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Managing Our Heritage a review of heritage place management in Victoria Heritage Council Victoria June 2003 ii Managing Our Heritage A Victoria Heritage Council project, Melbourne, June 2003 Disclaimer This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication Copyright Heritage Council Victoria ISBN 1 74106 614 X ii iii Preface This report is the result of sustained cooperative endeavour by all the members of the Committee. Special contributions were made by Jo Brownlee, who wrote the section on DSE; Ray Supple, who wrote the Section on Parks Victoria; and Stephen Hare, who wrote the Section on the National Trust. Ray Supple and Stephen Hare also contributed passages now contained in other sections. The format of the case studies was substantially the work of Jo Brownlee and Tim Hubbard. Ray Tonkin and Paul Roser wrote significant parts of the report. Jan Schapper wrote the section on universities and co-edited the whole report. During the course of writing this report, a restructure of government departments has occurred, and both Heritage Victoria and heritage-related sections of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment are now part of the Department of Sustainability and Environment. The editors would like to thank all who contributed to the report for their participation in this new approach to heritage place management in Victoria. John Dwyer Jan Schapper Co-editors iii iv Managing Our Heritage The Heritage Council’s Heritage Place Management Committee The function of the Heritage Place Management Committee is to inquire into heritage place management in Victoria. Committee members Mr John Dwyer QC, Heritage Council (Chair) Ms Jo Brownlee, Crown Land Management, Department of Natural Resources and Environment Mr Stephen Hare, Chief Executive Officer, National Trust of Australia (Victoria) Mr Timothy Hubbard, Heritage Council Ms Amanda Martin, Parks Victoria (to September 2002) Dr Jan Schapper, Heritage Council Mr Ray Supple, Parks Victoria (from September 2002) Mr Ray Tonkin, Executive Director Heritage Victoria Staff Mr Paul Roser, Heritage Victoria Inquiries about the Committee may be directed to: Place Management Committee, Heritage Council Level 22 80 Collins Street MELBOURNE VICTORIA 3000 Telephone: (03) 9655 6519 Facsimile: (03) 9655 9720 iv v Executive summary The genesis of this report was a media campaign conducted by the National Trust in 2001, which drew attention to the financial difficulties and other problems that the Trust was experiencing in managing its portfolio of heritage places on behalf of the community. It was considered that the matters highlighted by the National Trust should not be considered in isolation, and that it would be preferable to consider the state of heritage place management generally. On advice from the Heritage Council, the Minister for Planning established a Committee of the Heritage Council with representatives of relevant stakeholders to examine the State’s portfolio of heritage places open to the public and the management of them, to investigate the market for such places, and to advise as to options for the future. The Committee consisted of representatives of the Heritage Council and Heritage Victoria, Parks Victoria, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (subsequently Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE), and the National Trust. The terms of reference adopted by the Committee are set out on page ix. The underlying premise of the investigation and the recommendations of the report is the vision for heritage in 2005 as stated in the Victorian Heritage Strategy: ‘Victoria’s diverse cultural heritage will be recognised as a key resource of the State, and will be managed in a sustainable way to maximise benefits for the whole community.’ Unless the state of affairs revealed by the report is addressed, the Government may not achieve its objective to manage in a sustainable way Victoria’s cultural heritage so as to maximise benefits for the whole community. Sustainable management requires a good understanding of what is to be managed so that resources may be appropriately marshalled and applied using a coordinated approach. The government needs to be well informed about the extent and condition of the heritage places in Victoria and what is required to conserve them. Government’s first role is leadership; to set an example in the sustainable management of its own heritage places and by its dealings with the heritage places in its property portfolio, and by adopting policies that actively discourage heritage places from falling into disuse. Government has a responsibility to adopt strategies which avoid redundancy and facilitate sustainable reuse of heritage places. The Committee has gathered a great deal of information about heritage places. A database of about 460 places was compiled. This was complemented by a Parks Victoria database containing 167 places selected from its Historic Places Inventory of 2500 places. DSE reported a portfolio of over 7000 known historic places on Crown Land. Faces with these numbers, the Committee was not able to give a complete account of the quantity and condition of heritage places in Victoria. The full extent of the portfolio was not able to be determined, but a representative sample comprised of the major part was obtained. Although there was material before the Committee to show that there was a backlog of essential maintenance of heritage places, with estimates that millions of v vi Managing Our Heritage dollars were required, the Committee did not attempt to assess the overall condition of heritage places in general or the particular needs of any place. For the government to be fully informed more work needs to be done. For the government to be able to monitor the degree to which sustainable management of heritage places is being achieved, the work of the Committee should be continued and extended. This is the Committee’s first recommendation. There is at present no body or organisation that is appropriately resourced to carry out this work. The Committee suggests that an effective way to ensure that the government is provided with the appropriate information and advice would be to establish a Committee of the Heritage Council to advise the government on the development of an overall plan for achieving sustainable management of heritage places in Victoria. The proposed Committee should be chartered to: • Continue the work of this review in monitoring the extent, conservation and performance of publicly presented heritage places. • Advise government on the current position from time to time as to the conservation and presentation of heritage places. • Develop a strategic direction for presentation and resourcing of publicly accessible heritage places. • Advise on proposals for government acquisition of heritage places. • Advise government on strategies to avoid redundancy and to facilitate re-use of heritage places. • Establish a coordinated management environment for heritage places presented to the public. • Investigate the experience of managing heritage places in England, the USA and elsewhere, and in particular the factors which have made heritage management in England sustainable. • Develop criteria for measuring the extent to which sustainable management of heritage places is being achieved. • Review progress in achieving sustainable management of heritage places. • Develop community awareness and education programs on the steps being taken to achieve sustainable management of Victoria’s heritage places, and run awards programs to encourage sustainable management and innovative presentation of heritage places The Committee should consist of persons appointed from nominees of departments, local government authorities, community organizations and owners of heritage places. It could be called the Heritage Places Advisory Committee. This report recommends that a Heritage Places Advisory Committee be established and provided with the resources required to carry out its functions. The findings of the Committee have implications for all managers of heritage places and, in particular, for government agencies such as DSE and Parks Victoria, and the National Trust. There may need to be some rationalisation of the portfolio, involving priority-setting within the public sector and the moving of some assets to the private sector, with appropriate protection such as covenanting. Heritage conservation does not depend on public ownership, and may even be impeded by it. All stakeholders agree that a coordinated and cooperative approach is required to address problems that apply to heritage places generally. There is a need for a body to carry out this function. This report recommends that this function be performed by the Heritage Places Advisory Committee. Key findings of the Committee relate to the funding required for the sustainable management of heritage places. The heritage place portfolio is a valuable asset for Victoria that benefits the economy of the State. Extra funding is needed at this critical time so as not to lose the resource before it is appropriately used and appreciated. In vi vii relation to government funding, there is no overall plan for the allocation of funding for the conservation and