Bushland Next to Lane Cove National Park Is Up for Sale Again

If you grew up on the North Shore and went on a school camp, youth group weekend or music camp, there’s a fair chance you stayed at a bush retreat off Lady Game Drive called Naamaroo.

This bush retreat has been hosting groups for more than 60 years.

The property is now for sale. The Friends of Lane Cove National Park would like the NSW Government to buy the former camp, which sits right next to Lane Cove National Park, and make it part of the park. A petition calling for exactly that is already up and running.

Where is Naamaroo?

Naamaroo is at Lot B, Lady Game Drive, Lindfield, in the Ku-ring-gai Council area.

Most of the site is bushland. Tucked inside it are cabins, halls, a dining room, a pool and playing fields. According to the Colliers Sydney sale listing, it can sleep 184 people. Colliers is selling the land by expressions of interest.

A camp built by volunteers

Naamaroo was officially opened on Anzac Day 1961. According to the Uniting Church’s historical archive, members of the Congregational Youth Fellowship helped build it. It became a Uniting Church property after church union in 1977 and ran for decades as a youth camp and conference centre.

Was Naamaroo ever part of the national park?

Lane Cove National Park opened in October 1938.

Friends of Lane Cove National Park president Tony Butteriss has researched Naamaroo’s history extensively. He dug into it for the Friends’ magazine Regenavitis back in 2022, and conservation group STEP summarised what he found.

The land was part of the Moore Estate. In 1938 the estate gifted 238 acres to create Lane Cove National Park. But its trustees held onto the corner now called Naamaroo, and later gifted it to the Congregational Church.

So Naamaroo came from the same 1938 gift of land, but it never officially became part of the park.

From church camp to The King’s School

In 2022 the Uniting Church decided to sell Naamaroo, along with its Elanora venue on the Northern Beaches. The church said it was a difficult call after two tough years of COVID.

Bush lovers saw a chance to bring the land into the park. Letters went to NSW National Parks asking it to buy the land. The campaign was not successful.

In November 2022 the property sold to The King’s School, reportedly for around $15 million.

In April 2023 Ku-ring-gai residents group The 416 Group reported that the school had told locals it was passionate about protecting the natural qualities of its campuses.

Why is it back on the market?

King’s hasn’t said publicly. We have reached out to The King’s School and will let you know when we receive a response.

In October 2025 Michael West Media reported that King’s had no development approval to redevelop the land for educational use. It isn’t known whether that played a part in the decision to sell.

What do the Friends of Lane Cove National Park want?

The Friends want the NSW Government to buy the site and add “the good bushland” back into Lane Cove National Park. They’re urging supporters to contact their local MPs and the NSW Minister for the Environment, and to do it urgently.

How to have your say

A petition on Change.org, started on 18 October, calls on the NSW Government to return the bushland to Lane Cove National Park. You can sign the petition here.

Did you go to camp at Naamaroo, or do you know the bushland around it? We’d love to hear your memories and see your old photos. Send us a WhatsApp on 0470 490 417 (text only) or email [email protected].