more heritage news
HERITAGE IN WHITEHORSE
Registration of heritage buildings in the Box Hill CBD
As part of the Suburban Rail Loop East project a row of shops with Council Heritage Overlays at 920 to 956 Whitehorse Rd, Box Hill will be demolished. The building (old Railway Hotel, Taits Corner now Eye Trends) on south western corner of Whitehorse Rd and Station St (615 to 617 Station St, Box Hill) will not be demolished - it was the first building on this site and was built in 1882 by local businessman Silas Padgham and was operated as the Railway Hotel until 1920. This building will be compulsorily acquired and restored.
On November 22, 2021 Whitehorse and Walker ward Councillor Ben Stennett moved a motion in Council in regard to the possibility of having 920 to 956 Whitehorse Rd , Box Hill nominated for listing on the Heritage Victoria Register, the motion was unanimously supported by all Councillors. Council staff is currently undertaking research into these buildings.
To read the Council minutes for November 22, 2021, please click on the following link:
Council Meeting Agendas & Minutes | Whitehorse City Council
To read about how the Suburban Rail Loop East project will impact on the row of shops on Whitehorse Rd in Box Hill please click on the link below. The Environment Effects Statement Summary can be found on page 40 of the Suburban Rail Loop East project document:
Suburban Rail Loop East - Environment Effects Statement (bigbuild.vic.gov.au)
PLANNING
Amendments to Planning and Environment Bill
In March 2021, Box Hill MP David Hamer spoke in support of the Planning and Environment Amendment Bill 2021 in the State Legislative Assembly. Mr. Hamer is on the Victorian governments Environment and Planning Standing Committee. The Victorian government is to be commended for implementing these amendments.
The amendments to the Bill include:
- ‘The measures contained in this bill will ensure that developers will no longer profit from unlawfully demolishing heritage buildings. Measures in the bill will provide greater flexibility for industry planning permits by extending the permit expiry for periods of inactivity from two years to 10 years’.
- ‘The bill contains important improvements to heritage protections in the Planning and Environment Act. The new provisions will prevent people from benefiting from the unlawful demolition of heritage buildings such as the Corkman or from allowing heritage buildings to fall into disrepair. The provisions will set out that a planning scheme may regulate or prohibit the development of land on which a heritage building has been unlawfully demolished’.
- ‘These provisions will also seek to prohibit the sale or the development of a site for a period of up to 10 years if the owner of the land has been convicted of a relevant offence’.
To read the amendments to the Planning and Environment Act 2021 in relation to heritage please click on the following link:
Planning and Environment Amendment Act 2021 (legislation.vic.gov.au)
Melbourne 2030
Melbourne 2030 was released by the Victorian government in 2002 and may be a interesting and useful resource for those interested in heritage and planning.
To download a copy of Melbourne 2030 please click on the following link:
Melbourne 2030: Planning for sustainable growth (2002)
Melbourne 2030: Planning Rhetoric Versus Urban Reality
This 2005 book discusses the challenges posed by Melbourne 2030 to our built heritage and may be a interesting and useful resource for those interested in heritage and planning.
To download a copy of this book please click on the following link:
Melbourne 2030: Planning Rhetoric Versus Urban Reality (monash.edu)
Plan Melbourne 2017 - 2050
Plan Melbourne 2017 - 2050 was released by the Victorian government in 2017 and maybe a useful resource for those interested in heritage and planning.
To download a copy of Melbourne Plan 2017 - 2050 please click on the following link:
Plan_Melbourne_2017-2050_Strategy_.pdf (planmelbourne.vic.gov.au)
Planning regulation loopholes affecting our heritage
In an article in the Eastsider News on June 2021, Camberwell resident Richard Blakeman states ‘the building under construction, an imposing three storey dwelling in Quercus Court, Camberwell, has exposed potential loopholes in planning regulations that may permit unscrupulous operators to flout the regulations with impunity’.
