Ulladulla Harbour Masterplan

Ulladulla Harbour is a minor port administered by Transport for NSW Maritime as the Crown Lands Manager.

For over 20,000 years, the coastal area around Ulladulla was home to Aboriginal peoples including the Dhurga, Walbanja, and Wadandian groups. The name "Ulladulla" likely derives from Aboriginal words meaning "safe harbour," though some local legends suggest it evolved as a compromise between these terms and "holey dollar," an early NSW currency.

European presence began in 1827 when Thomas Florance surveyed the coastline and Reverend Thomas Kendall received the first land grant. Kendall established "Kendall Dale" north of present-day Milton, raising cattle and harvesting timber until his tragic drowning in 1832. His grandson Henry, born on the estate in 1839, later became one of Australia's celebrated poets with support from the Ulladulla community.

Early settlers established "The Settlement" (now Milton) and began using "The Boat Harbour" (Ulladulla) for shipping, initially securing vessels with just a chain. The challenging terrain made land transportation difficult, emphasizing the harbour's importance for the region's development.

Following an 1837 village survey, Ulladulla flourished as a timber port in the 1840s. David and James Warden established shipbuilding operations inside the harbour around 1840, commemorated today by Warden Head. Local industries expanded to include dairying, agriculture, tannery operations, and mining.

By 1856, Ulladulla's population reached approximately 300. A wooden jetty built in 1859 secured service from the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company and was replaced by a government stone pier seven years later. A lighthouse constructed on the harbour breakwater in 1873 was relocated to Warden Head in 1889, where it remains active.

Today, Ulladulla Harbour is administered by Transport for NSW Maritime and serves as home port to the South Coast's largest commercial fishing fleet. Monthly markets create a vibrant community space that honours its history. The vision is to transform the harbour into a thriving hub that balances commercial needs with recreational appeal, strengthening its connection to the town while serving both industry and the public. 

A Masterplan is a document that describes what an area could be. It lists future activities, facilities and amenities that would make an area more vital, more profitable and more contemporary. It takes account of heritage and land ownership and aims to make the subject area better: for communities, for tourists and for the working aspects of the Harbour.

The Masterplan will be created by consultants retained by Transport for NSW Maritime and they will be briefed on all the aspects required by Maritime, the Shoalhaven Council and, most importantly, the community, so that everyone will own the Plan when it’s complete which we’re expecting in around 12 months.

The Masterplan is only a document—a wish list—and will act as a future guide to development in the Harbour. All elements of the Masterplan will be subject to feasibility studies and funding availability. Some elements will be delivered by Transport for NSW, some will be delivered and or funded by Council, but the Masterplan represents a coordinated approach the future for the Harbour.

We are at the very early pre-planning phase of the Masterplan. Nothing has been decided yet.

And we want your input.

You can respond to our survey and have your say on what you’d like to see as part of the Masterplan. Community feedback is so important to a Masterplan created by and for the various communities that use the Harbour.

To take the survey, click here. Please submit your response by 31 May 2025.

This won’t be your last chance to provide input into this project, but we want to hear from as many people as possible, so we can write the initial brief to the consultants that incorporates as many of your ideas as we’re able.

Your survey responses will help to inform a consultant brief written by Transport for NSW Maritime and Shoalhaven Council. This brief will then be put out to public tender and the submissions will be considered to choose a successful entity to create the Masterplan. This process will take a couple of months.

Following the appointment of a consultant, they will construct the Masterplan, a draft of which will be published for public comment in  April/May next year.

Once we’ve assembled and evaluated the public submissions, our goal is to publish the final Masterplan to the public by mid-2026.