The Georges and Cooks rivers flowed to the south-east beneath the present sand dune system near Wanda and joined the ocean at Bate Bay.

As the rivers gradually silted up they were forced into changing their course and were led out to sea via La Perouse rather than continue to maintain an opening in an ever-growing sand barrier near Wanda.

The deepest part of the ancient river channel now lies 100 metres (330 ft) below the surface at the southern end of the peninsula, near Wanda Beach.

[2] The sand hills of Kurnell possess historical, cultural, scientific and natural significance as a place of early European contact with the Gweagal people.

[2][3][4] The original inhabitants on the Kurnell Peninsula were the Gweagal people, a clan of the Tharawal (or Dharawal) tribe who occupied the region for thousands of years.

Their clothing consisted of a woven hair sash in which they used to carry tools and weapons and sometimes the optional possum-skin coat for the winter season.

Birds and their eggs, possums, wallabies and goannas were also a part of their staple diet, in which they made fur coats and ceremonial attire.

[6] On 29 April 1770, Captain James Cook, on board the HM Bark Endeavour, landed in Botany Bay, stepping ashore near Silver Beach.

Thomas Holt who was the first owner of the area (and who also owned most of what is today the Sutherland Shire) planned to use the dunes for farming sheep; this industry failed more or less.

The land on his estate was not suited for intensive grazing, so after most of the trees were felled, herds of cattle then removed the stabilizing grass cover and exposed the sand dunes underneath.

In 1941, the Charles Chauvel movie, Forty Thousand Horseman about the Australian Light Horse Regiment during World War I and starring Chips Rafferty, was filmed on the sand hills.

Despite an extensive police investigation, the killer has never been identified and the case remains one of Australia's most notorious unsolved crimes, known as the Wanda Beach Murders.

The sand has been valued for many decades by the Sydney building industry, mainly because of its high crushed shell content and lack of organic matter.

Ocean waves pounding against the reduced Kurnell dune system have threatened to break through into Botany Bay, especially during the storms of May and June 1974 and August, 1998.

The issues sparked a series of protests from environmental groups and those concerned that the refinery would despoil the Captain Cook Landing Place Reserve.

[9] A proposal to build a chemical plant by the German pharmaceutical company, Bayer in 1986 resulted in public protests, environmental objections and a Commission of Inquiry, chaired by John Woodward.

The most recent Commission of Inquiry in 1986 by Commissioner Woodward led to the re-zoning of the Australand site to permit non-residential uses, including tourist facilities, serviced apartments, commercial, recreational and light industrial uses.

Therefore, the H2 dune has high potential to reveal archaeological evidence of former Aboriginal occupation such as middens, flaked sharpening stones, carvings and ceremonial sites.

[1] The Cronulla Sand Dune and adjacent Lucas Reserve and Wanda Beach demonstrate a high level of intactness in terms the modified dunal landscape as it was created following late nineteenth-century grazing activities.

[1] As at 29 January 2003, the Cronulla Sand Dune, Lucas Reserve and Wanda Beach as a landscape were of historical and contemporary cultural significance to the Aboriginal community.

As the last major exposed dune in a landscape degraded by 70 years of sand mining it has landmark and aesthetic qualities that are held in high esteem by the community.

[1] Cronulla Sand Dune and Wanda Beach Coastal Landscape was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 26 September 2003 having satisfied the following criteria.

A successful wool buyer and property speculator, Holt acquired over 1.21m hectares of land in NSW and Queensland between 1851 and 1880, making him one of the wealthiest men in the colony.

Holt is notable for employing Aboriginals on his Sutherland Estate and for establishing the oyster industry at Kurnell and introducing Buffalo grass to Australia to control sand dune degradation.

The exposed dunal system became a landmark of note for nineteenth-century day-trippers from Sydney who would take the ferry service from La Perouse to Kurnell Bay to see Cook's landing place, the dunes and Cronulla beaches.

The Cronulla Sand Dune has strong social significance as a place of recreation for residents and tourists alike since the late nineteenth century.

The Cronulla Sand Dune provides evidence of the impacts of agriculture and logging on the dunal landscape, an area of ongoing research in Australia.

The Cronulla Sand Dune in the context of its setting, intactness, aesthetic qualities and social significance is held in high community esteem.

Older stable parabolic dunes occur on a series of north to south oriented ridges and while most of the vegetation has been cleared, some dry sclerophyll woodland remains.

According to the conditioning coach of the Australian Cricket team Jock Campbell, these sandhills, along with gym programs is the best way to train athletes for endurance work.