In My
Opinion

Australian Government Productivity Commission Conservation of Australia's Historic heritage Places Inquiry 2005

Click link to index page - then individual Submission number for full details. http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiry/heritage/subs/sublist.html

Submissions 142 - 192

142. Balmain Precinct Committee - 10p 97kb
(*Very good) (Transcript 983-986) The need for continual activity and protest by resident groups suggests that the overall framework for heritage conservation and protection is not working effectively for our community. There is a need for publicly accessible information about heritage values. NSW has 176 councils with potentially 176 different planning policies, interpretations and outcomes relating to heritage (Claim) - seeking clarification.."Balmain...the oldest planned residential area in Australia?" 205 years of European settlement, local history journal, preserving heritage is always a struggle. Importance of heritage - public forums on heritage - It would be fair to say that the majority of our community, here in one of the oldest suburbs in Australia, would not be able to articulate the heritage values of our area! 'Demolition by neglect'.

144. Friends of Quarantine Station & North Head Sanctuary Foundation (NSW) - 11p 93kb (*A MUST READ)
(Transcript 884-897) North Head is listed on the RNE - * Nominated to the new NHL in July 2004. Complexities of land tenure - 300 ha public owned but occupied by different Government agencies with different legislative constructs - Planning is not leading to an integrated solution. The Quarantine Station (QS) is a group of 60 historic buildings handed back by the Commonwealth to the State in 1984 - the subject of on-going negotiations and long term leasing to a private development for use as a tourist hotel, restaurant and related facilities. School of Artillery site nominated under State Heritage List - within its 10 year charter the Trust is required to protect, conserve and interpret the environmental and heritage values of these lands and to ensure that management of these lands contributes to enhancing the amenity of the Sydney Harbour region. - Committee set up in 1999 to integrate strategies but hasn't happened yet. The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust (SHFT) is calling for adaptive re-use of School of Artillery site. Comparison of (SHFT) and the National Parks and Wildlife Division (NP&WL). The Trust 2001 much more effective than NPWS established in 1987. 1,300 Submissions for adaptive re-use of the Quarantine Station. Case study - Private leasing of public property (READ IT TO SEE THE PARALLELS TO CARLTON GARDENS & THE ADELAIDE PARK LANDS)
Page 9 NHL nomination process - Minister's assessment
"insufficient information"

146. Lidcombe Heritage Group (Sydney) Mrs R. Walker - 2p 9kb
(Transcript 960-969) Established 1994 (Lidcombe Hospital). Unless government bodies are involved in assessment, listing, planning and conservation of Australia's historic heritage places, it would be impossible to maintain. Volunteers should also be partners, which should help to minimise costs of upkeep and this should be a part of the assessment process.

148. The National Trust of Australia (Victoria) - 14p 207b
(*Good) (Transcript 399-412) Established 1956 - has more than 70 heritage buildings - 20,000 members - 14 branches in Victoria - receives only $233,000 from State govt. annually - manages 40 sites and 8 State-owned properties on Crown Land. Collections - 33,000 items (mostly catalogued) 1,400 volunteers - 66 staff - Register classified 6,000 places of cultural or natural heritage significance. Those managing public heritage places are starving for resources. "World Heritage is about people as well as place" - We recommend the creation of the new National heritage regime through the EPBC Act, especially the increased integration of natural, cultural and indigenous heritage values. Page 5 Case Studies - volunteer expert committees - stats.

150. Save Braidwood (NSW) (J & O. Winter-Irving) - 4p
(*A MUST READ) (see submissions 36 54 113 173) Braidwood is on the NSW State Heritage Register - the process for listing an entire town and its setting is significantly flawed. Community first advised in March 2005 - only 4 public information sessions of maximum of 25 people - the only public consultation. ½ hour for questions - listing proposal closure for submissions from the community is 7 October 2005 even though the community has not yet seen the new Local environmental plan or the Development Control Plan.

152. Richard White - 3p 21kb
Head teacher of Painting & Decorating TAFE NSW - appropriate training programs for trade skills needed in the policy framework

154. DEH - 54p - zip 738kb
(JUSTIFICATION OF THEIR EXISTENCE) DEH administer the EPBC Act - also provides the secretariat for the Australian Heritage Commission (AHC), RNE, Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 and the Protecton of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986. Page 8 - defining heritage - (suggest) an accessible and linked web-based inventory of Australia's heritages sites, and effective public education programs. (NEED TO TAKE THEIR OWN ADVICE) Case study Royal Exhibition Building - page 14 public nomination - page 18 COAG 1997 (NO ACTION!) (PAGES AND PAGES OF USELESS REFERENCES). Sydney Harbour Federation Trust page 40.

156. Christian Bell, volunteer (Tas) - 2p 15kb
Commonwealth heritage listing is not looking after Australia's heritage Lighthouses. Light stations returned to State governments. Whole of these sites not protected in Management Plans.

