The ACT Government will build two new huts in Namadgi National Park in remembrance of the heritage-listed stockman huts destroyed during the 2020 Orroral Valley bushfire.

The new works will be built near the original sites of the Demandering Hut and Max and Bert Oldfield’s Hut, heritage-listed stockmen’s huts in Namadgi. 

“These new projects represent the relentless will of our community to rebuild in the face of adversity,” Rebecca Vassarotti, ACT Minister for Heritage, said. “They stand not only as a tribute to what was lost, but as a testament to the universalising nature of our shared heritage.”

More than 90 per cent of Canberrans who responded to a YourSay consultation earlier this year agreed with a government proposal to build the new hut structures, “proving the historical and cultural significance of both these sites”, Ms Vassarotti said.

The Government will begin a Historic Huts project, which 97 percent of respondents supported. 

Combining the knowledge of families and caretakers at the site with the expertise of heritage specialists and archaeological investigation, the project will create a comprehensive archival record that tells the story of each original hut site. Aboriginal peoples’ stories of culture and occupation will be included.

The huts will be designed and constructed to reduce the risk of fire damaging the new structures, and to provide a emergency shelter for bushwalkers during inclement weather, Mick Gentleman, ACT Minister for Planning and Land Management, said.

The government will develop a new Conservation Management Plan to protect and preserve the former sites of the huts that burned down, managing them as historical ruins. Ninety-nine per cent of the YourSay responses supported this proposal.

Learn more about the Namadgi National Park Huts proposal and how the community had their say on the ACT Government’s YourSay project page.