Today was a monumental milestone in the campaign to Save the Huskisson Church - today the developer formally withdrew their Planning Proposal! The happy sounds could be heard across the bay, from this small group of happy locals gathered at the site. Check out their joy! Congratulations to all - so many stalwarts that have turned up week in week out to keep the profile of this campaign in the communities hearts and minds.
The Huskisson Heritage Association has been campaigning long and hard for the preservation of the little Blackett Church at Huskisson. Alongside the Jerrinja Land Council have been battling to preserve Aboriginal Graves that have also been noted on the site including that of King Bud Billy.
Saving it from what? I hear some say, but seriously most people around here know the story of the take over of the church site by the local publican and the consortium who want to build a hotel and conference center on what is considered by the locals as a precious piece of land.
I'm not going to repeat the long story of the campaign you can find out more about that by following the links provided below.
With the change of Council there has been a majority change of attitude towards what should be done at this beautiful site and the Greens on Council certainly haven't supported the direction the developer was taking.
Earlier this year with our Labor Colleagues we Greens said no to scraping the ground for graves - we believe the stories of the elders and value the oral history of the Jerrinja people. We saw for our own eyes the scar on the tree, and we have read the shared history of the site.
Today the news that the developer has withdrawn the planning proposal is a relief and mostly closes the current chapter. It also leave us wonder what the future will be - who actually owns the land - and could it be bought by the Aboriginal Land and Sea Corporation?
That's the thing with chnaging chapters - there are more parts of the story yet to write - but for now this is a win for the community and hopefully a signal for good things to come.
More reading see these links.
Huskisson Heritage Association
Save Husky Church Facebook Page
Shoalhaven Council Planning Proposal Page
Jerrinja Land Council Facebook Page
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