Chillagoe Karst Region National Heritage assessment
The National Heritage List
The National Heritage List has been established
to recognise places of outstanding heritage
significance to Australia. It includes natural,
historic and Indigenous places.
There are currently 103 places in the National
Heritage List, including iconic landmarks such as
Bondi Beach, Uluru Kata-Tjuta, the Great Barrier
Reef and the Port Arthur Historic Site.
Why is the Chillagoe Karst Region being
considered for the National Heritage
List?
The Australian Heritage Council has assessed the
Chillagoe Karst Region (including the MitchellPalmer Rivers Karst) against the National
Heritage criteria.
The Australian Heritage Council’s assessment is
that the place meets three National Heritage
criteria (Criteria B, D and E) for the following
values:
B (Rarity) Tower karst is an unusual
landscape type in Australia, with the best
examples found in the Chillagoe Karst
Region. Tower karst are distinctive steepsided limestone outcrops, some in the
Chillagoe Karst Region attain heights of over
100m.
D (Principle characteristics of a class of
place) The Chillagoe Karst Region contains
the best examples of tropical limestone
bluffs and towers in Australia, and is
potentially significant at a global level with
the closest comparisons being in Cuba and
Madagascar. The cave systems include over
1,000 recorded and mapped caves, the
largest extent of cave development in
Australia.
E (Aesthetics) The Chillagoe Karst Region is
renowned for its spectacular limestone
towers that are the best examples of their
kind in Australia.
What would National Heritage Listing
mean?
National Heritage listing is an acknowledgement
of the importance of a place, it does not change
land tenure or ownership and is not the same as
becoming a National Park.
If included in the National Heritage List, the
National Heritage values of the listed place will
be protected under the Environment Protection
and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC
Act).
Approval under the EPBC Act is required for any
action that has, will have, or is likely to have a
significant impact on the National Heritage
values of a listed place. Information on what
constitutes a significant impact is available at:
http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/publicati
ons/significant-impact-guidelines-11-mattersnational-environmental-significance
Actions with pre-existing approvals and new
work with no significant impact on the National
Heritage values will not need this approval.
The normal activities of landholders will typically
not require assessment under the EPBC Act. This
includes ongoing grazing and agricultural
activities; maintaining existing fences, roads,
internal access tracks and firebreaks;
maintaining existing farm dams, water storages,
pumps and drainage lines; replacing and
maintaining stockyards, sheds, and other farm
buildings; and controlling weeds on individual
properties or roadside verges.
Existing mines will also not require assessment
under the EPBC Act.
GPO Box 787 Canberra ACT 2601  Telephone 02 6274 1111  Facsimile 02 6274 1666 
www.environment.gov.au
Listing does not involve a right of public access
to a listed place or any part of a listed place.
Controls on public access would remain the
same as at present under Queensland
Government legislation.
making his decision the Minister will take into
account the Australian Heritage Council’s
assessment as well as all submissions received.
The Minister may also seek, and have regard to,
information or advice from any source.
Where is this assessment up to?
Where can I get more information on the
National Heritage List?
Information about the National Heritage
List, the assessment criteria and other
places on the list can be found at:
http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/heritag
e/heritage-places.
In response to comments received, the
Department has revised the draft boundaries of
the proposed place to focus more closely on the
karst (limestone) bluffs. Areas that have now
been excluded from the proposed place include
substantial areas of non-karst land, some areas
of karst that do not have bluffs/towers, the
Burke Developmental Road, all marble mining
leases, and some roads and non-karst areas on
other mining leases.
The total area of the proposed place is
significantly smaller than initially proposed,
approximately half the size, but also includes
some small areas of karst bluffs/towers that
were not within the previous boundaries. These
are about km west south west of Chillagoe,
about 4 km west of Rookwood Station, at the
junction of mining leases ML5319, ML4928 and
ML5176, and about 11 km north of Palmerville
Homestead. These were added due to new
information in public submissions, field
observations, additional mapping information
and a closer examination of satellite images.
How can I make a submission?
Your views are sought on the boundaries of the
proposed National Heritage place and whether
the place should be included in the National
Heritage List. Submissions can be made until
2
November
2015
by
email
to
naturalheritage@environment.gov.au or by post
to The Director, Natural Heritage Section,
Department of the Environment, GPO Box 787,
CANBERRA ACT 2601.
What is the next step?
Following the submission period, the Australian
Government Minister for the Environment will
decide whether to include the place, or part of
the place, in the National Heritage List and the
National Heritage values of the listed place. In
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