What new cultural heritage requirements mean for the Western Highway upgrade

After years of delays and growing community concern over safety, a key cultural heritage approval has cleared the way for progress on the long-promised duplication of the Western Highway between Ararat and Buangor.

What happened? The Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation signed off on a Cultural Heritage Management Plan this week covering Section 2B of the upgrade - a 12.5-kilometre strip of road between Pope Road, near Buangor, and Warrayatkin Road, near Dobie.

• The approval means the Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority (VIDA) can now progress the next stages of the project, provided it meets a series of conditions designed to protect Aboriginal cultural heritage throughout construction.

• Eastern Maar became formally involved in the project’s cultural heritage process in 2021.

What is a cultural heritage plan? A cultural heritage management plan is a report that lays out any significant Indigenous areas or items found within a project site.

• It explains the conditions a project needs to follow before, during and after works to protect important Aboriginal cultural sites or objects.

What’s in the new plan? The plan formally identifies and protects several significant Aboriginal places within the project area.

• At the centre of the plan are culturally significant trees. Earlier designs had proposed the removal of these trees, prompting concern from members of the Aboriginal community. 

• Those trees have now been formally registered as Aboriginal places under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006, giving them legal protection.

Requirements: Under the approved plan, all trees identified as culturally significant, including those more than 200 years old, must be protected.

• The plan also requires the creation of a 3D digital model of the trees and a film documenting their cultural significance – as well as the community knowledge associated with them.

Eastern Maar said it will continue to oversee compliance with the heritage conditions while VIDA manages the overall delivery of the highway upgrade on behalf of the Victorian Government.

Why the wait? The Brolga previously reported works on the Ararat-Buangor section were expected to be completed by 2020 but were delayed after government officials significantly altered the design of the project in 2019.

• The redesign followed the identification of the significant trees within the project area.

• The Department of Transport has updated information on the project’s website, which now says it will “soon begin working with our construction partner to develop detailed construction plans and programs for the upgrade”.

High-risk road: The highway section has drawn heightened community attention following a series of fatal crashes in the area.

Seven people were killed in crashes along the stretch between November 2024 and July 2025, prompting a community petition calling for the duplication works to be fast-tracked, which garnered almost 3,500 signatures.

Header image: Darryl Edwards - Truckspotting Ararat