Chapter 18 Non-Aboriginal Cultural Heritage
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NON-ABORIGINAL CULTURAL HERITAGE 18 18.1 InTRODUCTION During the 1880s, the South Australian Government assisted the pastoral industry by drilling chains of artesian water wells Non-Aboriginal contact with the region of the EIS Study Area along stock routes. These included wells at Clayton (on the began in 1802, when Matthew Flinders sailed up Spencer Gulf, Birdsville Track) and Montecollina (on the Strzelecki Track). naming Point Lowly and other areas along the shore. Inland The government also established a camel breeding station at exploration began in the early 1800s, with the primary Muloorina near Lake Eyre in 1900, which provided camels for objective of finding good sheep-grazing land for wool police and survey expeditions until 1929. production. The region’s non-Aboriginal history for the next 100 years was driven by the struggle between the economic Pernatty Station was established in 1868 and was stocked with urge to produce wool and the limitations imposed by the arid sheep in 1871. Other stations followed, including Andamooka environment. This resulted in boom/crash cycles associated in 1872 and Arcoona and Chances Swamp (which later became with periods of good rains or drought. Roxby Downs) in 1877 (see Chapter 9, Land Use, Figures 9.3 18 and 9.4 for location of pastoral stations). A government water Early exploration of the Far North by Edward John Eyre and reserve for travelling stock was also established further south Charles Sturt in the 1840s coincided with a drought cycle, in 1882 at a series of waterholes called Phillips Ponds, near and led to discouraging reports of the region, typified by what would later be the site of Woomera. the naming of Mount Hopeless. The expansion of pastoral settlements north of the Flinders Ranges occurred in the 1850s The connection of the rail line to Port Augusta, and the over several good seasons, and was encouraged by government significant reductions in travel times brought about by surveys, high wool prices, and the establishment of Port the railway, resulted in increased shipping in the gulf. Augusta in 1854. Blanchewater Station was established in 1858 The projecting headland at Point Lowly became a significant and became the most northern sheep station in South Australia. hazard to ships, and a lighthouse was built in 1883. Over time, the pastoral leases of the 1850s became too small to be viable and either failed or were amalgamated into larger Historically, mining was not an important economic activity holdings. In 1890, Blanchewater and other nearby runs were in the region, with only minor deposits discovered in the late joined together to form Murnpeowie. Further north, German 1800s and early 1900s. These included the Clara Saint Dora missionaries moved into the Cooper Creek region and copper mine, near Finniss Springs, which operated intermittently established a number of Aboriginal missions in the late from 1888 to 1915. It was not until the discovery of Olympic Dam 1860s, including an outpost at Lake Boocaltaninna. in 1975 and thereafter that mineral exploration and mining became important in the region. The name ‘Olympic Dam’ Infrastructure projects assisted the spread of European was taken from a small stock dam, built during the Melbourne settlement in the north. This included the construction of the Olympics in 1956 near the ore discovery hole, within the Overland Telegraph from Port Augusta to Darwin and the Great current mining lease (see Plate 18.1). Northern Railway from Port August to Quorn and Marree in the late 1800s. Water tanks, coal bins and workers’ cottages were built at regular intervals along the railway, bringing a form of permanent non-Aboriginal settlement to the region. Olympic Dam Expansion Draft Environmental Impact Statement 2009 565 − Register of the National Estate (RNE) – formerly created under the Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975 but now also maintained under the EPBC Act and searched via the Protected Matters Search Tool − National Heritage Places – created under the EPBC Act and searched via the Protected Matters Search Tool − Register of Historic Shipwrecks – administered under the South Australian Historic Shipwrecks Act 1981 and searched via the National Shipwrecks database • a search of the following South Australian and Northern Territory databases: Plate 18.1 Olympic Dam – the small stock dam located in the existing mining lease − South Australian Heritage Register (SAHR) – created under the Heritage Places Act 1993 Defence facilities were established around Woomera following − State Heritage Areas created under the Heritage Places World War Two, when the flat and mostly uninhabited lands Act 1993 were chosen as a suitable site for testing long-range