Station Entrance

The entrance to Waratah Park stands in Duffys Forest, NSW, on 12.6 hectares of Crown land adjoining Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. This photograph, made in 2017, records a dark green metal fence, its vertical bars streaked with rust, running along a path that once led visitors towards the miniature train station. Dry grasses and dense low scrub have pushed through and around the bars. A pale roofline shows through the vegetation beyond, largely swallowed by growth since the park closed to the public in 2006. The site was established in 1967 when Fauna Productions, the company formed by Lee Robinson, John McCallum, and Lionel Austin, received permission from the NSW Government to occupy approximately 10 hectares of Crown land for television filming. The production was Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. A Ranger Headquarters was constructed, roads and power connected, and a helipad installed. Filming ran from May 1967 until September 1969, producing 91 episodes broadcast in 128 countries and dubbed into 25 languages. After production wound up, Warringah Council granted land use consent in December 1969 for the site to operate as a wildlife park. It opened formally in January 1970, with actor Ed Devereaux appearing in character as head ranger Matt Hammond. Kangaroos, koalas, dingoes, emus, and wombats were on display, and visitors could walk through the interior TV set inside the Ranger Headquarters. The park continued under successive operators, including Waratah Park Pty Ltd from 1976 and Waratah Park Earth Sanctuary between 1995 and 2000, before the business failed in 2006. All wildlife had been removed from the site by 2010, when the Minister for Lands cancelled the lease to Melbourne-based company Prudentia Investments. Ownership transferred to the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council on 28 August 2014 under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983. The site was listed on the NSW State Heritage Register on 27 February 2015. The Ranger Headquarters retains its State significance; the fence and the station beyond it do not. The bush around it continues regardless.