7.2.3 Dauan Island - local plan code Part 7: Local Plans Dauan Island Dauan Island Torres Strait Island Regional Council Planning Scheme Page 265 Torres Strait Island Regional Council Planning Scheme Page 266 Part 7: Local Plans Dauan Island Papua New Guinea Saibai Ugar Boigu Stephen Island Erub DauanDauan Darnley Island Masig Yorke Island Iama Mabuyag Yam Island Mer Poruma Murray Island Coconut Island Badu Kubin Moa St Pauls Warraber Sue Island Keriri Hammond Island Mainland Australia Mainland Australia Torres Strait Island Regional Council Planning Scheme Page 267 Editor’s Note – Community Snapshot Location Topography and Environment • Dauan Island is part of the Torres Strait top • Dauan Island rises sharply from all sides to a western group of islands, but unlike other islands peak known at Mt Cornwallis, approximately in this group, it is composed of granite and 295m above sea level. volcanic rock. • Dauan Island is the northern most tip of • Dauan Island is approximately 10km south of Australia’s great dividing range, once extending Papua New Guinea and 120km north of Horn as a land bridge to the northern land mass Island. of Papua New Guinea. It consists mainly of volcanic and granite rocks. Population • Native flora and fauna that have been identified • According to the most recent census, there were on Dauan Island include coastal sheath-tail bat, 130 people living on Dauan Island in August the Papuan sheath-tail bat, the little tern and 2011, however, the population is highly transient eclectus parrot. and this may not be an accurate estimate. • Most of the island is covered with vegetation, with vine forests covering much of the steep Natural Hazards terrain. Grassland areas are located around the • Coastal hazards, including erosion and storm foothills of the island and behind the village, tide inundation, have an impact on Dauan Island while mangroves and wetlands are located along but overall the community is in a good position the shore. in relation to these hazards, both now and with • There is a number of high value waterways in the respect to future climate change. lower parts of Dauan Island, which are mainly • Due to the topography and vegetation cover supplied with water from groundwater sources over Dauan Island, natural hazards such as during the dry season. Several creeks are found catchment flooding and landslide are potential within the township. threats to the Dauan Island community and need • As with all Torres Strait Islanders, the Dauan to be managed to varying degrees. Island community has close connections to land, sea and sky and consider themselves as part of Gogobithiay (a local word for land, sea and sky). Torres Strait Island Regional Council Planning Scheme Page 268 Part 7: Local Plans Dauan Island Township Community Aspirations 1 • Dauan Island is approximately 3km long by 3km • Aspirations for built community and sporting wide, covering and area of approximately 365 facilities include the establishment of a new hectares. The island is generally accessed by health centre with accommodation, rock / tidal boat from Saibai Island. pool, safe house, youth centre, state police office, evacuation area, public toilets, lighting • The township is located on a narrow coastal strip improvements around the township, and other along the full length of the northern shoreline, infrastructure such as seating, shelters, footpaths backed by steep hills. The southern part of the and hand rails. island is uninhabited. • Possible enterprise opportunities include crayfish and other seafood industries including a commercial freezer, arts and craft centre, an additional guesthouse, re-establishment of the old quarry, an inter-island ferry service, security service and public transport. 1. Many of the community aspirations listed here are taken from the Dauan Community Booklet 2012, which identifies community priorities relating to the National Indigenous Reform Agreement (NIRA) building blocks of early childhood, schooling, health, economic participation, healthy homes, safe communities, governance and leadership. Priorities that have a development implication are summarised here to provide an indication of the needs of the community. This is supplemented with information gained from community members during community consultation. Torres Strait Island Regional Council Planning Scheme Page 269 Editor’s Note – Local Story Abai, a woman who lived in the village of Buli all the way to Dauan where they arrived on Dauan Island, received a baby pig from late that night. They landed at Sigain Kup, a friends on the northern mainland, together small cove, armed themselves and climbed with the message that she should look after up the rocks at the back of the beach to an it until it grew up. This she did and it grew big