During construction of the Carnes Hill recreation and community precinct, a collaboration between council and Indigenous representatives resulted in the recovery of 155 Aboriginal objects from the site and the adjacent area known as Carnes Hill North.
The two year long “pride of place’’ project included consultation and engagement with Aboriginal elders as well as extensive archeological investigations and testing.
All of the objects found and retrieved are now on display in a permanent exhibition at Carnes Hill Library.
The exhibition tells the story of 4,500 years of Aboriginal culture and heritage within the region.
The collaboration has now been recognized at the Western Sydney Zest awards, winning not one but two honours.
The “pride of place’’ project won the partnering for impact category. It also received a highly commended award in the outstanding project working with Aboriginal communities in Western Sydney category, also known as the Margaret Oldfield award.
In 2019 the Carnes Hill project won an Aboriginal cultural heritage award in the Keep Australia Beautiful NSW Sustainable Cities awards.
The partnering for impact award includes a $5000 grant sponsored by Arup to help continue Liverpool Council’s work across the community sector and within the community itself.
“I want to thank everyone involved in this wonderful project,’’ said Liverpool mayor Wendy Waller.
“The industry recognition we continue to receive around this project is a testament to the great work we’re doing in the community sector, and we hope to continue this in future.”
