Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2020L01271:reg:2019:p15
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2020L01271
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 2019 (pt 15/24)
Character Range: 98839–104863

has strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group in NSW for social, cultural or spiritual reasons.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             As well as historic social value to the Bundjalung people of Byron Bay, the Cape Byron headland has a thriving contemporary social significance for the Arakwal people. With a formal and active role in the joint care and management of the Cape Byron Headland Reserve (which incorporates the lightstation), the Arakwal people continue their custodianship of country and cultural practice on the site. Although the construction of the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      lightstation destroyed traditionally sacred and cultural sites, today's Arakwal community run educative initiatives at the headland which raise public awareness and appreciation for the Aboriginal cultural heritage of the cape. Named Walgun by the local Arakwal people (meaning the shoulder), these initiatives aim to explore the traditional ownership of the headland by the Bundjalung people and how the Aboriginal cultural heritage values of the site or not confined to the past but are flourishing due to the joint care, control and custodianship of the reserve by the Arakwal people.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      The Cape Byron Lightstation is also of state heritage significance for the local, national and international visitors who value the site. Today, the Cape Byron Lightstation is the most well-known and highly visited lightstation in Australia. The dramatic location and picturesque nature of the lightstation has made the site a tourist destination and the image of the tower
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      standing against the dramatic coastal environment serves as a potent and resonating symbol of human activity in an often wild and treacherous environment.

State Heritage Register criterion (SHR) SHR Criterion E – research potential                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Evidence/Explanation
An item has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of NSW's cultural or natural history.
Within the Cape Byron Lightstation, there are opportunities to uncover further heritage values that may be of heritage significance.

The Cape Byron headland, more broadly, has the ability to demonstrate the occupation of the area by the Bundjalung people of Byron Bay prior to European occupation. There is recorded evidence in the area of middens, camp sites and artefact scatters, a bora ring and possible burial sites and there is further scope to elaborate on archaeological investigations of Aboriginal cultural heritage values to reveal new information on how the Bundjalung people interacted with the landscape.

Elements associated with the design, construction, early operation and occupation of the site as a lightstation may be of heritage significance.
Areas of substantial historical use which have undergone little to no disturbance (such as subfloor areas, privies and tips) may retain archaeological information.

The Cape Byron Lightstation includes the only example of a Henry- Lepaute feu éclair (lightning flasher) lens system on a rotating mercury