Construction starts on Campbelltown 2020 Yarning Circle

Construction has started on the first Yarning Circle in the public domain of Campbelltown at Koshigaya Park as part of the Campbelltown 2020 program.

Local Aboriginal Elder, Uncle Ivan Wellington, performed a smoking ceremony and helped turn the first sod on the start of construction at a ceremony today.

The final design of the cultural space incorporated feedback from the Campbelltown community, particularly local Aboriginal people, ensuring more than 60,000 years of Aboriginal history were represented as part of Campbelltown 2020 program.

A Yarning Circle is an Aboriginal cultural space where people can sit down together and share stories, learn as a collective group, build respectful relationships and preserve and pass on cultural knowledge.

“Through every step of preparing the design for this important cultural project, we have listened to the voices of Aboriginal people and honour the remarkable heritage of our area,” Mayor George Brticevic said.

“This will be a meeting place for everyone to come and have a yarn as well as foster local understanding about culture and its importance in our modern Campbelltown,” Cr Brticevic said.

“When developing the Our Voice Our Place - Aboriginal Interpretation Strategy, we heard that our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities wanted to see more Aboriginal perspectives in our public domain and this Yarning Circle will be an example of that,” he said.

Features of the Campbelltown 2020 Yarning Circle include artwork from local Aboriginal artists, a variety of bush tucker plants and accessible seating.

Construction is expected to be complete by mid-December.

The project is jointly funded by Council and from the State Government’s Stronger Communities Fund.