These loopholes may also allow developers to not display the 'Planning at Advertising' public notice (yellow notice) around their proposed developments in Whitehorse. This would result in residents living next to the site not knowing what is to be built until it is near completion or completed and therefore, they cannot lodge an objection.
These loopholes are also a threat to our heritage buildings, streetscape, building density, height and bulk, open green spaces, tree canopy and need closing.
To read the article on page ten please click on the following link:
eastsider_news_ed6_jun21-FINAL.pdf (eastsidernews.org.au)
VCAT DECISIONS AND HERITAGE ISSUES
Camberwell residents succeed in gaining heritage protection for significant house
‘Beulah’ built c1886 at 61 Prospect Hill Rd in Camberwell was sold in 2019 and that same year an application (PP19/1000) was lodged with the Boroondara Council stating, ‘partial demolition, and construction of alterations and additions (including fence) associated with an existing dwelling in a Heritage Overlay’.
Local residents fearing that the house would be demolished (as it did not have heritage protection) formed an action group – Friends of Beulah, campaigned and successfully gained heritage protection for the house in 2020. The Friends of Beulah action group are to be commended for their efforts.
This makes an excellent case study in community action and involvement in protecting our heritage.
In 2020 Camberwell History published an article titled:
Beulah: the story of a community working together to achieve heritage protection for a landmark local Camberwell mansion.
To read this inspiring story please click here: Newsletter-2020-40-March.pdf (chs.org.au)
To read about the process Boroondara Council undertook to give the house heritage protection please click here: download (boroondara.vic.gov.au)
Hawthorn residents succeed in saving significant house
‘Currajong’ built c1885 at 337 Auburn Rd in Hawthorn was sold in 2015 and the owner/developer applied for and was granted a permit to demolish the house in 2019.
Local residents and the Boroondara Residents Action Group (BRAG) campaigned and successfully gained heritage protection for the house in May 2022. The local residents and the Boroondara Residents Action Group are to be commended for their efforts.
This makes an excellent case study in community action and involvement in protecting our heritage.
In 2019 the Hawthorn Historical Society published an article about ‘Currajong’. To read the article please click here: 2019-November-Newletter-HHS.pdf (hawthornhistoricalsociety.com.au)
In February 2022 the Boroondara Residents Action Group submitted a report to the State government’s inquiry in regard to the Planning and Environment Act. To read BRAG’s submission to the inquiry please click here:
196.-boroondara-heritage-group-for-advocacy-and-protection.pdf (parliament.vic.gov.au)
To read about the enquiry into the Planning and Environment Act please click here:
Inquiry into the protections within the Victorian Planning Framework (parliament.vic.gov.au)
Robyn Boyd house sold
A modernist style house that was built by renowned Australian Architect Robyn Boyd in Camberwell in 1947 and placed on the Victorian Heritage Register in 1990 was sold in June 2022.
It appears that being on the Victorian Heritage Register is more effective at preserving our built heritage than local Council Heritage Overlays.
To read the article please click on the following link:
Mid-century architect's former home auctioned after 30-year battle over heritage listing - ABC News
To read about the heritage listed house please click on the following link: vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/search/nattrust_result_detail/65113
Melbourne CBD buildings and precincts gain heritage protection
Planning minister Lizzie Blandthorn approved amendment C387 to the Melbourne planning scheme giving Melbourne’s city centre heritage protection.
The amendment applies heritage overlays to 121 individual places and five precincts in the Hoddle grid.
To read the article please click on the following link:
To read about Amendment C387 please click on the following link:
Amendment overview (melbourne.vic.gov.au)
Siena College’s Revised Development Plan not approved by VCAT on heritage grounds
In 2021 Siena College lodged a Revised Development Plan (P11683/2021) with the Boroondara Council to redevelop part of their Riversdale Rd campus. In September 2022 VCAT did not approve the Revised Development Plan.
