After a Traditional Owner raised concerns about the report, a review into the heritage assessment found it 'old fashioned'. Experts have called for a new, more inclusive report to be commissioned.
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The traditional owners of the land set to be inundated by raising the walls of the Warragamba Dam have launched a federal bid for the protection of the area with Environment Minister Sussan Ley.
The application, made by Gundungurra elder Sharyn Halls, claims the controversial NSW government plan to raise the dam walls by up to 17 metres to cut flood risks to downstream communities will erase landscape features recorded in the Burragorang Valley’s creation story, as well as intersecting songlines.
Traditional owners Sharyn Halls (right) and Kazan Brown stand beside Lake Burragorang.
Credit:Wolter Peeters
The area contains the landscape features from the story of the chase of Gurangatch by Mirrigan, which explains how the landforms were made.
Heritage NSW has blasted the Berejiklian government’s preparations for raising the Warragamba Dam wall, saying consultation with traditional owners was inadequate and modelling was needed to determine the likely impacts to cultural heritage from inundation.