missiles. − Northern Territory Heritage Register – created under The township of Woomera was established in 1947 and the Heritage Conservation Act supported a population of 6,000 people at its peak in the 1960s. • a search of the following local heritage databases: − Local Heritage Places – these places are listed in a Today, the evidence of past non-Aboriginal settlement, such as Schedule of Local Heritage Places within a local council’s old fences, stockyards, ruined huts and windmills, is scattered development plan throughout the South Australian Outback. Most of these features are commonplace, and few are of heritage significance. − Historic Conservation Zones – these zones are incorporated into local councils’ development plans This chapter describes the known sites and places of • a review of heritage assessments undertaken as part of the non-Aboriginal cultural significance, measures to protect two previous Olympic Dam Environmental Impact Statements those sites and a process for managing new or potential sites (Kinhill-Stearns Roger 1982; Kinhill 1997) and the National identified during the project definition or construction phases. Radioactive Waste Repository Draft EIS (PPK 2002). Prior to the Draft EIS, the two previous EIS studies for Olympic Dam were the only reports on non-Aboriginal heritage that were 18.2 ASSESSMENT METHODS held by BHP Billiton. Reports cited in this chapter have now 18.2.1 APPROACH been added. A desktop assessment of non-Aboriginal heritage in the • a review of the heritage surveys conducted in areas southern infrastructure corridor was conducted in September overlapping or adjacent to the EIS Study Area, including Port 2006 by heritage consultant specialists Woodhead International Augusta, Whyalla, Andamooka, the Oodnadatta, Birdsville Pty Ltd in association with Historical Research Pty Ltd. The gas and Strzelecki Tracks, Cultana and Woomera (Pearce 1980; pipeline corridor options were further assessed by Historical Brasse and Sanders 1984; Donovan and Associates 1984; Research Pty Ltd in 2008. Field observations were made by Austral Archaeology and Donovan and Associates 1995; other EIS project scientists to confirm the findings of the Austral Archaeology and Historical Research 2001; Historical desktop assessments during numerous field surveys conducted Research and Austral Archaeology 2002; and Bell 2006) as part of the Draft EIS. Community and stakeholder • a review of aerial photographs and topographic maps to consultations undertaken for the Draft EIS also provided an identify buildings or sites within the EIS Study Area that opportunity for people to identify issues about non-Aboriginal may have required a field visit heritage and sites of local significance to the community. • observations from field surveys, including helicopter The following steps were taken to conduct the assessment of reconnaissance, conducted by scientists from other EIS non-Aboriginal heritage: disciplines to provide anecdotal evidence of non-Aboriginal heritage sites within the EIS Study Area to Historical • discussions with pastoralists and government Research Pty Ltd for review and interpretation. representatives to establish known sites of non-Aboriginal heritage value within the EIS Study Area A summary of previous non-Aboriginal cultural heritage surveys • a search of the following national databases: and assessments, and literature reviewed as part of this − Commonwealth Heritage Places – maintained under assessment, is provided in Appendix P2. the EPBC Act and searched via the Australian Heritage Database 566 Olympic Dam Expansion Draft Environmental Impact Statement 2009 18.2.2 IMPACT AND RISK ASSESSMENT • two sites in Andamooka – the Andamooka Heritage Area The assessment of impacts and risks for the proposed (listed on the RNE and SAHR) and Dick Clark’s residence expansion has been undertaken as two separate, but related, (listed on the RNE) processes (see Section 1.6.2 of Chapter 1, Introduction, and • thirteen sites in Port Augusta – the RNE lists the drinking Figure 1.11). fountain, Institute on Commercial Road, Port Augusta Courthouse, the rotunda on Marryatt Street, St Augustine’s Impacts and benefits are the consequence of a known event. Anglican Church and Hall, the Town Hall and Waterworks They are described in this chapter and categorised as high, Building and water tower as heritage places, all located moderate, low or negligible in accordance with the criteria in the urban area. The SAHR provides legal protection presented in Table 1.3 (Chapter 1, Introduction). for these sites, as well as for the first railway station in Commercial Road and second railway station in Stirling A risk assessment describes and categorises the likelihood Street, the former School of the Air in Flinders Terrace, and consequence of an unplanned event.