26-year-attempt to get property on Tasmanian Heritage Register continues

This is so despite a decades-long attempts by the Tasmanian Heritage Council to get parts of the property on the register, with the delay caused by differing interests and perspectives.

Woolnorth in Tasmania's North-West, upon which the farming corporation Van Diemen's Land Company operates, has four areas of interest primed for the heritage register.

These include the agricultural pursuits of the VDL Company, which was granted land under Royal Charter in the 1820s and is the only one of its kind still operating on the same land that was granted to it, meaning it holds significance not just to Tasmania but also to international colonisation history

A section of the Woolnorth property that contains the site of the Cape Grim massacre, a place of struggle for Tasmanian Aboriginals, which illustrates the intersect between the original owners of the land and colonial European settlement.

Cookhouse Cottage, built in 1831 on the Woolnorth property by convict construction gangs, which is one of the oldest buildings in North-West Tasmania.

It, along with The Goal and the Mason's Cottage, both built in 1837, are good examples of the Old Colonial Georgian style.

Finally, the 'Top House' built in 1969, is significant for its demonstration of workforce heirarchy during that period.

Government documents released by the Department of Natural Resources Environment Tasmania under Right to Information this year show a 26-year attempt to get protection for the European and Aboriginal heritage at Woolnorth.

A final document from March 2023 states that the delay will continue.

Competing interests and politics, shared heritage issues, and a change of company ownership, having contributed to the delay.

Discussions to get the property listed began around 2007, with acknowledgement in 2008 that the property had been caught in Heritage Tasmania's backlog for years.

After ongoing consultations with the VDL Company, the register attempt was stalled in 2010 due to the sites European and Aboriginal shared values, and the Brighton-bypass issues raised by the Tasmanian Aboriginal community at that time.

"To proceed may only inflame the current state of affairs," an internal government email read.

"To have acted with or without this site [Cape Grim massacre site] included in the entry has the potential to cause considerable conflict. This is seen as a mutually beneficial option at this time."

A storm in 2015, that caused destruction to the Goal building, brought political and media attention that renewed the attempts to get heritage protection.

An internal government document for the Environment Minister in 2015 states that Woolnorth is an early and important colonial site, that has significance from "an Aboriginal and an historical heritage perspective, in part due to the Cape Grim Massacre".

That same document suggests that one option to progress protection on the register would be to focus only on the European significance, and to exclude the Top House.

"The land to be registered in this option would exclude the surrounding agricultural land and would also exclude any sites whose values are primarily linked to Aboriginal heritage values, including the site of the Aboriginal massacre at Cape Grim", the ministerial document said.

This position was not followed by Heritage Tasmania, with a document from 2016 stating that Aboriginal history should be acknowledged with sensitivity.

The 2023 document stated the heritage listing process is currently paused awaiting further consultation with Aboriginal Heritage Tasmania, following complex consultation with VDL and the Aboriginal community.

Further, that Heritage Tasmania is working with Aboriginal Heritage Tasmania to account for the national guidelines regarding indigenous cultural heritage management under the Dhawura Ngilan: A vision for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage in Australia.

"It is recommended that this process is resolved before progressing the entry of this sensitive site".

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:

Follow us on Google News: The Examiner