Manly is located at the southern end of the Manly Warringah Peninsula of the Northern Beaches, immediately to the north west of the entrance to Sydney Harbour. The area is 16.26km² and has a boundary 39.4km, of which 29.9km is a water margin.
No part of Manly is more than 1km from either the Harbour or the ocean.
The topography of Manly is characterised by a high ridge running east west along Balgowlah Heights with steep south facing slopes above North Harbour and more moderate slopes to the north. The area plateaux to the west of Balgowlah Heights and Seaforth with a very steep escarpment that drops to the Middle Harbour shoreline. The general relief of the area ranges from sea level to the highest point located at Bantry Bay Reserve, a level of 121.1m AHD.
To the north the area is bounded for the most part by Burnt Bridge Creek, running from the north west end of Seaforth to Manly Lagoon. The Manly Town Centre is located on a narrow isthmus of sand, separating the waters of North Harbour from the Pacific Ocean. The isthmus connects the mainland to the northern headland of Sydney Harbour, creating a tied-island known as a tombolo.
The major geological formations in the area are middle triassic Hawkesbury sandstone, overlying the Newport Formation of the Narrabeen group. This is clearly identified at North Head where the lower half of the seaward facing cliffs are composed of the Newport Formation, with Hawkesbury sandstone forming the upper blocky cliffs. A shale sequence marks the top of the Newport formation. The Hawkesbury sandstone is characterised by medium to coarse quartz sandstone. The Newport formation is characterised by imbedded laminite, shale and quartz, to lithic-quartz sandstone.
Land Use
Manly has a rich and diverse character of residential, business, industrial and natural landscapes. The area is well known for its natural environment, with areas such as Sydney Harbour, North Head, Harbour foreshores and frontage to the Pacific Ocean being recognised as important and sensitive environments.
Both the natural and developed land uses contribute to making Manly an attractive place for permanent residents and visitors alike.
Open Space
Open space areas are important for leisure and recreation as well as for the conservation of natural ecosystems and communities. Manly has 520ha of parks, reserves and open space, representing 32% of the total area of 1626ha.
In 1997/98, there was 143.3m² of open space per person.
Key features are:
- Over 20 beaches (includes ocean and harbour beaches)
- Harbour, ocean and lagoon
- 47 bushland reserves
- National Parks at North Head, Dobroyd and Bantry Bay
- Many parks and ovals
- Olympic size outdoor swimming pool
- Manly Scenic Walkway
- Volunteer Bush Regeneration in Council bushland reserves and in Sydney Harbour National Park
- Cycleway network
- Skateboarding facilities
- Tennis courts
- Many privately owned facilities for public use
Stormwater Catchments
Manly LGA is located within two administrational catchments, the Middle Harbour and Sydney Northern Beaches Catchments.
The Sydney Northern Beaches catchment is a series of smaller catchments from Barrenjoey Headland in the north to North Harbour in the south, all draining into the Pacific Ocean. Both catchments extend outside the Manly LGA, with Middle Harbour extending into the LGA's of Mosman, Willoughby, Warringah and Kuringai Councils. The Northern Sydney Beaches Catchment area covers the LGA's of Manly, Warringah and Pittwater Councils.
Rainfall
Rainfall data from the nearest active monitoring station at Frenchs Forest is:
- 2006: 936mm
- 2007: 1474mm
- 2008 (January/June): 1260mm
- Mean annual rainfall at Manly Dam (commenced 1906): 1202.5mm
- Mean annual rainfall at Frenchs Forest: 1381mm
Fauna
The fragmentation of natural bushland areas in Manly has reduced the viability of habitat in many bushland reserves to support populations of native fauna. The bushland surrounding Sydney Harbour is known to have once supported a diversity of mammalian fauna including wallabies, bandicoots, possums, quolls and echidnas, as well as a variety of reptiles, amphibians and avifauna.
Flora
Within the 47 reserves that are owned and managed by Council, there are 29 hectares of remnant bushland. In addition, within the LGA is 269 ha of National Park and 70ha of Crown land. Approximately 90% is degraded to some extent due to human activities (Manly Council 1997). Other areas of remnant bushland occur in roadside reserves and private property.
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