Pristina’s bushy lizard face rock face of ancient indigenous art being destroyed in 450 ‘dangerous’ homes by local Aboriginal Land Council – sparking outrage from local residents

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A furious row has erupted over an Aboriginal Land Council’s plan to build 450 new homes in a bush sanctuary for native wildlife and ancient art.

The $1 billion development has angered residents on Sydney’s northern beaches, where the average house costs $2 million.

They are shocked that the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council is pushing to build houses at Lizard Rock near Belrose, on what was supposed to be an important site of Indigenous culture and history.

The local council and the federal MP for the area oppose the sale, and most locals are fiercely opposed but are afraid to speak out about the development – the equivalent of 45 football pitches – in case they are called racists for sitting on the Aboriginal council.

“If it was anyone else, I’m sure it would have been immediately dumped and taken away for good,” said a local from nearby Cromer.

“But because it’s the Land Council that’s the developer, nobody feels they can really object without their motives being questioned.”

The land, just 20 minutes from Sydney’s CBD, is home to wallabies and other native wildlife, and boasts ocean views across Collaroy and Narrabeen beaches.

It contains ancient art, including a large gray kangaroo engraving and footprints carved into the landscape near the natural landmark that gives the area its name – Lizard Rock.

In 2013, the Aboriginal Land Council proposed its return 71 hectare site in an Aboriginal owned national park.

But a decade later they are seeking the green light to send in the bulldozers and transform the bush into a high-impact residential area.

The land council has said the massive profits from their sale will go into projects aimed at supporting Aboriginal communities, including social housing.

They insist the development will protect ancient Aboriginal sites within the residential area’s boundaries and 19.8 hectares of bushland will remain as a conservation area.

Northern Beaches Council has rejected the plan and refused to take part in the planning process over concerns it would be led by the railways to approve it under existing legislation.

“The new homes will be built on precious bushland and residents will face extreme fire risk,” Northern Beaches Mayor Sue Heins told Daily Mail Australia.

“This proposal has no merit due to significant planning, environmental and risk issues.

“Council has repeatedly advised the NSW Department of Planning that the proposal shows no strategic or site-specific merit and should be refused.”

The former NSW government had also vowed to block the proposal, but lost power at the state election in March.

“The concerns raised by the community about bushfires, critical infrastructure and application density cannot be ignored,” a Coalition spokesman said.

Such an opposition prompted accusations of ‘racism’ and ‘paternalism’ from land council CEO Nathan Moran.

“There has been a lot of misinformation about our proposal,” he said in September.

“This land was previously farmland, agricultural land and to some extent housed an extractive quarry.”

The council has renamed the area Patyegarang in their planning proposal after saying Lizard Rock – which gave the area its name – has no cultural significance.

The new name means gray kangaroo and was given to an elderly woman believed to be the first native to teach an Aboriginal language to early British colonists.

Michael Regan, the former mayor of the Northern Beaches, ran for the local state seat of Wakehurst in March because of his opposition to development and was successful as an independent, defeating the Liberals who had held the seat for 40 years.

He says the name change is a “PR exercise” and only served to highlight why the development should be blocked.

“This is an outrageous plan to re-organise a beautiful bushland, to clear 45 football pitches of native trees, in a known fire area in Belrose,” he said.

The proposal has now gone to an independent planning panel set up by the previous state government, with public submissions closing on November 7.

Local federal MP Sophie Scamps, a Teal, is also against the development, which opponents say will affect the environment, traffic, infrastructure, open space, bushfire risk and Aboriginal heritage.

The land council took ownership of the land under the Land Rights Act. Its Land Rights Unit researches and makes claims on vacant Crown land within greater Sydney.

“This work has enabled Metro to become the largest landowner in a number of Sydney local government areas,” the council proudly boasts on its website.

But one local slammed the development plans for Lizard Rock as a cash grab.

“Noel Pearson said in his speech to the National Press Club last week that, ‘Nobody lost any land’ under the Native Title Act,” the resident said.

‘Try telling that to the locals here. We just see us losing this beautiful bushland to a cynical ploy to turn it into real estate.’

The NSW Department of Planning said an independent consultant would submit a report to the planning panel based on all public submissions during the current consultation process.

“The panel will then make a recommendation to the department whether the proposal should be finalized and, if so, in what form,” a spokesman said.

‘The Minister, or the department as the Minister’s delegate, will make the final determination on the planning proposal.’

The timeline for a final decision is open, depending on community feedback and issues it may raise with the proposal.

The Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council declined to comment and referred all inquiries to their development website.