At its meeting of 26 March 2021, Council considered two permit applications. To support their decision making, members received a presentation from the Macquarie Point Development Corporation.
A second permit application for work in the New Norfolk area was considered, with Council supporting the conditions recommended by Aboriginal Heritage Tasmania in their briefing to Council.
Following their deliberations, members determined to not oppose either application.
Council also received a presentation for a proposed walking trail in the Tyndall Range, although no permit application is currently under consideration for this development. The consultants advised members that they have been travelling around the state to all Aboriginal organisations in order to gauge concerns and listen to feedback. Following the presentation, Council noted that they were satisfied with the planning at this early stage and supported the feedback received from the community.
As a standing item on their Agenda, Council were provided with an update on the review of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1975. It was hoped that the Review Report would be tabled in Parliament in April 2021 however, as a result of the call for an early election, further progress will not occur until the end of the caretaker period.
Council endorsed the suite of governance documents provided in the Aboriginal Heritage Council Induction Program in February 2021 and approved publication of these to their website. This will provide clarity and transparency to the Tasmanian community regarding the role and responsibilities of Council.
Council received an update from the Department of State Growth on the proposed Eaglehawk Neck highway redesign. State Growth noted that at this point, it is still a concept design and the Department is committed to ongoing discussions with interested parties and rightsholders.
Following the presentation of the digital scanning of Aboriginal rock marking sites in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) provided at its meeting of February 2021, Aboriginal Heritage Tasmania provided a further update to Council on the work undertaken at other sites in the TWWHA.
Members discussed website content material for the Council website, including Council decisions and activities, engagement with community, images and advice on matters relating to Aboriginal cultural heritage. Further discussions will be ongoing over the coming months.
The next Council meeting is to be held on 30 April 2021.