Gateway Newsletter / JUL

As we move forward there are many initiatives to be developed and adopted. ➤ We have targets that guarantee we will employ Aboriginal people and work with Aboriginal suppliers as we build and operate the airport. ➤ As airport construction continues, Dharug history will be preserved through the Oral History Plan which will record individual Aboriginal stories and memories relating to the airport site and district. The record will serve as an archive and resource for future interpretation of the Aboriginal heritage values of the site. ➤ Western Sydney Airport’s Reconciliation Action Plan is being developed and the plan will include a series of initiatives that will guide and positively impact how Western Sydney Airport maintains strong partnerships with Aboriginal communities and builds cultural respect and appreciation across our business.

Protecting the Spiked Rice-flower The Spiked Rice-flower (Pimelea Spicata) is a shrub that grows up to 50 cm tall with white, pink-tinged tubular flowers in clay soils. Once widespread on the Cumberland Plain, it now only occurs in two distinct areas, the Cumberland Plain and the Illawarra. At the Airport site, the Spiked Rice Flower was located growing next to the old route of The Northern Road, as well as under the edge of the runway alignment. In June 2020, over a 10 day period, our Bulk Earthworks contractor, relocated 534 Spiked Rice Flower plants from the construction site to our protected Environmental Conservation Zone, which is in excess of our target of 507. To date, the survivorship of the translocated Spiked Rice Flower has been more than double the survivorship rate – an outstanding result! This was helped along by good rainfall over the past year. Additional plants were salvaged and donated to Greening Australia to enhance genetic diversity of their current stock of the Spiked Rice-flower. This stock will be available to local government projects and will contribute to biodiversity across the region. Western Sydney International has also supported the salvage of other threatened plants and the collection of seeds from the site. These have been used for research and recovery programs.

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