Boral and Wadawurrung meet on site of Waurn Ponds land to be handed back to traditional owners

Representatives of a construction giant met with Wadawurrung traditional owners in Geelong on Tuesday, to celebrate the hand back of 36,000sq m of land.

REPRESENTATIVES of a construction giant met with Wadawurrung traditional owners in Geelong on Tuesday, to celebrate the hand back of 36,000sq m of land.

Boral on Tuesday announced it would hand back the slice of its Waurn Ponds cement works landholdings to the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation as a sign of reconciliation.

Corrina Eccles performs a smoking ceremony on behalf of the Wadawurrung People to take back ownership of land from Boral. Picture: Alison Wynd

The Ghazeepore Rd land was the site of a one-acre reserve set aside for Aboriginal people in 1861, when they were prohibited from entering the Geelong township after dark.

A Boral representative met with elders representing the Wadawurrung people, traditional owners corporation chief executive Paul Davis and local politicians at the site on Tuesday, where a smoking ceremony was held.

Boral hopes to transfer the legal title for the 36,000sq m patch of land to traditional owners early next year, with the Boral having already provided access to the site for educational and cultural activities.

Mr Davis this week said the land would continue to be used for educational activities, to “tell the story of the past”.

“I think it’s important for traditional owners to maintain as much connection to the past as they can, and this site is obviously a significant, albeit sad, connection to the past.”

Originally published as Boral and Wadawurrung meet on site of Waurn Ponds land to be handed back to traditional owners