After standing undisturbed for more than 160 years, Major flooding on the Hawkesbury River between March 2021 - July 2022, caused significant and continued erosion on the banks supporting the locally listed cemetery. 

Originally 20m of land stood between the river banks and the cemetery boundary. Each flood saw 4-6 m of land lost to the river, and now only 5.7m of land remains. It is a fair assumption that only one major flood will result in the cemetery, including headstones and potentially human remains, slipping into the river, polluting our waterway, and losing a historical asset forever. 

Over the last 2 years, we tried to reinforce the banks on our own to no avail We need to engineer a man-made solution to withstand the tidal wave of water sent down the river from the dam during flooding that destroys river banks that have withstood over a century of natural major flooding.

We have tirelessly contacted multiple government departments and ministers to advise of the current state and future risk, requesting support to save this site. All departments and Ministers have responded it is unfortunate but not their issue. 

We are hoping that the voice of a community with be stronger than merely our voices alone and so we humbly ask for your support in signing this petition.