Boyagin Rock Picnic Area Upgrade - Update 22/12/2015

On Tuesday 22nd December 2015 the Boyagin Rock Working Committee met with the Shires of Brookton and Pingelly to present our proposed concept plan for the redevelopment of the Boyagin Rock Day Use (picnic) area. This was a joint presentation by the Working Committee and the WA Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW). This is the first occasion where the Shires have been engaged in any discussions about our concept plans and it forms the first step toward securing Shire support for this redevelopment plan. A copy of the meeting notes can be viewed and downloaded here.

A copy of the Redevelopment Concept Plan is available here.

BOODJIN - The Boyagin Rock Storybook Released.

Wednesday 16th September 2015 saw the official release of the long awaited BOODJIN Storybook. the link to the Wheatbelt Natural Resource Management web site is here. A PDF version of this publication can be found on the NRM web page.

Some of the many who came to celebrate the release of the storybook

The release of the publication marks a major milestone for the Noongar peoples and forms part of the long term strategy established by the Pingelly Tourism Group Inc. Boyagin Rock Working Committee to promote Boodjin and the surrounding area as a site of cultural significance and a place which should be protected and respected by visitors to the area.

The launch itself was something very special and the NRM article here describes the celebration in good detail.

Elders Merv Abraham, Nora Bennell and Janet Hayden show off the Storybook

Boyagin Rock Picnic Area Upgrade Discussion

Hi everyone.

As you are probably aware we did have a meeting at Boodjin on Friday last and the spirits up there blessed us with some really nice weather.

Ray Marshall opened the meeting at 12:00pm or thereabouts and Uncle Merv delivered a welcome to country message.

Vince acknowledged the start of NAIDOC Week and wished the Noongar peoples an enjoyable time. The timing of the meeting was very good in the sense that our efforts fall very much in line with the spirit of NAIDOC week and what it stands for.Vince also passed on the apologies from the families based in Perth due to their commitments to organising NAIDOC Week.

The main purpose of the meeting was to allow Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) to present to the group their proposal for the beautification and preservation of the current picnic area at Boodjin. Nathan Greenhill and Chris Steward attended on behalf of DPaW and Nathan presented conceptual plans and spoke at length and sought feedback from everyone. It was apparent that most there were quite welcoming to the ideas placed before them. There was some discussion about positioning of the proposed toilet facilities and the group were urged to go away and think about things in more detail and come back to the working group with suggestions. Nathan provided some large printed plans of the proposal for the communities to take back and display for public comment.

Justin McAllister from SWALSC graced us with his presence as did Marcus Holmes, a solicitor who will be working with the Local Government Councils to address the issues relating to the results of the vote by the Noongar peoples to accept the State Government offer of a settlement in the Noongar regions. Many thanks to those two for taking such an interest in what we are, as a collaborative group, working through in a very positive way and for traveling such long distances.

Justin spoke very clearly about the need for us to start to work more closely with the Gnaarla Karla Booja (GKB) working committee moving forward as they will, in the event of a successful outcome for the land settlement deal, be the entity who will collaborate with DPaW on land management issues. Justin suggested that we, as a working group, again present our current position to the GKB working group in August/September.

There are a lot of things which need to be worked through moving forward. We, along with DPaW, should approach the Shire of Brookton and Pingelly to see how much in-kind support we can get to assist with the redevelopment of the picnic area. Such support could be in the way of access roads, surveying and pegging of the proposed picnic area and provision of machinery to make the site ready for any structural work.

My job as Project Coordinator is to deliberate over these matters and make some recommendations back to the working committee and I am certainly giving this much thought and will have further discussions with DPaW and other members of this working committee to work out the best way forward from here.

It seems that Wheatbelt NRM have signed off on the Boodjin Storybook so it can go to print. What a celebration that should be!!!! I personally can't wait to get my hands on a copy.

 I had a yarn on the side of the road with Kenny Kidna on the way back. Maybe that's a good sign??????

Stay safe and well everyone.

Boyagin Rock Project Update 24 March 2015

Things have been quite busy of late with this project so it's time to get people back in the loop. Below is a list of aspects that the Working Group are engaged in at present:

