Riverview Developments and Waters Consultancy have taken top honours at the recent National Trust of Australia’s ACT Chapter Heritage Awards, following their nomination as winner of the Aboriginal Cultural Values Assessment category.

The accolade recognises their consideration and commitment to preserving Aboriginal heritage, apparent in their ongoing investigations and commission of research and supporting reports. In winning the award, Riverview Developments and Waters Consultancy were deemed to have met, and exceeded the award criteria of having ‘contributed to the conservation of indigenous heritage.’

Tony Adams, Director of AT Adams Consulting and external environmental consultant to the Ginninderry project said “Aboriginal culture in the ACT dates back at least 20,000 years, and is inherently connected to the land and landscape. Local Aboriginal people who are now part of the ACT community retain the knowledge of their connections to the land, and place a very high value on this.”

“Particular places and landscape features are very significant. It is incumbent on the whole ACT community to respect Aboriginal cultural values, as a matter of natural justice, and also to ensure that the total ACT cultural tapestry is complete. This project identifies sites of great significance which will now be preserved as part of the proposed conservation management trust.” Tony said.

Kate Waters from Waters Consultancy also expressed her gratitude towards those involved in helping to bring about the award, saying “It was an honour to receive the award from the National Trust for the Ginninderry project.”

“I would like to extend my thanks to Riverview Developments for their genuine commitment to recognising and respecting the Indigenous cultural heritage of the area. Most importantly I would like to express my gratitude to the Aboriginal knowledge holders for their willingness to share some of their knowledge of country and culture and to trust me to represent that knowledge. It is a privilege to work with them”, Kate said.

This isn’t the first award the project has won for their contribution and respect shown towards community groups, winning a commendation award in May at the 2017 Planning Institute of Australia National Conference.

Speaking on the awards, Riverview Developments CEO David Maxwell said “it is an honour to be part of a project where each and every team member is committed to our vision of creating a community of international significance. These awards recognise said commitment, not only to the project, but the wider community. This is something that makes me exceptionally proud; and for this, I say thank you.”