Fishers lookout revamp considers cultural and environmental values

Caretakers of the Bunya Mountains area, the Bunya Peoples Aboriginal Corporation Murri Rangers have been working closely with Western Downs Regional Council to ensure earthworks at Fishers lookout minimise environmental and cultural impacts.

Earthworks have now been carefully completed as part of the Fishers lookout upgrade.

Western Downs Regional Council Spokesperson Councillor Andrew Smith said that Council has been very careful to conduct any earthworks in a manner sensitive to the high environmental values of the area.

“The Bunyas are a unique treasure with significant cultural history for the Western Wakka Wakka tribe, so we have been taking a bit more time and care with both planning and works, in order to safeguard the environment as much as possible,” he said.

“Given this cultural connection, we are working with the team from Cultural Heritage Solutions, who have been taking samples of earth during the works and closely examining them for any possible cultural artefacts.”

“The real significance of the Bunya Mountains is due to the fact that Indigenous people from as far as Fraser Coast to Western NSW would gather there roughly every 3yrs for the Bunya Festival focused on the drop of the Bunya Nuts.”

Red Leaf environmental services conducted the initial environmental impact and risk evaluation and found several Bunya Mountains Bluegrass plants in the area, which are a threatened species.

“The plants were carefully relocated to a new area by a qualified botanist, who also collected some seeds so that we could propagate new plants,” Councillor Smith said.

“The seeds are now in the care of the Toowoomba Regional Council’s nursery team and we hope to be able to place 80-100 new plants in the area in the next few months.

“This conservation process is very important to us, and we are privileged to be working closely with the Murri Rangers to obtain the best outcomes for this upgrade.”

The Fisher’s lookout upgrade involves construction of a new walkway with improved accessibility, revegetating over the existing walkway up to the dais and constructing a new elevated viewing platform.

Works are jointly funded by the Queensland Government’s Works for Queensland program and are set to be complete by the end of June.

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Melanie Coultas          Senior Media & Communications Officer             0419 048 594