Local Aborigines invited to discuss dam-raising project

Tweed council is inviting local Aborigines with cultural knowledge of the Doon Doon and Commissioners Creek areas, particularly around Clarrie Hall Dam, to help undertake the cultural heritage assessment required to raise the wall of the dam.

In December 2015, Council resolved to begin planning for and buying the land needed to raise the wall of the dam. Its decision followed an extensive assessment of the options available to increase the capacity of the Tweed district water supply.

The cultural heritage assessment is one of the early investigations required in the planning phase of the project and Canberra-based navin officer heritage consultants have been engaged to investigate the potential impact of the proposed dam-raising on local Aboriginal cultural heritage values. 

The consultants are inviting local Aboriginal people to register their interest in attending a workshop to discuss their proposed methodology for conducting the cultural heritage assessment, including an archaeological ground survey, of the Clarrie Hall Dam area.

The workshop is scheduled to be held on Thursday September 7. Interested parties will be given more details when they register. 

The workshop will cover the proposed ground survey strategy, the recording of cultural heritage sites during the survey and the logistics of the survey program.

‘The workshop aims to give the Aboriginal community information about the proposed project, to start to involve the Aboriginal community in the decision-making process for the project and to start to gather from the Aboriginal community any information regarding the cultural significance of the project area,’ principal archaeologist navin officer heritage consultants Nicola Hayes said.

The workshop is being undertaken as part of the New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Consultation Requirements for Proponents 2010.

To register an interest in attending the workshop, local Aborigines are asked to contact Navin Officer Heritage Consultants direct by telephoning (02) 6282 9415 or emailing [email protected].

---