Environmental Education Strategy - Campbelltown City Council ...

Environmental Education Strategy 2009-20122.1.3 HeritageThe Campbelltown area is also privileged to boast a strong cultural heritage, withboth European and Indigenous heritage assets found across the LGA. These reflectthe diverse history of the area, and the significance it has had to a variety of people.(i)Aboriginal HeritagePrior to European settlement Campbelltown was inhabited by Aboriginal people whospoke the Dharawal language. Their territory covered an area from Botany Bay southto the Shoalhaven River and Nowra and inland to Camden. The natural resources ofthe area provided the Dharawal people with food and shelter. Today there are morethan 350 known indigenous heritage sites in the area, and these sites include rockart, scarred trees, open camp sites, and axe grinding grooves.(i)European HeritageCampbelltown was one of the first areas in Australia to be established by Europeans.In 1810 Governor Macquarie recommended the area for settlement and named thedistrict Airds. However, it was not until 1820 that Governor Macquarie founded thetownship of Campbelltown. The town was envisaged as the capital of the greaterdistrict. Large land grants (to free settlers) and small land grants (to emancipatedconvicts) were allocated in Campbelltown. These land grants were consolidated intoholdings up until the 1820s and many have given their names to the suburbs ofCampbelltown. The Campbelltown and Macarthur area was once an agriculturalepicenter.Campbelltown was a relatively small town providing regional services and facilitieswithin a rural community up until the 1960s. Campbelltown was proclaimed a city in1968 as part of a growth sector to help cater for Sydney’s growing population and astructure plan was prepared in 1973 to guide the growth of the City. Rapid urbangrowth has characterised Campbelltown since this time.The Campbelltown area is rich in European cultural heritage. The CampbelltownHeritage Register lists 102 items, and includes cottages, monuments, forests andbridges. Additionally, it is home to 20 items listed on the State Heritage Register.2.2 StakeholdersThere are a number of key stakeholders associated with the Strategy. Thesestakeholders have a principal interest in the Strategy as they have linkages with thestate of the local environment, and the activities that this Strategy recommends.Additionally, the majority of educational activities recommended by the Strategy willbe directed at these stakeholders. The stakeholders and their roles are as follows:• Campbelltown City Council – As creator and executor of the strategy and in itsfunction as a government body to impose rules and support actions.• MACROC – The Macarthur Regional Organisation of Councils is comprised ofCampbelltown City Council, Camden Council, and Wollondilly Shire Council.MACROC’s mission is to work towards continually upgrading the social andenvironmental amenities and fostering wealth creation to provide residents inthe region with opportunities to improve their quality of life. This will beachieved through strategic planning, regional coordination, advocacy andfacilitation.Version 2.03 18/3/10Page 17 of 48