Cleveland - Environment

The landscape of Cleveland comprises “low-lying, mostly cleared, alluvial lowlands and floodplain” adjacent to Mullet Creek and its tributaries, together with “undulating midland valley and rural landscape with irregular stands of forest vegetation surrounding homesteads, along drainage lines and upon low knolls” (Wollongong City Council, 1995, p. 27).

Open in character, the area is regarded “generally of low conservation significance due to extensive previous clearing for agricultural purposes” and is mostly geotechnically “stable” (Forbes Rigby, 1999, p.5-6).

Topography varies from an elevation of “2 - 30 metres AHD with low-lying wetlands along the eastern areas of the creeks” (Wollongong City Council, 1995, p. 27).

Rural properties used for agistment of stock, fodder production, and related activities occupy the area which is traversed by major power transmission lines, the pylons of which dominate the skyline below the nearby Illawarra escarpment.