Areas of Interest

Friends of Sydney Harbour (FoSH) has helped our Committee members Tim James (acting President of the Mosman Rowers) and Kathrina Doran and their team of dedicated helpers to rescue the Mosman Rowers Club from Voluntary Administration and to enter a new beginning.

The Club again has the support of the community and has grown membership to over 1,100 members, and will have a stronger, renovated & re-invigorated Club for its members and the Mosman Community and organised funding to undertake more than $1m worth of repairs and structural works and improvements and refurbishment of the Clubhouse to bring it up to today’s standards.

Announced by the government – without consultation and adequate approvals, this ill-conceived floating disaster galvanised the public of Sydney to oppose unsafe and unnecessary developments that are more inconvenience than convenience. The good news? It was the genesis of FoSH, a voice of sanity for Sydney harbour. Interested in stopping it from happening again?

Is noise pollution* from party boats a problem for you? 

Friends of Sydney Harbour is interested in monitoring excessive noise on the harbour. Please take 2 minutes to complete the survey.

FoSH is concerned with all matters of safety and pollution on the harbour. 

Noise pollution often goes hand in hand with other major concerns: water safety and water pollution.

*NSW Protection of the Environment Act 1997.

A beach is a barometer of how we treat our harbour. Plastic drink bottles, fishing lines, even fireworks and balloons all wash up on our harbour beaches. And when day trippers become litterbugs, it’s time to act. Interested in clean beaches?

A mooring can be an inexpensive and unobtrusive option for boaties. Is this the best way to manage an increase in boat numbers or a potential traffic jam on the harbour?

Are marinas the most efficient way to look after the needs of boaties and local residents? And how far should they be allowed to encroach into our waterways?

Do we need more? Where should they be positioned? What about parking, the neighbours and noise?

Sydney Harbour hosts a diversity of marine habitats and associated biodiversity. There are more than 550 fish species in this estuary that was once a river valley, now approximately 30km long*. But with 4 million people who call Sydney home we have to be vigilant to protect its complex diversity.

*Source Sydney Institute of Marine Science

More and more people (residents and visitors) are discovering the beauty of the harbour foreshores, with the opportunity for leisurely walks, jogs or picnics. How important to you is preserving and improving harbour paths and trails?

The Sydney foreshore is our most valuable space. Private developments, especially on public land, without even a transparent tender process are a threat to the future of our harbour.

Planes are taking off and landing on the harbour, from Rose Bay and overfly many suburbs on their take offs and landings. Regulations governing height restrictions when overflying residences need further investigations to ensure compliance

There’s so much fun to be had on the harbour, so long as it is done safely.
Are you interested in knowing more about safer boating, swimming or fishing?