An opportunity to bring together a proposed tourism and residential development in Pinjarra with a significant cultural heritage place - the 1834 Pinjarra Massacre site for the advancement of education for important but shameful historical Aboriginal - European event interaction, may be slipping by.
The proposed Pinjarra caravan park development bordering the Pinjarra Massacre site has been deferred for advice from the Aboriginal community.
Concerns amongst Noongar community has surfaced, citing the appropriateness of locating the caravan park next to such a significant site to Aboriginal people.
Binjareb elder Harry Nannup said he was involved in the consultation process and was not supportive of the development. “I am still not happy with it,” he said. “It’s not appropriate to build a caravan park right next to a cemetery – a place of memories.
Perhaps with the goodwill of all parties there could be a good outcome. A parallel may be drawn with another significant conflict site - that of the Battle of New Orleans, which in 2017 helped improve tourist visitation to New Orleans to a record-breaking 10.4 million visitors.
There appears to be an opportunity for the proponents of the caravan park to work with the local Noongar community to develop a place that enables visitors to lean about the occupation of the area and the culture of the original inhabitants, while sensitively improving the site to the level desired by the Noongar community.