Have you heard how The Rocks precinct in Sydney was nearly demolished in the 1960s and 70s?

It boggles the mind to think about it.

That historic precinct is the pride of Sydneysiders today. It's one of the things that makes the city special.

Walk its streets, and visit its old pubs built from local stone, and you'll travel back in time to Sydney's colonial beginnings.

But watch this short video from 1967 to see what city planners of that era had in mind for the area.

It was pure vandalism.

As the voiceover in the video acknowledges: "The Rocks area is as old as Sydney itself. Part of the city's earliest history."

Yet the wisdom of 1960s planners determined that the area should be bulldozed to "beautify" it.

So why didn't The Rocks get demolished?

In recent years, we've heard

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