georges River Council, Friends of Glenlee both worked with Council in its case before the Land and Environment Court and made its own representations to the Court, resulting in the defeat of the proposed 2021 development.
Friends of Glenlee has made numerous representations to Georges River Council to request that Council work with the state government to protect the history and heritage of the site, and provide funding to purchase Glenlee for the community and future generations. Councillors have unanimously voted in support of the preservation of Glenlee.
We also made representation to the NSW Government to request funding for the purchase of the property.
We worked with Council and the state government to see an Interim Heritage Order (IHO) placed on the site to allow for a heritage report to be undertaken, including of the property's Aboriginal heritage. This IHO has since expired. A commitment to a new IHO was made by the state opposition prior to the 2023 state election but this has not eventuated.
Glenlee was listed by Georges River Council as a Local Heritage site.
Glenlee was included in a National Trust exhibition called No Time to Spare, which featured heritage properties in danger of destruction.
An article on Glenlee was included in Australian Wildlife, the magazine of the Australian Wildlife Society.
Media coverage included articles published by the St George and Sutherland Shire Leader and The Sydney Morning Herald, and radio interviews on ABC Breakfast, Sydney, and 2NBC.
Support for the preservation of Glenlee was given by local councillors, election candidates and members of Parliament.
An event was held in support of Glenlee. The speaker was the late historian Heather Goodall, co-author with Allison Cadzow of Rivers and Resilience: Aboriginal People on Sydney's Georges River (UNSW Press, 2009). Her talk underlined the potential importance of Glenlee as a possible site of first contact between officers of the First Fleet and the Bidjigal people of the Eora Nation in 1788.
The second event, in late 2025, involved the new owners, Romanous Constructions, and their PR firm, who presented a new draft plan for the site.
A further public event was held on 14 March 2026 to present information to the community and gather views on the proposal. There was overwhelming opposition to the most recent plan and this was followed up by submissions from the community.
Three community rallies have been held near the site, one attended by the now State Minister for Heritage and the Environment.
Meetings have been held with the State Minister for Heritage and the Environment.
In early August 2026, Friends of Glenlee lodged a comprehensive submission to the National Parks and Wildlife Service calling for Glenlee to be incorporated into Georges River National Park. Submissions from Oatley Flora and Fauna, and from Georges River Council, were also made. The outcome of these submissions is unclear at the present time (September 2026). Read the Friends of Glenlee submission (PDF)