In his concluding statement VCAT Member Peter Gaschk stated - ‘While I accept and acknowledge the policy intention expressed under clause 53.19 that seeks to facilitate upgrades and extensions to existing non-government schools, this policy outcome should not come at the expense of heritage policy that seeks protection and ongoing conservation of heritage fabric. There will always be a need to appropriately balance the policy setting and zoning/overlay controls that currently apply to the review site. Of particular relevance here is the policy setting that highlights heritage precincts and individual heritage places that make a significant contribution to Boroondara’s character. This outcome is of paramount importance and relevance to this matter before me.
Though I have noted there are some positive design outcomes included in the Revised Development Plan and the overall master planning approach undertaken by the school, the shortcomings of the design response to Stages 1 and 2 in respect to heritage and neighbourhood character outcomes, are unacceptable and require redesign. These design shortfalls cannot be addressed by conditions. They require substantive re-design and assessment to respond in an acceptable manner to the applicable policies and provisions.
For the reasons given above, the decision of the responsible authority is affirmed. The Revised Development Plan is not approved’.
To read VCAT’s decision please click on the following link:
Siena College Limited v Boroondara CC [2022] VCAT 1027 (7 September 2022) (austlii.edu.au)
Brimbank Council and VCAT decision protects heritage house
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) have upheld a Brimbank council decision to refuse a planning permit to demolish a heritage listed house at 57 Benjamin Street in Sunshine.
To read the article, please click on the following link:
https://brimbanknorthwest.starweekly.com.au/news/heritage-saves-house/>
To read VCAT’s decision please click on the following link:
Yatim v Brimbank CC [2017] VCAT 1583 (2 October 2017) (austlii.edu.au)
Maribyrnong Council proposes new heritage protections in West Footscray and surrounds
After the community expressed a desire to retain neighbourhood character during the preparation of the West Footscray Neighbourhood Plan 2018, Council engaged heritage consultants to undertake a detailed study and analysis to inform the West Footscray Inter-war and Post-war Heritage Precinct Study 2021.
To read the Maribyrnong Councils proposal, please click on the following link:
We're proposing new heritage protections in West Footscray & surrounds | Your City Your Voice
The Maribyrnong Councils proposal was reported in The Age newspaper on January 14, 2023, under the heading - 'Dreams shattered after 900 houses around West Footscray receive heritage protection'. To read the article please click on the following links:
Dreams shattered after 900 houses around West Footscray receive heritage protection (theage.com.au)
Dreams shattered after 900 houses around West Footscray receive heritage protection (watoday.com.au)
VCAT reject’s developer’s appeal and protects heritage building
A proposal at 1 Victoria Ave, Albert Park to demolish a heritage protected house and develop the site by the Saade Group was refused by Port Phillip Council. The Saade Group appealed to VCAT who supported the Council’s decision.
To read the article, please click on the following link:
To read VCAT’s decision please click on the following link:
HOBBY HISTORIANS DISCOVER FORGOTTEN TOWN
Hobby historians have uncovered a forgotten town in Western Queensland that has been hidden under cactus since the late 19th century.
To read the article, please click on the following link:
Dulbydilla, once a forgotten railway town, is put on the map by hobby historians - ABC News
HERITAGE ENTHUSIAST’S BUYS HISTORIC HOME
Local business owners and heritage enthusiasts Stephen and Angela Tomisich recently bought the 1846 built Hawthorn mansion Invergowrie and plan to open it to the public in the future.
To read the article, please click on the following link:
VICTORIA’S HORTICULTURAL AND LANDSCAPE HISTORY ON POSTCARDS
An interesting pictorial record of Victoria’s gardening tastes and styles found in the estate of Ken Duxbury.
Will the horticultural and landscape heritage of Whitehorse only be seen on Postcards/photos in the future given the high level of development and moonscaping?
To read the article, please click on the following link:
Melbourne history: what postcards reveal about our gardens (theage.com.au)