1. Shire of Pingelly Endorses the Boyagin Rock Concept Plan - The concept plan was unanimously endorsed by Council at the February 2015 Council meeting. This is significant in that we are in a much stronger position to work with government agencies as we move forward. It is important to remember that this is only an endorsement. The project still belongs to the Pingelly Tourism Group and other stakeholders who have work so hard over a period of time.
2. Working Group Address the Shire of Brookton - Last Thursday members of the Working Group including representatives from the Noongar communities of Brookton and Pingelly gave a presentation at the Brookton Shire Council meeting. The presentation was very well received and Council were more than willing to work with the Shire of Pingelly to jointly support the project as we move forward.
3. Wheatbelt NRM Progressing Nicely with the Storybook of Boogin - The team at Wheatbelt NRM are having a great time working with traditional owners to capture many stories about their connections to and experiences gained at this sacred place they call Boogin. Everyone is getting excited and we can't wait for the publication to become available for the wider community. 
4. Concept Drawing for the Potential Redevelopment of the Boyagin Picnic Area - The Working group have reached an agreement with the Department for Parks Wildlife to provide us with some conceptual designs for the potential redevelopment of the picnic area at Boyagin. This is a major development as this type of work is complex and not cheap. The design work is being funded from a community grant from the Shire of Pingelly to the Pingelly Tourism Group Inc. The designs will take into consideration all cultural aspects and will comply with the very latest standards in parks development. The plans will be subject to the scrutiny of the traditional land owners and the Working Group.

So what happens next???

The Working Group will continue to communicate and discuss things as Wheatbelt NRM and DPaW do their stuff. We expect DPaW to provide concept drawings for discussion and reveiew prior to the end of this financial year. Those designs will include detailed costings so that we can start to look at ways to fund any work done at Boyagin. That task is becoming less daunting now that we have a much wider support base including the traditional owners and the Shires of Pingelly and Brookton.

It's getting close to Party Time! We intend to celebrate each phase of the project as we go. It's important that we do celebrate to acknowledge the hard work done and to reflect on the journey as we progress.

Cheers Everyone
Vince Holt
Project Coordinator.

Story Telling Update

Saturday 24th January 2015 saw a gathering of families and friends at Boyagin Rock to meet with the Wheatbelt NRM team who are in the process of capturing and publishing stories of the Traditional Owners about their connections with the landscape at Boyagin Rock. Below is a summary compiled by Kerry Horan.

Geri Hayden, Merv Abraham and Christie Kington

The Boyagin Rock Working Committee will continue to provide updates as they happen. It is expected that a draft of the storybook will be available for comment in the first half of 2015.

Hi All

The day was very casual, on the day Mervyn Abraham, Elvis Bennell, Vince Holt, Janet Hayden, Dot Rodney, Aubrey Hayden,  Geri Hayden, Christie Kingston, David Grasby & Kerry Collard (Horan) attended at Boogin. One of the local farmers also came across to say hello.

Some stories were collected in the afternoon from those who stayed,  Janet, Geri, Elvis, Aubrey & Dot as mentioned by Geri below. I also received apologies from Fay Slater & Vivienne Hansen.

Thanks Geri for starting the ball rolling over the weekend, it was a good opportunity for Christie & David to see Boogin & to meet some of the participants of this project. It was a lovely day out and it was great to hear some of the stories & the respect people hold for Boogin and each other.

I understand that some participants would like to record stories as a bigger group all together. In this case, we need to remember on the day we need reasonable conditions to use audio & camera and for everyone to be mindful that we are using stories in a story book format. It is harder to record in the larger group and we will have to stop & start & move equipment to get the story and/or come back to people for the parts we miss. The design of the storybook is a little unknown until we know what the stories are and the decisions about which stories will be used & the design of the storybook will come from the ideas of working group. I would like to reiterate what Vince has mentioned about getting individuals stories from participants, those who are unable to make the bigger group days we are happy to make times (and it’s our preference to do individual/ family interviews) with people at their homes or another convenient location.

Wheatbelt NRM will not be responsible for setting dates of the larger group meetings, we want to support this project as much as possible as it’s such a great project to be part of. However our part of the project is around developing the storybook. Which involves for the most part:

•   meeting participants,
•   coming along to record significant activities as co-ordinated by working group,
•  making appointments recording individual participants (family groups) to tell stories were appropriate,
•  collecting & researching documentation, photographs etc,
•  reviewing material for publication where appropriate (at different stages) with the working party
• We are happy to make a collection of photographs available on CD for participants at the end of the project

I would also suggest that face to face meetings with the working party at different stages would be helpful to provide feedback, progress (be a general point of contact)to discuss issues etc. Vince may be this is something for you to talk to the group about as we do not have everyone’s contact, and am unsure of who are representative of each of the groups involved in the project and its too difficult to manage communication for this aspect of the project with so many people involved in the project. I assume the working party has representation of the families/ people involved in the overall project? It is especially important as Wheatbelt NRM isn’t involved in all the aspects of the project but we would also have an idea of other things that are happening. Wheatbelt NRM will Vince as the first point of contact for the project, in any case.

Regards Kerry

 

Kerry Horan

Aboriginal NRM Project Facilitator
Wheatbelt NRM