Sandy Point Nature Reserve (Newport)

Sandy Point Nature Reserve is a place for plants, birds and marine life between Greenwich Bay and the Yarra River.

This small nature reserve is a haven for native plants and animals, surrounded by the bay, with views to Williamstown and the harbour. Sandy Point features a boardwalk constructed from materials of the old pier and a cinder pit from the decommissioned Newport Power Station. The reserve was preserved originally for its bird habitat values, with resident superb blue-fairy wrens. Along the mud flats, resident and migratory shorebirds visit here with red-capped plovers year round and sharp-tailed sandpipers seasonally, for example. These important feeding areas are crucial to the long term survival of shorebirds across the East Asian - Australasian flyway.

Sandy Point Nature Reserve and surrounding areas are important spaces for conservation and recreation.

Things To Do

Walk around and become familiar with indigenous
local plants
Observe and hear different bird species, including rare and endangered shore birds feeding on the mudflats
Enjoy uninterrupted views of the city
Take in the container ships, boats and yachts on the Yarra River
Cycle the Bay West Share Trail adjacent to Greenwich Bay

History

Sandy Point spit was created between 1910 and 1916 when the Yarra River was dredged to create a deeper shipping channel. Prior to settlement, these areas were largely mud flats and saltmarsh. Later it was covered with bricks, cobbles and pitch.
The adjacent former Newport Power Station dumped whole ash waste into the area from the 1950s.
The Warmies, adjacent to Sandy Point, is a cooling water outlet for the existing power station, built in the 1970s. The discharged warm water attracts fish.
A car ferry, which docked near the Newport Power Station, operated between Port Melbourne and Newport between 1873 and 1974.
In the 1990s local residents fought plans to develop the Newport foreshore. Subsequently Sandy Point Nature Reserve was created and later expanded to take in the Riverside Spit Reserve, on the other side of the Warmies outlet. Friends of Greenwich Bay have been working since then to protect and enhance the Newport foreshore and surrounding open public space.

Sandy Point Nature Reserve Map

Flora and Fauna at Sandy Point Nature Reserve

Plants
The reserve, which was once neglected and used as a dumping ground, now has a range of thriving plant life, from woodland species such as Coastal Wirilda and River Red Gums to Mangrove shrubland.

Birds
Sandy Point supports birds like Superb Fairy-wrens and various honey eaters. It also attracts migratory waders, such as Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Red-necked Stints. Other waders like Oyster Catchers and Red-capped Plovers visit or make their home here.

Marine Life
The beach and mudflats at Sandy Point support a wide variety of benthos (intertidal life), which includes barnacles, anemones, shrimps, crabs and molluscs. The benthos are essential food for all the wader birds, but especially for the migratory wader birds visiting Sandy Point from as far away as Siberia.

Access for Dogs:

Sandy Point Nature Reserve is off limits to dogs. Dogs can cause excessive stress to wildlife by chasing, barking and attacking, so do not bring your dog here.

Location

The Strand, Newport 3015 Map

Web Links

→ Sandy Point Nature Reserve Brochure (PDF)