The Shoalhaven City Council voted in April 2022 not to allow an Excavation Permit to be used on the Church Site. The owner of the Church and Burial Site has now obtained another permit to allow excavation. The permit was issued by the Heritage Council of NSW, dated 31/8/22.
I’ve been hanging around this place now for quite some time. And I still don’t understand the mechanism that allows a state government department to issue that permit without any call into Shoalhaven City Council. They have no real process that says that they must do consultation that’s meaningful. And you know what; they don’t do that meaningful consultation… but I think that somebody needs to be held to account and I think that the only way that we can hold them to account is by starting on this heritage journey.
Mayor Amanda Findley speaking to her Mayoral Minute September 20, 2022