Please consider the points below and write a submission to:

The Proponents
Nobbys Lighthouse Project
PO Box 186
NEWCASTLE 2300

It may be appropriate to also send a copy of your letter to your local Federal Member and:

The Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP
Minister for the Environment and Water Resources
PO Box 6022
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600

Whybaygamba (Nobbys) is the symbol of Newcastle and Nobbys Lighthouse is the chief heritage item on the headland and must be preserved protected and promoted as an essential part of our cultural heritage.

* Nobbys Lighthouse Newcastle is a Commonwealth Heritage Place and the principal heritage item on Nobbys headland.
* The Proponents of the development impacting on the Lighthouse were in breach of s.26 EPBC Act. (EDO Legal Advice)
* Nobbys has continuously operated as a lighthouse since December 1857 replacing a coal Fired beacon on Signal Hill.
* Nobbys Lighthouse should stand free and operate as a lighthouse and be seen as a lighthouse.
* The proposed new building impacting on the historic lighthouse should be rejected and alternatives considered.
* Development should be by adaptive reuse of existing cottages in keeping with the Port Corporation’s EIO May 2003.
* The Newcastle Council and Heritage Office Assessments were compromised by the proponent’s use of S116C EPA Act.
* The Commonwealth using their powers under EPBC Act are providing the first independent assessment re the Lighthouse.
* It was inappropriate for proponents to use S.116C EPA Act for what is essentially a private development not a Crown development.
* The remarkable Nobbys Island (Whybaygamba) is an Aboriginal Dreaming site first documented Christian Herald Feb 1855.
* Whybaygamba was originally 26 metres high and was cut down to 28 metres for the erection of the Nobbys Lighthouse 1854-57.
* Report of Select Committee Legislative Council NSW on Newcastle Lighthouse 1852 recommended Nobbys site for Lighthouse.
* Nobbys headland and its views should be open to the public and people allowed to see and move freely around the lighthouse.
* For the above reasons the proposal for a building partly encircling and impacting the Lighthouse should be rejected.

Please open attached PDF Document

It is a general submission supported by the Conservation Movement of NSW. It shows the Lighthouse as it should be and as it is now and the proposed building that will close off the views to the general public and make it impossible to ever see the lighthouse as a lighthouse.

Trusting in your help.
Yours faithfully,

Doug Lithgow
Freeman of the City of Newcastle and President of the Parks and Playgrounds Movement