December 18, 2001 Media Release

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT FOR GANDANGARA LALC

In a first for NSW, Gandangara Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC) has developed its own lucrative land project at Menai in the Sutherland Shire in Sydney.

Not only will the project make a significant contribution to Gandangara's economic autonomy, but it is also being hailed as a model for environmentally sustainable development in Australia.

"Most development projects by land councils are joint ventures. Because we have developed this ourselves, all profits generated will be plowed back into the land council and not into any land developer's pockets," Chairman of Gandangara LALC, Fred Malone said.

After more than a year of development work, the package of 10 housing lots went on sale on December 8th which will yield a net profit of up to $1 million for community and employment projects in the Gandangara area. Six of the ten lots have now been sold.

"This has been an opportunity to show the wider community how we should all go about using the land in an environmentally friendly way," Mr Malone said.

The sub-division was on one hectare of approximately 750 hectares of land that was granted to Gandangara LALC in 1999. Another hectare of land adjoining the development, which is also zoned residential, has been set aside as a conservation area.

Project Manager, Gary Peacock of Outline Planning Consultants, said it was a model for sustainable urban development utilising a range of ecologically sustainable features, some never before used in Australia.

Some of the key environmental features in the development plan include:

· Provisions for the construction of energy-efficient housing on each housing lot

· Rainwater tanks on each lot, with the overflow directed in a separate drainage system to the habitat of a threatened species- the Red-Crowned Toadlet - on land lying below the subdivision area.

· All new plantings to be native plants only, including grasses- a major innovation and possible model for future urban development on the bushland fringe.

· Installation of a storm-water treatment system that removes most pollutants before being discharged into the bushland environment.

"The influence of land council and its desire to "care for country" means that the ongoing management and protection of bushland takes on a high priority," Mr Peacock said.

"This has resulted in a project that provides for energy efficient housing and also provides for use of innovative techniques and controls to improve water quality impacts on neighbouring bushland, the protection of habitats of threatened fauna, and use of native flora in the subdivision."

Mr Malone said the Land Council is committed to an ongoing program of monitoring impacts of the project through an environmental management plan. This includes cultural sites management and water quality monitoring and protection of the bushland environment.

Two full time Aboriginal community park rangers positions will be created once the subdivided lots are all sold, to enable further monitoring of activities over the adjoining bushland area.

The NSW Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Dr Andrew Refshauge, who attended the official opening of the development on December 10th, praised the work of the Gandangara LALC, saying the project illustrated what land rights could achieve in NSW.

"The project illustrates how Aboriginal Land Councils can use the NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act to the benefit of both the Aboriginal and the wider community and to provide some economic stability for Aboriginal people," Dr Refshauge said.

The Member for Menai, Alison Megarrity, who has been a strong supporter of the project, said she would be very happy to see this kind of environmentally friendly development spread out over Menai.

Mr Malone said Gandangara LALC had taken the lead in encouraging other land developers to adopt environmentally friendly subdivision, building and land management practices.

"We are committed to raising the cross-bar in environmental management and bush care. Because we are Aboriginal people, we've got to try harder than anyone else - to do things better.

"We'd like to see local councils and land developers everywhere treating stormwater to the extent that we do. If we did this, we could start to bring our forests and streams back to something approaching that which existed before white settlement. Now that's something which we can proudly pass on to our future generations."

The success of the project has paved the way for future sub-divisions by the Gandangara LALC, with work expected to start on a further 41 lots at Barden Ridge in April 2002.