20-Aug-2007
Celebrating Our Cultural Heritage At Somerly
Something very culturally significant is happening at our award-winning Somerly development in Clarkson, Western Australia. Urban Pacific is creating a park to celebrate the area’s local indigenous heritage, located in a special part of the estate on a site of heritage significance, bordered by Palladio Pass, Silver Oaks Drive and Haymount Way.
Over the past few months, Urban Pacific Limited has worked closely with the Elders from a local Aboriginal group to ensure the protection of areas of cultural importance and to make them a central feature of the new park. Join us as we travel back in time to uncover an amazing story in our own backyard…
During the time of the Dreaming, Aboriginal people lived throughout the area that we now call Clarkson. According to Nyoongar Elders, long ago one group of defiant young men refused to follow traditional laws.
Two spirit men known as Gathura Mamaan Mamaan came in from the sea to deal with the rebellious youths. As punishment, they turned the young men to stone to create a permanent reminder of the consequences of defying traditional law. The pinnacles that were uncovered during construction represent the physical forms of those young men.
This story was retold to each new generation and became an important part of oral tribal history. However, over thousands of years, the vertical stone pinnacles became covered in sand and their location was forgotten.
Imagine the excitement when in 2006 while developing Somerly, the sacred pinnacles were uncovered!
Urban Pacific immediately halted and redirected development works to ensure the area was protected and held meetings with local Elders. After much discussion, the company decided to celebrate the area’s indigenous heritage by creating a park built around the limestone pillars.
The park is a collaborative project between the Aboriginal people, Urban Pacific and professional landscape designers who have made the pinnacles the main focal point. The park has a viewing platform and interpretive plaques to explain the legend and commemorate this fascinating piece of Aboriginal history which lives on in the heart of Somerly.
Throughout its development, Somerly has celebrated the walkable neighbourhoods that parks and open spaces offer to residents. Each home on the estate has at least two parks within 5-7 minutes walk, with each park having its own special story to tell. The Mindarie Homestead Park was named so to acknowledge the location of the original Clarkson family’s farming homestead – Mindarie Homestead. There has been a Homestead replica erected on this park and a mosaic wall containing pictures from a joint project of an Urban Pacific commissioned artist and students from the Clarkson Community High School.