Description
On 12 April 1965 the Vice-Chancellor Professor J. P. Baxter wrote to the Minister for Lands, the Hon K. C. Compton, to enquire whether the Fowler's Gap Reserve in the neighbourhood of Broken Hill, which has been used recently by the Conservation Commission...[could] be made available to the University of New South Wales. It was also noted that the reserve has about 90,000 acres and is approximately 60 miles from Broken Hill and that the university has for some time been considering the desirability of establishing an experimental area in arid zone country...aris[ing] from the work of several different university departments. On 17 August 1965 the Minister for Lands the Hon T. L. Lewis approved a lease to the university for an initial term of ten years, commencing from 1 January 1966. Mr T. K. Hogan, Director of the Broken Hill Division of the university, was initially appointed Executive Director of the Station (file 00370994). On 8 November 1965 Council adopted the resolutions ii) that Council accepts the property known as Fowler's Gap upon the terms and conditions set out in a letter from the Minister for Lands to the university and iii) that Fowler's Gap be administered as part of the Broken Hill Division (resolution 65/163). On 6 July 1966 the Associate Bursar provided a file note indicating that all university research stations should be called 'field stations', prefaced in each case by the locality name. Thus the station at Fowler's Gap officially became known as Fowler's Gap Field Station (file 00014498). On 29 September 1966 the Vice-Chancellor wrote to the Minister for Lands advising that a Fowler's Gap Consultative Committee was to be established to furnish advice to the Council of the university on matters relating to the activities and development of the Fowler's Gap arid zone research station. The inaugural Chairman of the Committee was the Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor J. F. Clark and the first meeting was held on 13 April 1967 (file 00020449). On 26 October 1971 the Vice-Chancellor Professor R. H. Myers wrote to the Minister for Lands, Mr T. L. Lewis to ask for an extension of the Fowler's Gap lease to a lease in perpetuity as the development of the research station and of research programmes would be assisted if the university knew that its future occupation was assured. On 24 January 1972 Council resolved that it approves the conditions proposed by the Minister for Lands for acceptance of the lease in perpetuity of Fowler's Gap Field Station to the university (resolution 72/9i). On 24 March 1972 Mr G. R. Woods, the Western Lands Commissioner, wrote to the Vice-Chancellor to inform him that the university's application for a lease in perpetuity had been successful (file 00370994). In 1980 the management structure of the Station was reviewed. A report was released by Pro-Vice-Chancellor R. M. Golding on 4 December 1980 and approved by the Vice-Chancellor on 19 December 1980. As a result from this date the management of the Station was via a Management Committee, although an officer-in-charge remained on site at the Station. Responsible to the Vice-Chancellor and chaired by a Pro-Vice-Chancellor, the main aim of the committee was to determine the utilisation of resources to maintain an adequate level of income and to meet the needs of the university in carrying out its teaching and research programmes at the field station. From December 1981 this structure was altered slightly, as although the Pro-Vice-Chancellor continued to serve on the Committee and be responsible for reporting to the Vice-Chancellor, the Chairman position was taken by A/Professor J. P. Kennedy (file 911521). During 1991 the Station organisation was restructured and the Officer-in-Charge position replaced by a Station Supervisor (file 971929). From 1 July 1992 senior management responsibility for the Station was changed to the Bursar (S329). In January 2003, following a staff restructure, Dr David Croft took up the position of on-site Director at the Station, while also holding a fractional position in the School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences. The Director reports to the Management Committee, which continues to administer the Station (file 2002/2855). The status of Fowlers Gap Station in 2012 was located 112 km north of Broken Hill, New South Wales (latitude 31.09° S, longitude 142.70°E) in the Parish of Hume, County Mootwingee (Mutawintji). The Station occupies Western Lands Lease No. 10194, an area of 38,888 hectares., and is held by the University of New South Wales as a 'lease in perpetuity' for the purpose of research, grazing and tourism. The mission of the Station is to further understanding of the functioning of the arid zone of NSW through research, teaching, interpretation and knowledge diffusion in a pastoral context. It is the only research station in the arid zone of New South Wales and the winter rainfall area of arid Australia. Areas have been monitored and data collected continuously, in some cases for over 30 years. The Station and its records form a unique facility for research and education. The University of New South Wales, in taking over the lease, undertook to carry out research and provide facilities for relevant research programs that might be proposed by other universities and government organisations. Research or other academic endeavour has been conducted Schools/units of the University of New South Wales including: Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Fine Arts, the Faculty of Built Environment, the Centre for Photovoltaic Engineering and the Centre for Remote Sensing and GIS. Other tertiary institutions have also conducted research, chiefly, Macquarie University, University of Sydney, University of Newcastle, University of New England, the University of Adelaide, the Australian National University, Monash University, Melbourne University and La Trobe University. Two Cooperative Research Centres, Sustainable Tourism and Landscape Evolution & Mineral Exploration, have conducted research. Government organisations that have utilised the facilities include: the former Soil Conservation Service of New South Wales (now part of the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources), NSW Agriculture (now part of the Department of Primary Industries), Queensland DPI, SA Department of Agriculture, NSW Department of Environment and Conservation and several Divisions of CSIRO. Funding to support research has been provided by the University of New South Wales, Australian Research Council, Wool Research Trust Fund, Australian Wool Innovation, Meat and Livestock Australia, Rural Credits Development Fund, Water Research Foundation of Australia, Australian Housing Research Council, Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism and a number of overseas governments and universities. In addition to its research function, Fowlers Gap is used extensively for teaching, largely by way of student field excursions. Regular users from UNSW include staff and students from the College of Fine Arts and the School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences. Field training is conducted for students from several other educational institutions such as ANU and Adelaide University (CRC Landscape Evolution & Mineral Exploration training program), and Monash University (School of Geography and Environmental Science). The Station also attracts visitors from overseas and within Australia and has been the subject/site of numerous television documentaries, newspaper articles and local and national radio reports. The Field Station is administered by the Management Committee, consisting of representatives from those Schools of the University of New South Wales that use the Field Station. The Committee is assisted by two advisory groups - the Graziers' Committee, a small group of pastoralists who supply support and advice at an informal level, and the Consultative Committee, an advisory group representing organisations associated with the pastoral industry, land and wildlife conservation and other stakeholders in the West Darling region. Controlling Organisation: UNSW - 01/01/1966-
