SoHONSW and others have worked for years to ensure the application of fair and transparent heritage listing criteria before any item can be heritage listed in NSW. Ditto for heritage delisting criteria. The NSW state government listened as did the Federal government and enacted reforms to the NSW Heritage Act ensuring valid criteria were employed - not just the narrow criteria favoured by the heritage fanatics. 

 

So what how are the heritage fanatics and their fellow travellers responding and seeking to create ever more sterilised heritage areas and sabotage any legal requirements to apply valid heritage listing criteria?

 

By moving their heritage rorting to emphasise NSW local government powers to create heritage zones, heritage precincts or heritage streetscapes.

 

Why do they love this technique? It has no valid criteria they must appy before its creation and further, no requirements for giving weight to affected owners views and no appeals system. It is in essence a return to the open slather heritage rorts they favour.

 

Yet more of the heavily criticised subjective heritage nonsense that characterised the last 30 years of local government heritage listing in NSW. You see, if they do not heritage list an individual item, they are free to use whatever half baked heritage criteria they want in creating these heritage zones. It is nothing more or less than a deliberate attempt to circumvent the legal requirements for heritage listing and continue with past malpractices.

 

Bathurst Regional Council is one of the worst cases in NSW as heritage fanatics have managed there to create a blanket heritage zone over almost the entire local government area.

In Newcastle, seven individuals are seeking to heritage zone the entire working class suburb of Stockton.  They admit the report they wrote on this issue failed to use heritage criterion. This is because the creation of such zones or precincts in NSW are left wide open to abusive nominations. 

 

The 2006 Federal government's Productivity Report into heritage recommended that all Councils have the power to create these heritage zones, areas, streetscapes or precincts removed due to ongoing and well documented abuses. SoHONSW says a major deficiency of the NSW Heritage Act Review was a failure to take those recommendations into account and their failure to properly investigate and address systematic abuses by NSW Councils. As a result, these heritage abuses - which are often nothing more or less than attempts to stop state government imposed densities in suburbs or areas - is allowed to flourish unchecked.

 

SoHONSW calls in the Minister for Planning Ms Keneally to remove the discretionary power to create these heritage areas from local Councils in NSW and insitute an immediate and indepedent review of all existing ones to determine validity or not.   

 

 

 

Stockton heritage listing high price to pay

27/08/2009 4:00:00 AM

RESIDENTS have lashed out at a proposal to declare Stockton peninsula a heritage conservation area, saying it would transform the working-class suburb into an address only the rich could afford.

During a community forum last night, a petition signed by more than 1000 people opposing the recommendation, which was made in the Stockton Heritage Assessment Report, was tabled.

Angie Wessling's house is one of 120 buildings and monuments said to have significant heritage value in the community-initiated report, which was established by seven Stockton residents to push for the suburb's heritage listing.

But Mrs Wessling said Stockon's classification as a conservation area, if approved, could destroy the working-class character for which the seaside village is famous.

"Should [Stockton] become a heritage conservation area it may easily be transformed into an exclusive playing field for the rich who can afford to restore and maintain the properties," she said.

Resident Allan McMaster said he supported individual heritage listings if sought from the owner, but a suburb listing could come at a high cost.

"If the whole area is listed homeowners will face tough restrictions. If they want to make changes they will have to lodge a development application to council, pay the lodgement fee, for professionally drawn plans, and a statement of heritage impacts more cost," he said.

"Then it will take weeks of approval, whether it is a house that's 10 years old or 100 years old."

Dianne Pope, Stockton Community Forum chairwoman who led the Stockton Heritage Assessment Report, defended the recommendation for the suburb's listing, saying it would ensure Stockton's historical character was protected.

"The character of the suburb is [to be found] in its completeness. If that's not protected someone could have a Federation-style cottage, and another could overshadow it by putting up a two-storey building next to it," she said.

A Newcastle City Council spokeswoman said a formal report would be put to the council before the end of this year, detailing how and when the community-based heritage study would be addressed.

If the council resolved to proceed with the study, she said extensive community consultation would occur.

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/stockton-heritage-listing-high-price-to-pay/1607171.aspx