BY FLAVIA CARABALLO
WOLLONGONG Residents in the Illawarra region are fighting Wollongong City Council and the multinational Stockland company over a 428-lot housing development planned for Sandon Point, Bulli. This piece of land is one of the few remaining open spaces along the coast and is significant to the Aboriginal people.
Even though Aboriginal artifacts, skeletal remains and relics have been found around Sandon Point, stage one of the development was approved by the Wollongong City Council meeting on March 19. Construction is expected to begin soon.
Members of the Illawarra Aboriginal community established a tent embassy on McCauley's Beach at Sandon Point three months ago. A ceremonial fire was lit to heal the area. There is an additional fire constantly burning to pay tribute to the people who had lived, died and been buried on the site.
Roy Dootch Kennedy, spokesperson for the tent embassy and representative for the Illawarra Land Council, said that Wollongong council members are the best gymnasts in the world. At one stage, the council requested a full heritage study only to do another backflip two weeks later and approve development of the first 14 lots. Kennedy and the Aboriginal community believe building on the site is a direct act of cultural genocide.
Kennedy said there are senior managers who are well aware of their roles and responsibilities, yet make public comments such as 'We'll worry about what's down there when we send the bulldozers and backhoes in'.
Wollongong Lord Mayor George Harrison has even been quoted in the Illawarra Mercury as saying So what?, in response to a question about the historical significance of the site.
Kennedy said the support for the Aboriginal tent embassy from the local community has been substantial. Since we've been there, we've had well over 1000 people from the community come down to support us."
There are a minority of people who believe Sandon Point is not a significantly important area. In an Illawarra Mercury article, Warren Chennel, a local butcher, said he was pro-development because the site is just sitting there, a useless piece of land doing no one any good.
At a rally on February 17 in Wollongong City Hall, the NSW Greens Lee Rhiannon lent her support. Rhiannon told the meeting, In 1999, the ALP got $974,000 from developers alone ... half of all the corporate donations they received.
Sandon Point contains important species and habitat diversity, with varied habitats stretching from the ocean to the escarpment. The area is home to regionally rare species like the southern emu wren, the Australian bittern, three-toed yellow bellied skink, the swamp Rosella and the seringia arborescens. Another inhabitant is the green and golden bell frog, sooty oystercatcher and the Latham's Snipe.
An additional concern is potential for flooding. The total catchment area of 660 hectares empties into a 60-hectare flood plain. Environmentalist Marcel Van Wijk said there is a need to assess and complete flood studies before the development goes ahead. Those that have been carried out are technically flawed, Van Wijk said.
Van Wijk forecast that the development project would not stay at 428 lots but would expand to around 1000 lots. Van Wijk estimates that this mean an extra 15,000 cars will be on the road in the region.
The South Coast Labor Council has vowed to block all stages of the development until the local community's concerns have been heard and addressed. The SCLC has requested that NSW Labor government intervene if the developer or local council attempts to proceed with construction.