A decision on a proposed childcare centre, reportedly to be built near sacred Indigenous sites, has been postponed until the next Ipswich council meeting on February 23.
The site at 114 Grampian Drive at Deebing Heights is about 750 metres from an Aboriginal cemetery, close to the original Deebing Creek Aboriginal mission.
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding says council has delayed the decision as it seeks greater clarification from the Queensland government on some cultural heritage matters.
“We have the registered native title applicants, which are the Yuggera and Ugarapul people, who have been working productively with the local developers in the area”.
“There are certainly concerns from the Jarjumba Protection site group that the proposed childcare centre is close to a Cemetery next to the former Deebing Creek Aboriginal mission and that they are potential sites of cultural significance,” she says.
Mayor Harding says cultural heritage is the responsibility of the state government and the Department of Seniors, Disability services and Aboriginal partnerships.
“They have said that they are satisfied with the cultural heritage matters and they have been addressed through the cultural heritage management plan,” she says.
The Mayor says that Deebing Creek Mission site does not form part of this actual development application and that council does understand both sides of this argument.
The story of the massacre at Deebing Creek in colonial times has been passed down through generations of the local Aboriginal tribes.
Indigenous folklore tells the story of a group of school children shot at the old mission site and their teacher killed in the crossfire as she tried to stop the killings.
