FOKE held four events for the 2025 Australian Heritage Festival conducted through the National Trust. Janine Kitson has planned, organised and conducted the events for FOKE over a decade for which we are very grateful and appreciative.

With the NSW Government TOD policy underway and a significant number of State Significant Developments lodged on the NSW Major Projects portal for high density residential development, four Heritage in Peril walks were planned for the Australian Heritage Festival organised by the National Trust over April and May 2025.

• Roseville Heritage in Peril – Saturday 26 April
• Lindfield Heritage in Peril – Sunday 27 April
• Killara Heritage in Peril – Saturday 3 May
• Gordon Heritage in Peril – Sunday 4 May

FOKE organised two events for the Australian Heritage Festival held 18 April, – 18 May 2026. The first event planned was the Australian Heritage Festival Walk “The Battle to Save Gordon Station” on Sunday 3 May 2026 that highlighted the battles to save Gordon Railway Station’s heritage since 2004. It highlighted why Gordon Station’s heritage is so important to the Ku-ring-gai’s community groups including FOKE and the Ku-ring-gai Historical Society.

Saving Gordon’s Station’s heritage was a huge battle from 2004-2006 with the proposed location of lifts at Gordon Station in front of the Overhead Booking Office facing towards Sydney (Up City). The community believed this location would diminish the heritage of this State Heritage listed station and recommended relocating the lifts to the rear of the Overhead Booking Office facing towards Hornsby (Down Hornsby).

Ku-ring-gai historian and member of the Ku-ring-gai Historical Society Jennifer Harvey’s expertise in railway history provided much of the professional evidence that was presented to the NSW Heritage Council who then agreed with the community that the lifts should be relocated to the rear of the Overhead Booking Office facing Sydney.

Historian Jennifer Harvey’s (1946-2024) work achieved a’ “win-win” for both accessibility and heritage. Jennifer Harvey worked with Form Architects to prepare a Heritage Impact Report to assess the impact of proposed upgrades to Gordon Station including access ramps and platform coverings.

Jennifer was an outstanding historian and renowned for her work with the Ku-ring-gai Historical Society in researching and documenting Ku-ring-gai’s outstanding local and State heritage listed items and Ku-ring-gai’s Heritage Conservation Areas.

The walk was planned with Graeme Harvey, the late Jennifer Harvey’s husband. FOKE is hoping to arrange with Graeme and the Minister for Transport a plaque in memory of Jennifer Harvey’s advocacy to protect the stations State heritage significance.

FOKE’s Australian Heritage Festival walk also highlighted the importance of Ku-ring-gai as the birthplace of the Australian conservation movement, with the establishment of the Kuring-gai Tree Lovers’ Civic League and the National Trust of Australia (NSW) that was founded by Gordon resident Annie Forsyth Wyatt.

FOKE continues to follow this conservation tradition and calls for stronger protections for Ku-ring-gai’s unique heritage and environment. The battle to save Ku-ring-gai’s heritage continues.

The second festival event was held on Wednesday 13 May with the preview and screening of the film ‘H Is for Hawke’ at the Roseville Cinema. A powerful new film celebrating the beauty and significance of the natural world, birds, and our shared environment.

Following the screening, acclaimed author Helen Macdonald presided over a Q&A, offering insights into her award-winning ‘H Is for Hawke’ that has received global acclaim, including the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction, Costa Book of the Year, and the Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger, and was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Read FOKE’s full Report 2025-2026:

August 2026