Helensburgh, New South Wales

For the burgh in Scotland see Helensburgh,

Helensburgh is a small town (5 000+ population) in New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately half way between Sydney and Wollongong, at the southern end of the Royal National Park. What seperates it from Waterfall is little more than a hill in the national park, about 400m. Waterfall is considered Sydney's most southern suburb and the city train service stops here. However by road the distance between Waterfall and Helensburgh is about 10km. Morris Iemma's, as well as his predecessor Bob Carr, management of Sydney's train system, Cityrail, have maintained the strange situation where the length of the train line between Helensburgh and Waterfall is much further than the straight distance. This is because a series of almost hairpin turns are created along the train line. This resulted in a fatal crash in 2003. The train time between Waterfall and Helensburgh is 10 minutes according to cityrail's timetable[1]. It is 17 minutes from Helensburgh to Waterfall[2].

The town is serviced towards Wollongong by the south coast railway line. Located 34 km (21 miles) north of Wollongong City, Helensburgh is now under the area controlled by Wollongong City Council and marks the northern end of the Illawarra District. Originally called Camp Creek, Helensburgh started out as a workers' camp established in the 1880s to accommodate coal miners who came to the area to work the coal mine, which operates to this day.

Helensburgh is surrounded by the bushland of the Royal National Park, The Garrawarra State Recreation Area and the water catchment of the Woronora Dam and adjacent Heathcote National Park, so is environmentally sensitive. This bushland location also makes Helensburgh susceptible to damage from frequent summer bushfires.

It is traditionally a left-wing, socialist area. However since 1996 a liberal Danna Vale has represented the federal area of Hughes(inclusive of Helensburgh) and the changing socio-economic situation of the area has created a new political situation that tends to support incumbents in state and federal elections.

Also known to locals in the surrounding areas of the Sutherland Shire and the south coast as simply "the burgh".

External links

• NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Royal National Park
• Wollongong City Library, Helensburgh - History

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