Mangrove Mountain Crown Reserve for Homeless and Needy Young Persons

Mangrove Mountain Crown Reserve for Homeless and Needy Young Persons was located at Mangrove Mountain near Gosford. It was on a site that formerly acommodated the Forest Farm Community, a project of the New South Wales Homeless Children’s Association in around 1983 and 1984. Wesley Mission (NSW) ran the Trust from 1990 until 2010. In 2022 the status as reserve land manager was revoked for the Mangrove Mountain Homeless or Needy Young Persons (R170143).

The Mangrove Mountain Crown Reserve for Homeless and Needy Young Persons was situated on land that was formerly the Forest Farm Community, an initiative of the NSW Homeless Children’s Association. Forest Farm was planned to be a ‘kibbutz’ style village for homeless youth, however, the plans never came to fruition.

It is difficult to pinpoint when the The Mangrove Mountain Crown Reserve for Homeless and Needy Young Persons came into being. Its name shows some connection to the Forest Farm Community initiative of the Homeless Children’s Association and that the land was intended to be used for the benefit of young people in need.

One source states that Wesley Mission (NSW) ran the site from 1988 onwards. “The Wesley Mission soon decided to take over, develop and run a large property in Mangrove Mountain on the Central Coast of New South Wales. And so began the Forest Farm Community, an activity to rehabilitate homeless and unemployed young people; it was a project of the Homeless Children’s Association” (Croucher, 2014, p.308).

There are records of an Australian Business Number (ABN) being issued to an entity called The Trustee for Mangrove Mountain Homeless Or Needy Young Persons (R170143) Reserve Land Manager from November 1999. In December 2022, this ABN was still current, for the trading name: Mangrove Mountain Homeless or Needy Young Persons R170143 Reserve Trust.

In July 2022 the NSW Government Gazette stated that the status as reserve land manager was revoked for the Mangrove Mountain Homeless or Needy Young Persons (R170143).