D6 Hold a launch event for the Heritage Strategy and invite key stakeholders. E: Supporting E1 Seek funding to increase the scope and accessibility of the Shire’s heritage advisory service. F: Implementing F1 Internal launch of the Heritage Strategy. F3 Commit budget to the Heritage Strategy. Seek funding for identified projects and to expand the Heritage Adviser’s role. F4 Attend heritage advisory workshops and training run by Heritage Victoria and other agencies; share knowledge with colleagues/other areas of Council. F5 Maintain links with heritage agencies and involve them, as appropriate, in heritage projects sharing best practice, advice and guidance. Maintain heritage knowledge through professional development of key Council staff. 2. Three year Action Plan A: Knowing: Identify, assess, document heritage places Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 subject to budget allocation /grant funding subject to budget allocation /grant funding A2 Seek funding to implement Gap Study recommendations. Review the Potential Heritage List. NB, this action is covered by Action A3. Assessment of Clearly Significant Places. Heritage Study c1919-1939. Suburban Development Heritage Study A1 Implement Aboriginal heritage mapping project (outline project brief Appendix 5). Prepare predictive mapping of Aboriginal heritage. Strategic Planning with Aboriginal Affairs Victoria and Wurundjeri; consultant A4 Working with historical societies and using information arising from the updated thematic history, consider thematic publications e.g. houses of Knox; gardens of Nillumbik etc. and write briefs. Strategic Planning with heritage adviser
significance. Strategic Planning reconciliation committee B5 Establish a system which alerts statutory planners and building inspectors and Infrastructure (engineers) that a place has been assessed as significant but the heritage overlay has not yet been applied through an amendment. Strategic Planning B6 Implement Aboriginal Heritage Mapping Project (see A1). Strategic Planning with Aboriginal Affairs Victoria and Wurundjeri and reconciliation committee B7 Consider how to address heritage at risk of demolition (Action E3). C: Managing Heritage Places Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 subject to budget allocation /grant funding subject to budget allocation /grant funding C3 Set up a heritage group comprising external representatives, Councillors and Council’s Strategic Planning Unit and Community and Leisure Services department. Assist Council in understanding the value of heritage places and what needs to C1 Adopt best practice conservation principles as the basis for all conservation work on significant heritage places owned and managed by Council. In addition to legislative obligations. Council and staff
F3 Commit budget to the Heritage Strategy. Seek funding for identified projects and to expand the heritage adviser’s role. Council resolution 6 September 2011: ‘Consider resource allocations for implementation of the Action Plan including management and maintenance of Council owned/managed heritage places, through Council’s annual budget process.’ F2 Establish a training program for staff and Councillors which covers heritage conservation, management and the benefits of heritage to the Shire. It will include the identification of internal and external training opportunities. See C4. Heritage Adviser, Strategic Planning, Leisure and Community with Heritage Victoria, Aboriginal Affairs Victoria, Wurundjeri F4 Attend heritage advisory workshops and training run by Heritage Victoria and other agencies; share knowledge with colleagues/other areas of Council. ONGOING Strategic Planning, Statutory Planning, Heritage Adviser F5 Maintain links with heritage agencies and involve them, as appropriate, in heritage projects sharing best practice, advice and guidance. Maintain heritage knowledge through professional development of key Council staff. ONGOING Strategic Planning
well as external to Council. Interpretation is often talked about but not acted on. It is an important communication and conservation tool and needs consideration and investment. Support Some people think of heritage overlays as irritating impositions. While it may not be possible to remove this perception, communicating the positive contribution heritage places make to a community and looking at ways to assist heritage property owners are opportunities to be addressed. Best practice Council owns and manages a range of heritage places including buildings and significant trees. Its heritage management practices need to be assessed in order to demonstrate best practice as set out in this plan. Funding To date, other than a small grant from Heritage Victoria for the heritage advisory service, there has been no ongoing budget commitment to heritage. The lack of a heritage strategy makes it more challenging to prioritise work and to apply for external funding. 2. Achievements A substantial amount of work was completed in 2008-2009 addressed the issues identified in 2.1 and to improve the strategic identification, recording and protection of the Shire’s cultural heritage. This includes digitisation of heritage records and completion of a Heritage Gap Study which provides a sound basis for prioritising heritage identification (non Aboriginal). Digitisation of heritage records Four heritage studies have been completed for the area known as the Shire of Nillumbik with the first in 1992. All are paper based, not easily accessible by the community and are vulnerable to loss. In 2009, a successful Council grant application to Heritage Victoria enabled the capture of all Council heritage records on Heritage Victoria’s database, HERMES. This centrally held database is maintained by Heritage Victoria. The benefits are that heritage records are digitised and are part of a state-wide system accessible to a wider range of people. Review Statements of Significance for Heritage Overlay places Council has 267 places on the Heritage Overlay which are protected through the Planning Scheme. A number of the assessments of significance were completed almost 20 years ago and while the historical information and basis of significance are sound, these particular Statements of Significance needed to be revised in order to bring them into line with current best practice and to identify if any additional historical research is required. This work was completed in 2009 with some 160 Statements of Significance being reviewed and input to the HERMES database. Heritage Gap Study