Two Rocks artist Suzi Logue at Mark Le Buse’s Waugal Monolith sculpture.
Camera IconTwo Rocks artist Suzi Logue at Mark Le Buse’s Waugal Monolith sculpture. Credit: Supplied/Martin Kennealey        d450406

Heritage list re-shuffle

Lucy JarvisNorth Coast Times

SCULPTURES in Two Rocks are among 17 sites that could soon be excluded from a revised list of heritage sites in the City of Wanneroo.

The council was due to consider a report on the Local Heritage Survey, which replaces the Municipal Heritage Inventory, next Tuesday.

The Waugal Monolith sculpture collection at Two Rocks Shopping Centre is among the sites that the report recommended excluding.

PerthNow Digital Edition.
Your local paper, whenever you want it.

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW

However, at this week’s council briefing, questions from councillors about the level of consultation prompted staff to withdraw the report from the March 1 agenda.

Two Rocks artist Suzi Logue was outraged at the suggestion, raised by councillor Nat Sangalli at the Two Rocks Yanchep Residents Association meeting on Monday.

“I think it’s outrageous that they are even thinking of taking it off,” Mrs Logue said.

“We seem to be getting rid of every heritage thing that we’ve got.

“I want to see those preserved; I’m really going to fight that.”

Under the existing inventory, the sculptures were listed as a category three heritage site, which required the owners to “retain and conserve if possible” and take photos before any major redevelopment or demolition.

Cr Linda Aitken said the tall snake-like statue standing among the 14 Mark Le Buse sculptures represented the Noongar rainbow serpent living in the lake at Yanchep National Park.

Cr Sangalli said the council was yet to make a decision, but removing items from the list did not necessarily mean they would be demolished or removed.

The February 23 briefing session report listed five other sites that it deemed had no heritage value – Two Rocks Shopping Centre, Two Rocks Tavern, the limestone retaining wall on Pope Street, the Rotary Heritage Wall in Yellagonga Regional Park, Wanneroo and houses at 20 Roxwell Way, Girrawheen.

Twelve exclusion sites were listed because they have already been demolished, five because they are protected under the Aboriginal Heritage Act, and six because they were deemed natural environments.

Some sites couldn’t be found during the review, so the report proposed to exclude sheep dips and lime kilns in Neerabup, Chinese Market Gardens and bamboo plants in Yellagonga Regional Park, and the Yanchep National Park avenue of trees.

“All heritage places listed in the previous Municipal Heritage Inventory have been assessed in detail by the City’s chosen heritage consultants, Hocking Heritage Studios, under the guidance of the State Heritage Office guidelines,” the report said.

“Those sites considered to lack sufficient heritage value have been removed and those considered to retain sufficient heritage value have been assigned management categories based on a thorough assessment of heritage value.

“This ensures the greatest level of detail and accuracy for administration, land owners and the community when seeking information on places of heritage value in the City of Wanneroo.

“In consultation with members of the Heritage Advisory Committee and the Wanneroo Historical Society, one new place was recommended – Wanneroo Recreation Centre.”

The proposed list would have a total of 84 sites and precincts of varying levels of heritage value.

When Club Capricorn closed last year, Mrs Logue raised concerns about the future of more Le Buse sculptures at the Yanchep resort.

History of the Waugal Monoliths

MARK Le Buse created the Waugal sculptures in 1976, and they were added to the City of Wanneroo’s Municipal Heritage Inventory in 2006.

“The Waugal Sculptures are of historic significance representing the development of Two Rocks and the work of Mark Le Buse’s in the area,” the listing said.

“They are of aesthetic and social significance to the local community of Two Rocks as evidenced by the Two Rocks-Yanchep Residents Association’s interest in the sculptures.”

The cluster of 14 sculptures includes animal and human figures depicting impressions of birth and death situated within a landscaped area south of the Two Rocks Shopping Centre.

Signage describes the Waugal legend and a plaque on the emu sculpture reads “The Waugal Monoliths Limestone Interpretations of the Aboriginal Dreamtime have been created by local sculptor Mark Le Buse”.

Other Le Buse sculptures of celebrity heads sit east of the group.

Born in the US, Le Buse arrived in WA during the early 1970s and was commissioned in 1976 to sculpt the Waugal Monoliths on a site near adjacent to the shopping centre to commemorate WA’s 150th anniversary.