For 20 years, Walgett’s Indigenous Elders have been asking for access to the local weir as a place to enjoy. This month, they celebrated winning a two-decade long fight. 

The Dharriwaa Elders Group (DEG) have been at the forefront of a council dispute since 2003, when the public road to the Baawan Weir at Walgett was locked. 

“When we first started asking for the locked gates to be opened, we found out that it was a Crown Public Road and had been since the early days of Walgett white settlement,” DEG Secretary Virginia Robinson said. 

“Locked gates on Crown Roads were unlawful, but the NSW Government would not ensure they were kept open.”

In the years since the DEG began lobbying for an open gate, they approached the local council to take over management of the road - making weir accessibility easier to hold to account - and writing letters to the state government when they attempted to close the road. 

“In January 2018 DEG was advised by NSW Department Industry – Lands and Forestry that while nearby Crown Roads to the river were closed (despite DEG’s written objections) this particular road was given to Council to remain a Public Road,“ Ms Robinson said.

“The road still remained locked.”  

In the summer of 2022, intervention from Water NSW and NSW Fisheries finally answered calls from the DEG, with the local council eventually unlocking the gate.

The Dharriwaa Elders Group held a community event in early November, celebrating access to the Barwon River, and the junction of the Ngamaay and Baawan Rivers near the Walgett weir. 

The event saw guests from organisations across the state, a song and dance performance from Walgett primary school students, and the official opening of the gate for a ceremonial procession of vehicles down to the river. 

During the twenty year dispute, DEG also lobbied for a fishway at the local weir. In 2021, a new fish ladder was completed, alongside a project to raise the weir wall.

The DEG is now in discussion about an interpretive sign and community amenities to bring to the weir to make it “more accessible for the wider Walgett community and its guests in the future.”