158. Duncan Marshall (ACT) - 2p 16kb
Heritage consultant. Voluntary listing and compensation for heritage listing - against both

160. Anglican Church of Australia (Tas) - 2p 34kb
Churches are 8.4% of places on the Tasmanian Heritage Register. - the A. Church can't fund these sites - should be met from the public purse

162. Tom Perrigo - (WA) 11p 86kb
(*Good) CEO of National Trust WA since 1990. If one wanted a brief description of the status of the historic heritage environment within WA (or perhaps Australia in general), the phrase "confusion, controversy and conflict" may be applicable. Standardize terms - Values v Place - Assessments - the entire process of identification and assessment is in urgent need of review and upgrade. Threshold - it is ironic that World Heritage places in WA aren't even on the State Heritage Register as different criteria are applied. In my opinion the primary role of State Heritage Councils is to inform the "decision makers" of the heritage values of a place/object/site. The recommendations to conserve the place should be public and entirely based on heritage values. Unfortunately the composition of such bodies is often political and not necessarily totally professional or with appropriate experience from a heritage perspective and therefore outcomes are certainly not defensible on heritage grounds.
Registers - Policy - heritage policy documents are unfortunately mostly written during election years (or just prior) and usually are about winning the populist vote rather than conserving heritage. In WA there is no State Government Heritage Policy. Another fundamental flaw "the absence of separation between the policy and regulation". Regulation - the need for community advocacy prior to any Federal or State Heritage legislation is now equally important. What is clear is the need for strategic partnerships between all tiers of government and between all tiers of government and the community. The heritage industry has many leaders but no leadership!

164. Government of South Australia - 11p
- can't read pdf

166. John & Janet Boyd (see Sub. No. 8) 4p
(speaker Sydney) More details of their heritage property

168. Mrs Betty McCarthy - 1p 1.66kb
Heritage Planning Scheme for Albany WA Heritage Foreshore Precinct. Historic area back to 1826 - developer plans 5 storey 70 unit apartment block can't be stopped - Heritage Precinct never applied for by Council (Glenelg & Pt. Adelaide scenario)

170. Ms Suzanne Lockhart
- confidential

172. National Trust (NSW) - .4pdf
(not reviewed)

174. Gordon Grimwade & Associates - 6p - 53.8kb
(*Very good) GG is a heritage consultant of 18 years in North Queensland - Fellow RGS and ICOMOS Australia committee on Cultural Tourism. Rare examples of historic structures should be given more sensitive attention - case studies Queensland. Heritage chronically underfunded - "There is too much attention given to heritage management by control rather than by education and understanding." Australia's tendency to categorise its heritage as "historic" and 'indigenous' is DIVISIVE. Queensland provides absolutely nothing apart from lip service to the concept of support for heritage places. When historically significant sites are disturbed or even destroyed there seems to be no consistent approach TO LEARN WHAT WE CAN BEFORE DESTRUCTION. Archaeological investigation seen as undesirable expense. The contribution of the Commonwealth and the State of Queensland is little better than abysmal. - FUNDS SPENT ON MANAGEMENT PLANS AND NOT ON CONSERVATION WORKS. Heritage Act in Queensland ONLY PROTECTS LISTED PLACES - we seem to delight in developing registers as a simple, administrative solution to assuaging the fears of the public that 'we are losing our heritage' by DEVELOPING A PLETHORA OF REGISTERS THAT REQUIRE NUMEROUS PUBLIC SERVANTS TO ADMINSTER, FOR WHAT?
It should be possible for sensitive development to be undertaken without having to resort to litigation. We have developed a series of heritage registers and then failed to adequately maintain many of those and any others through lack of funds. Those funds are being spent on paying salaries and expenses to preserve data contained in umpteen heritage registers (which is frequently incomplete and sometimes inaccurate anyway). A lot of developers opt for the expense of opposing heritage and expend their energies on litigation. We are always going to have development, but we are not always going to have our tangible heritage.

176 Hornsby Shire Council NSW
20/09/2005 3 RTF 0.1 MB PDF 0.1 MB Employs a full-time Heritage Officer. Conservation in conflict with govt planning consolidation strategy. Owners fail to maintain properties then seek demolition - suggest minimum maintenance levels of 1977 be reinstated.

178 Heritage Council of Victoria
29/09/2005 5 RTF 0.1 MB PDF 0.1 MB The heritage of Australia includes thousands of locally important places that cannot be adequately represented only by places of National and Inter-national significance

180 National Trust (NSW)
06/10/2005 3 RTF 0.1 MB PDF 0.1 MB (*Case Studies - Quarantine Station, North Head etc) It is a Govt responsibility to ensure that any profits that derive from a growing tourism sector - that of interest in environment & heritage based tourism - should be reinvested in those public sites rather than in shareholder profits. The handing of the NHQS to State Govt from the Commonwealth in 1984 began a long series of buck passing of responsibility - Govt is increasingly seen as retreating from the community, of making laws and then not abiding by them itself, of setting up systems doomed to failure due to lack of financial support and finally of 'selling off the public farm' for profit. Buck passing Local and State Agencies.

182 Dr Lynne Armitage
10/10/2005 40 ZIP 0.5 MB PDF 0.5 MB

184 Victorian Government
12/10/2005 40 RTF 1.7 MB PDF 0.3 MB

186 Australian Heritage Council
19/10/2005 8 RTF 0.7 MB PDF 0.1 MB (9 pages) The AHC therefore proposes the development and implementation of an integrated National Heritage Policy through the EPHC - (ANOTHER WISH LIST AND GABFEST)

188 NSW Government - NSW Heritage Office
24/10/2005 18 RTF 0.2 MB PDF 0.1 MB

190 Conservation Solutions
24/10/2005 3 RTF 0.1 MB PDF 0.1 MB

192 Northern Territory Government
# 10/11/2005 57 ZIP 0.1 MB PDF 1.0 MB