- Exclusive
- National
- NSW
- Indigenous culture
Phone tower plans spark a clash of cultures in exclusive coastal enclave
A roadside parcel of land nestled amid the exclusive properties of Killcare Heights on the Central Coast has become the centre of a clash between ancient cultural practice and 21st century technology.
For millennia, this ridgeline on the Bouddi Peninsula has hosted an Indigenous whale migration ceremony that lasts from May to mid-July as the giant mammals swim past on their journey to warmer waters in the north.
Tracey Howie at Killcare Beach where the Guringai people hold part of their annual whale migration ceremony.Credit: Louise Kennerley
It’s also the site on Wards Hill Road where Optus plans to build a 5G mobile phone tower that would stand 33 metres tall.
For the Guringai people, the proposal is devastating.
Tracey Howie, the director of Awabakal & Guringai Pty Ltd, said the tower would dominate the landscape, further diminishing the ability of her people to perform the sacred ceremony.
“That ridgeline is where ceremonies were held to sing the whales in and sing them off to a good journey, so it’s spiritually and culturally important to my people,” Howie said.
Tracey Howie standing on Tony Denny’s property, directly in front of the site for the proposed Optus tower.Credit: Louise Kennerley
“The whales are heading into the warmer waters, the breeding grounds, to birth the new babies, so it’s a journey of renewal, of new beginnings and new life, and that’s reflected in the ceremony.”
Oral history and archaeological evidence such as middens and rock carvings suggest Howie’s people once held extensive ceremonies and feasting throughout the whale migration season.
Howie said her people would first spot the passage of the whales from the ridge, and then perform daily ceremonies, moving to the ocean in the east and the bay in the west, and up the ridge into what is now the Bouddi National Park.
The Guringai people still hold a whale migration ceremony at the beginning, middle and end of the season: in May at Killcare Beach, in June at Copacabana, and later this month at North Entrance.
The traditional site for the ceremony is now a patchwork of private land dotted with townships and rural properties with water views, horse pastures and swimming pools. CoreLogic lists the average house value in Killcare and Killcare Heights as $1.9 million.
Yet Howie said access was improving because non-Indigenous Australians were now more willing to welcome Aboriginal cultural practice on their land.
The development application is currently before Central Coast Council, which is also the landowner. Council approved a similar application in 2019, which was overturned in the Land and Environment Court earlier this year on technical grounds including breaching the height limit.
Last year, council removed the 8.5-metre height limit for the site. An Optus spokesperson said the company resubmitted its plans unaltered, after a change to the planning and zoning laws in 2022.
Rock carvings at Daleys Point Aboriginal site in the Bouddi National Park, near Killcare Heights.Credit: Louise Kennerley
Tony Denny, the owner of three properties on Wards Hill Road including the one next door to the proposed tower, was the objector who overturned the original approval.
Denny said he first bought land 20 years ago to preserve it as a place for Indigenous locals, including his nephews, to hold ceremonies. The tower would also block water views from his property.
Denny said Optus had shown complete disregard for the technical defects in the new application and a “reptilian approach” to the concerns of the Guringai people.
“They simply do not care if the tower is offensive to the local Guringai people and their annual whale migration festival, which will be held under the shadow of the new tower,” he said.
An Optus spokesperson said the company was “committed to keeping our customers connected by providing the highest possible coverage”.
Denny suggested this goal could be achieved by building smaller towers on the same or other sites.
But the spokesperson said small cell facilities used in built-up residential areas were not suitable for hilly and heavily vegetated areas.
Boats moored at Hardys Bay, across the Hawkesbury River from Pittwater. The Bouddi Peninsula is opposite Barrenjoey Headland.Credit: Louise Kennerley
A Central Coast Council spokesperson said the site was already “significantly disturbed” because it contained a water tank that is 11 metres high and associated equipment and access roads.
Yet the existing tank blends into the landscape because it is painted green and surrounded by taller trees.
The council spokesperson said Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council was consulted and did not raise concerns, and other groups could make submissions.
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.
clarification
The article has been updated to say that the original development application was overturned in the Land and Environment Court earlier this year.