Change to the SCC heritage policy of concern - Huskisson Woollamia Community Voice

Apologies for the lateness of this information – if you want heritage to be seriously considered in the Shoalhaven please write or text your councillors today or tomorrow morning. The following is from an email sent by the Huskisson Heritage Association

The attached document is up for the Council to ‘reaffirm’ Tuesday evening, but when you look at it, most of it has been stripped out. It is a different document.

It contains no provision to employ anyone with heritage expertise,
no specific enabling of community involvement in heritage issues,
no current funding of heritage grants,
no positive initiative to manage heritage,
and even an identification of some “towns and villages” where heritage resides (and by implication others are excluded)- a bizarre idea that has long lurked in the heritage documentation developed by the SCC.

The document includes a new section on Recognising Aboriginal Cultural Heritage. In theory this is good. In actuality it is pretty insulting when you read it.

To put this up as a ‘reaffirmation’ is misleading. As far as we know it has not been to the elected Councillors for any discussion, let alone had any wider airing. As usual, the public is kept at arm’s length.

If you possibly can, please find time to write a few lines to Councillors, requesting that at the very least this go back for reconsideration and discussion. Even a single sentence is better than nothing, and it all helps them know that people are concerned.

You should include the item : CL25.249 Policy-Shoalhaven Heritage Strategy.

SMS works best, and if you have time, phone a councillor too. Below are contact details for the Mayor and Councillors.

If it helps, here are a few things you could say:

Vibrant communities value their heritage. This document offers nothing to facilitate community involvement and just saying ‘Council will work with local history groups and the community says nothing without any proposals of how this will be facilitated.
The Strategy contains nothing about how to manage local heritage in a positive manner. (Example: the heritage listed church ln Huskisson is being allowed to rot. The heritage legislation does nothing to stop this, but a pro- active, creative Council should. )
This document does not provide any assurance that the Council does or will in future appoint staff with heritage expertise.
It claims that the Council will progress heritage investigations in certain towns and villages , thereby excluding others. What other local Council has a heritage policy that picks and chooses?
An apparent improvement by including Aboriginal Heritage is nothing more than an undertaking to do some ‘cultural mapping’. It also confines Aboriginal Cultural Heritage to ‘significant markers of occupation – scraping stones, middens etc. which does not acknowledge the ongoing Aboriginal presence and contribution to the Shoalhaven community.

Or if this is all too much, you could just say that the community values its heritage yet has been excluded from involvement in any discussion or consultation in the development of this strategy.

Your voice is powerful. Maybe share or forward this to your own contacts

Huskisson Heritage Association.

Here they are individually
Mayor Patricia 0447 416 329
Jason Cox 0448 624 822
Matthew Norris 0417 868 250
Peter Wilkins 0487 174 877
Selena Clancy 0475 308 911
Ben Krikstolaitis 0439 531 607
Bob Proudfoot 0484 191 365
Jemma Tribe 0498 801 548
Luciano Casmiri 0455 614 198
Denise Kemp 0488 209 728
Gillian Boyd 0439 907 507
Karlee Dunn 0488 296 582
Natalee Johnston 0497 507 957

Link to Documents on Exhibition
Please note: more DAs have probably come in but the staff shortage at Council might mean that they haven’t been uploaded on to DA Tracker yet.

SCC DA Tracking

Kind Regards,
Committee HWCV
Date: 11/8/2025