Dear friends
In the Public Interest: Nobbys Headland (Whibayganba) and Nobbys Lighthouse (1857) at the entrance to the Hunter River, Newcastle NSW.
Nobbys Headland should be a National Park and freely open to the public as are other lighthouse sites in NSW. It is of National significance and could be administered by the Parks Service or a Community Trust but must not be privatised. The recently built brick garage against the lighthouse must be removed and no new houses built.
Please write to:
Hon Peter Garrett AM MP Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, PO Box 6022
House of Representatives Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600
The Hon. Nathan Rees MP Premier of NSW, Parliament House, Sydney 2000
• Nobbys headland (Whibayganba) is Newcastle’s unique heritage landmark: It is the most widely recognised symbol of the City of Newcastle and an Aboriginal Dreaming Place of great significance.
• Nobbys was formerly an island. It was connected to the mainland by a convict built breakwater Macquarie Pier (1818 -1846) and is an integral part of the Heritage Listed Coal River Precinct (SHR1647).
• Newcastle’s Coal River Precinct is a cultural landscape of national significance and has Nobbys Headland (Whibayganba) at its focal point. Its landform, heritage places, relics, and buildings symbolise major events in Australia’s journey to nationhood: The discovery of winnable coal, the first coalmine in the southern hemisphere and Australia’s first export industry.
• The founding of Newcastle and the transition from convictism to free labour and from government industry to private enterprise.
• The establishment of the first coal fired beacon on the Australian coast and its replacement by the still operational Nobbys Lighthouse.
• The protection of the port with the construction of Macquarie Pier 1818 and the building of the fortifications at Fort Scratchley 1882.
