Bathurst’s Wahluu Mount Panorama. Photo: Charles Boag
After all the petitions and letters, the fury and angst, mass meetings and picnics, a private track proposed by the local council for a great swathe of the top of Bathurst’s Wahluu Mount Panorama is no more for at least the next 10 years.
Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley put a stay on the development in early March, using section 10 of the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984. The site’s importance to the local Wiradyuri women was recognised, effectively preventing the Bathurst Regional Council from approving it.
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Bathurst go-kart track will not go ahead on Mt Panoramaâs sacred Indigenous site
Federal environment minister Sussan Ley listens to âpassionate community debateâ and determines the area is culturally significant
A proposed go-kart atop Mount Panorama in Bathurst NSW will not be built after the federal environment minister, SussanLey, intervened to protect the sacred Indigenous site. Photograph: Carly Earl/The Guardian
A proposed go-kart atop Mount Panorama in Bathurst NSW will not be built after the federal environment minister, SussanLey, intervened to protect the sacred Indigenous site. Photograph: Carly Earl/The Guardian
AustralianAssociatedPress
Mon 3 May 2021 21.00 EDT
A contentious go-kart track will not be built atop Mount Panorama in Bathurst after the federal government intervened to protect a sacred Indigenous site.
The Hon Sussan Ley MP
Minister for the Environment
Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley has made a declaration to protect an area on Mount Panorama/Wahluu under section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (ATSIHP Act).
The declaration protects the site from the proposed construction of buildings and significant earthworks (including the type required for a proposed go kart track), while also protecting the existing public use of the land for recreation, camping and as open space.
“I am satisfied that the area identified at the top of Mount Panorama/Wahluu, one that helps define the iconic shape of the mountain top, is culturally significant and should be protected under the ATSIHP Act,” Minister Ley said.
Following months of public protest and appeals by Traditional Owners, the federal environment minister Sussan Ley has confirmed the protection of a sacred women s site threatened by construction.
The site atop Wahluu (Mt Panorama) on Wiradjuri Country had been earmarked for development, with the neighbouring go-kart track seeking to expand its operation.
In a statement, the minister declared the area protected under section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (ATSIHP Act).
“I am satisfied that the area identified at the top of Mount Panorama/Wahluu, one that helps define the iconic shape of the mountain top, is culturally significant and should be protected under the ATSIHP Act,” Minister Ley said.
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