Grace Karskens examines the tension between urban development and the preservation of historical and cultural landscapes along Castlereagh Road near the Nepean River in Sydney. She analyzes a proposed gravel and sand mining project that threatens Aboriginal sites and one of Australia’s oldest colonial farming landscapes, dating back to 1803. Karskens argues that such destruction entails a loss of memory and identity, framing this dynamic within broader critiques of modernity and a “Faustian bargain” with progress.