enormous boulder. They believed that if they and fat, so fat that it could not walk, so she could roll the bounder down into the sea than told the people of Buli to kill the pig, which their combined strength would be sufficient they did and then ate. When the friends, to overcome the people of Dauan. They could who owned the pig, heard that their pig had not budge it. From there they went down and been killed and eaten at Dauan, they were drew pictures with parma (orche or red clay) exceedingly angry. on the under surface of a high rock further back from the shore as they waited for the They sent a message to Kiwai saying that right time to commence their attack. they wanted the people of Dauan to be punished for their offence. The Kupamal, the The Kupamal set out for the village while fighting people of Kiwai in the Fly River delta, it was still dark, some men remained in the immediately got together their fighting bushes and the rest sneaked into every house gear, clubs, bows and arrows and bamboo, and laid down beside a sleeping occupant. beheading knives and loaded their canoes for Just before daybreak, a Dauan woman got up the journey. and went to the bushes where the Kupamani were hiding, they shot arrows at her and she They set out late in the afternoon and being cried “people of Dauan there are enemies Naigai time, the season of the north-east here either Gumulgal (men from Mabuyag) or wind they were helped by a steady breeze Kupama, I don’t know which”. Wakened by her cries the people of Dauan tried to dash from their homes, but every Kupam was ready to seize and club the victim he had marked and few escaped. The Kupamal cut off the heads of the dead. Torres Strait Island Regional Council Planning Scheme Page 270 Part 7: Local Plans Dauan Island Those men of Dauan who had escaped hid on either side of the path through the scrub and stoned and killed many of the Kupmal as they were returning to their canoes with the strung heads of their victims. Those that reached their canoes sailed away, but as they were going past the western side of Saibai two men, Iamaru and Karigas put a canoe in the water and went out to question them about where they were coming from. The Kupamal replied that they were on their way home from Dauan, they then looked under a mat of one of the canoes and recognised the heads. They killed the men in the canoe but the other canoes sailed away, however they were also seen at Mawat and the same happened again, but with only one single canoe managing to escape, the only one from the many canoes which sailed from Kiwait for the punitive raid on Dauan. Source: Museum Horn Island April 2008. Torres Strait Island Regional Council Planning Scheme Page 271 7.2.3 Dauan Island - local plan code 7.2.3.1 Application The code applies where identified in the assessment criteria column of tables 5.5.1, 5.5.2, 5.6.1 or 5.8.1, in part 5 of this planning scheme. When using this code, reference should be made to section 5.3. 7.2.3.2 Purpose (1) The purpose of the Dauan Island local plan code is to guide development on Dauan Island in a way that best meets the needs of the community. (2) The purpose of the Dauan Island local plan code will be achieved through the overall outcomes listed on the following pages under the headings of: (a) Gogobithiay (land, sea and sky) (b) Natural hazards (c) Torres Strait people and townships (d) Ailan kastom and cultural heritage (e) Getting around (f) Town infrastructure. Note – For the purposes of this local plan code, the strategic framework maps in schedule 2 form part of the local plan maps. They contain information referred to in this code. Editor’s note – To identify where the zones and precincts apply across the local plan area, refer to the maps in schedule 2. Torres Strait Island Regional Council Planning Scheme Page 272 Part 7: Local Plans Dauan Island Gogobithiay (Land, Sea and Sky) (1) Development minimises and mitigates impacts on areas of high and moderate environmental value within the environmental management and conservation zone. (2) All development within the environmental management and conservation zone: (a) avoids areas of high and moderate environmental value, wherever possible; and (b) where areas of high and moderate environmental value can not be avoided, is located, designed and operated in a way that minimises and mitigates impacts to areas of environment value. (3) Within the township zone, development is designed to avoid or minimise impacts on environmental values, including existing vegetation, waterways, natural drainage lines and fauna movement corridors, wherever practical. Development should not occur within waterways. (4) The habitat values, water quality and natural ecological and hydrological processes of waterways and wetlands are maintained.