Call to extend consultation period for Cultural Heritage Assessment of dam proposal

Blue Mountains and Wollondilly councils are calling on the state government to extend the community consultation period for the Cultural Heritage Assessment for the Warragamba Dam wall proposal.

Blue Mountains Mayor, Cr Mark Greenhill, said: “To ensure the consultation process on the dam project is adequately undertaken, Blue Mountains and Wollondilly councils are helping to facilitate a public consultation session with Traditional Owners to hear their concerns about the proposal to raise the Warragamba Dam wall and the recently released Cultural Heritage Assessment. 

“The cultural heritage of the landscapes upstream and downstream of the Warragamba Dam are extremely valuable to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in our Local Government Areas.

“Given that the Cultural Assessment study area is over 4,000 hectares in size, and the draft Assessment is over 2000 pages in length, our councils request that a further eight weeks consultation time be provided to Traditional Owners and the community to respond.”

Blue Mountains City Council and Wollondilly Shire Council are forming an alliance to jointly advocate concerns and opposition to the proposed raising of the Warragamba Dam wall.

The councils have called on Director of Strategic Water Planning at Infrastructure NSW, Maree Abood, to attend the community consultation event to hear concerns from the community about the Cultural Heritage Assessment.

Mayor Greenhill called on the State and Federal Governments last month to put a stop to plans to raise the dam wall, following the UNESCO World Heritage Committee’s assertion that the proposal is incompatible with world heritage status.

“Let’s be really clear what we’re talking about here. We are talking about flooding parts of the iconic Blue Mountains.

“What the NSW government seeks will threaten native species and incredibly important cultural heritage sites will also be destroyed.

“I urge residents of the region to join this community consultation event with Traditional owners to voice their concerns.”

The community consultation event with be held at Faulconbridge Community Hall on Friday, 16 August, from 7pm.