The Western Edge: A Place of Unique Heritage

Jun 3, 2026 | Latest News, Save Our Western Edge

This post was prepared by Conservation Council volunteer, William Jones. Please note this post is based on information gathered from current publicly available studies.

The cultural heritage value of the Western Edge is an invaluable part of Canberra’s identity and history. As well as being home to many threatened species and ecological communities, the Western Edge  is located on unceded Ngunnawal Country —  a place of ancient and continuing Ngunnawal custodianship and rich cultural heritage.

Over 318 Aboriginal places and objects have been identified within the Western Edge, many of which are currently unprotected. This includes single-artefact sites and artefact scatters listed under multiple collective entries on the ACT Heritage Register, as well as culturally modified trees, cultural areas, and quarries. As the major arteries of the Molonglo and Murrumbidgee rivers (along with many smaller creeks) flow through the Western Edge, this landscape forms a part of Ngunnawal songlines, transit and trading routes. Registered Aboriginal sites cluster around these waterways, raising the possibility that there may be more sites yet to be discovered in these locations. Additionally, the use of these landscapes as ancient pathways makes them inherently important aspects of Aboriginal heritage in the ACT. While the landscape of the Western Edge is too low-altitude for bogong moths to favour it as a migration destination, there are still traces of bogong hunting in the area. Most notably, the “moth stone” at Uriarra Station is well-attested in the historical record as a site where Aboriginal people would bring moths down from the mountains to cook and eat them.

The Western Edge also preserves many aspects of the ACT’s European heritage, featuring a number of sites listed on the ACT Heritage Register. Of particular note is the remains of the Greenhills homestead, built in 1876 by grazier and carrier Richard Moore in the region of Bulgar Creek, towards the southern end of the Western Edge. Serving as a post office and general store as well as a home, Greenhills was unusual in being built out of stone, and its ruins are some of only a very few examples of early stone buildings surviving in the ACT today. As such, it is listed on the Heritage Register “as an example of a stone homestead… that is now endangered and which contributes to an understanding of the ACT’s cultural history”.

In its current, undeveloped state, the Western Edge remains an important part of Canberra’s identity, safeguarding our beloved and long-established status as the “Bush Capital”. In the 1970s, it was recognised that, in order to maintain Canberra’s aesthetic appearance and character as the Bush Capital, open spaces needed to be reserved and preserved from development. This led to the National Capital Open Space System (NCOSS) being formed in 1977, spearheaded by George Seddon. Rural spaces were recognised by the NCOSS as crucial to Canberra’s appearance and character. Within the Western Edge, the Bulgar Creek-New Station Creek-McQuoid Creek area was named as a crucial part of Canberra’s rural character, “[acting] as a foreground to enhance views from the Cotter Road and Kambah Pool Road of the Murrumbidgee Escarpment and the triple-tiered backdrop of mountain ranges beyond the river”. As such, it is imperative that the Western Edge is maintained as part of the NCOSS and, more broadly, as part of Canberra’s open space. If the ACT Government were to allow urban sprawl development in the Western Edge, even if these sites were preserved, it would deprive them of this “Bush Capital” context, rendering them poorer and less representative samples of the history of Canberra and the broader Limestone Plains. Preserving the heritage of the Western Edge, in its original, natural setting, and allowing for possible undiscovered heritage to remain undisturbed is by far the best course of action for Canberra’s future. 

Want to know more? You can read the full research report on the cultural heritage of the Western Edge here. 

Sources:

  1. National Capital Development Commission 1984. National Capital Open Space System: Policy Plan and Development Plan, pp. 13-14 (b). https://www.nca.gov.au/sites/default/files/publication-documents/George%20Seddon%27s%20An%20Open%20Space%20Policy%20and%20Development%20Plan%201984.pdf
  2. The Planning Studio & AQ Planning 2023. Western Edge Growth Management + Engagement Framework, pp. 25 (a) and 24 (b). Prepared for the Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate, ACT Government. Released 8 April 2026 as part of FOI Log 25-048, pp. 180-247: https://www.cityservices.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/3047109/25_048-Documents_Part2.pdf
  3. GML Heritage 2020. Western Edge Investigation Area Cultural Heritage Assessment. Prepared for the Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate, ACT Government. Released 8 April 2026 as part of FOI Log 25-048, pp. 1-252: https://www.cityservices.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/3047107/25_048-Documents_Part1.pdf
  4. ACT Heritage Council 2003. Aboriginal Places – Urban and Rural Bushfire Containment Lines. Entry to the ACT Heritage Register. https://www.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/148299/aboriginal-places-urban-and-rural-bushfire-containment-lines-entry-to-the-heritage-register.pdf
  5. ACT Heritage Council 2004. Aboriginal Places – Canberra Nature Park Fire Trails. Entry to the ACT Heritage Register. https://www.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/148542/aboriginal-places-canberra-nature-park-fire-trails-entry-to-the-heritage-register.pdf
  6. ACT Heritage Council 2005. Aboriginal Places – Pierces Creek Forest. Entry to the ACT Heritage Register. https://www.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/148573/aboriginal-places-pierces-creek-forest-entry-to-the-heritage-register.pdf
  7. ACT Heritage Council 2005. Aboriginal Places – Stromlo and Kowen Forests. Entry to the ACT Heritage Register. https://www.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/148548/aboriginal-places-stromlo-and-kowen-forests-entry-to-the-heritage-register.pdf
  8. Flood, J. 1980. The Moth Hunters: Aboriginal Prehistory of the Australian Alps. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra. Reprinted 2021 by Ligature, Balmain. Via Libby and Libraries ACT.
  9. House, P. H. 2004. Uriarra Moth Stone: A Ngambri Site of Significance. Environment ACT, Canberra.
  10. ACT Heritage Council 2016. Background Information: Greenhills Ruin. Report for the ACT Heritage Council. https://www.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/871151/greenhills-ruin-background-information.pdf
  11. ACT Heritage Council 2016. Heritage (Decision about Provisional Registration of Greenhills Ruin, Stromlo). Provisional entry to the ACT Heritage Register. https://www.legislation.act.gov.au/View/ni/2016-544/current/html/2016-544.html
  12. ArchivesACT n.d. Eric George McMurtrie. Accessed 4 May 2026. https://www.archives.act.gov.au/repatandrabbits/eric_mcmurtrie
  13. ArchivesACT n.d. Hilton Arthur Clothier. Accessed 4 May 2026. https://www.archives.act.gov.au/repatandrabbits/hilton-clothier
  14. ArchivesACT n.d. Thomas Jamieson. Accessed 4 May 2026. https://www.archives.act.gov.au/repatandrabbits/thomas_jamieson
  15. National Capital Authority 2014. National Capital Open Space System Review Report. Presented by Shelly Penn for the Australian Government. https://www.nca.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/National%20Capital%20Open%20Space%20System%20Review%20Report%20%28February%202014%29.PDF