EXCLUSIVE INVESTIGATION: The Shire Suburb No Map Will Show You - Inside the Hunt For Sunny Glen. Locals Demand Answers.

Blake Curran | Investigative Journalist | Sutherland Shire Gazette

11 September 2025

The Engadine Heathcote Community Facebook Group has been plunged into cartographic chaos overnight after a new member application claimed they lived in “Sunny Glen, nestled snugly between Loftus and Helensburgh.”

The applicant painted a dreamy picture of the supposed hamlet, complete with “kangaroos hopping by for a morning chat and magical sunsets.” 

One problem: Sunny Glen doesn’t exist. At least, not on any map known to man, Google, or even the more obscure corners of Whereis.

Frontline in this mystery is group admin Lisa, a tireless volunteer who by day keeps the page civil and by night screens out scammers spruiking prestige car detailing services, or fake warehouses hiring “packing staff”. “Sunny Glen was different though,” Lisa said. “This one had imagination.” 

Locals have since weighed in. Retired local, Janine, swears she “attended a Tupperware party there in 1993,” but admits she can’t provide directions because “the road in only appears during low tide.” A Shire amateur historian insists Sunny Glen may be that forgotten strip of houses between Heathcote and Waterfall on the western side of the highway. 

And one commenter cut through the romance with sheer logic: “There’s a fair bit between Loftus and Helensburgh - 3 train stations, 2 McDonalds, several petrol stations, and a goddamned windmill”. 

The Gazette’s newsroom immediately went into overdrive, pulling an all-nighter more worthy of Spotlight than suburban satire. Historical records, drone footage and even a bloke from Gymea with a compass - all dead ends. 

Now, with the investigation stalling, a public appeal has been launched. Residents are urged to come forward with any evidence - Old rate notices, photos, maps, eyewitness accounts or even folklore. - no lead is too small. Everything hangs on this. 

Until then, the mystery of Sunny Glen remains open. A phantom suburb, or well-kept Shire secret? Only the community can deliver the final verdict.