1 LAND CONSERVATION COUNCIL HISTORIC PLACES SPECIAL INVESTIGATION SOUTH-WESTERN VICTORIA FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS January 1997 This text is a facsimile of the former Land Conservation Council’s Historic Places Special Investigation South-Western Victoria Final Recommendations. It has been edited to incorporate Government decisions on the recommendations made by Orders in Council dated 11 and 24 June 1997 and subsequent formal amendments. Added text is shown underlined; deleted text is shown struck through. Annotations [in brackets] explain the origin of changes. 2 MEMBERS OF THE LAND CONSERVATION COUNCIL D.S. Saunders, PSM, B.Agr.Sc.; Chairman. S. Dunn, B.Sc.(Hons.) Fisheries Science; Director, Fisheries, Department of Natural Resources and Environment. S. Harris, B.A., T.S.T.C. D. Lea, Dip.Mech.Eng; Executive Director, Minerals and Petroleum, Department of Natural Resources and Environment. R.D. Malcolmson, MBE, B.Sc., F.A.I.M., M.I.P.M.A., M.Inst.P., M.A.I.P. C.D. Mitchell, B.Sc.(Hons.), Ph.D. L.K. Murrell, B.A., Dip.Ed. R.P. Rawson, Dip.For.(Cres.), B.Sc.F.; Executive Director, Forestry and Fire, Department of Natural Resources and Environment. P.J. Robinson, OAM. M.W. Stone; Executive Director, Parks, Flora and Fauna, Department of Natural Resources and Environment. P.D. Sutherland, B.A., B.Sc.(Hons.); Executive Director, Agriculture and Catchment Management, Department of Natural Resources and Environment. ISBN: 0 7241 9290 5 3 CONTENTS Page 1. INTRODUCTION 6 2. GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PROTECTION AND MANAGEMENT 18 General Public Land Management 18 Identification of New Historic Values 20 Managing Historic Places 21 Aspects of Use and Protection of Historic Places 31 General Recommendations on Specific Types of Historic Places 40 3. PROCESSES FOR PROTECTION OF HISTORIC PLACES 45 Organisations and Processes 46 Cooperation of Heritage Agencies 54 4. HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT PLACES 56 Historic and Cultural Features Reserves and Zones 57 Historic and cultural features reserves 60 Previous LCC recommended historic reserves 63 Places recommended for protection in management zones in parks 64 Places Recommended for Consideration for Addition to the Victorian Heritage Register 66 Other Places of State Significance 74 Places recommended for consideration for addition to the 76 Register of The National Estate Places currently listed on the Victorian Heritage Register 78 Places currently listed on the Register of the National Estate 80 Public buildings precincts 82 5. SIGNIFICANT PLACES 84 Historic and Cultural Features Reserves and Zones 85 Historic and cultural features reserves 87 Places recommended for protection in management zones in parks and reserves 91 Places recommended for protection in management zones in State forests 93 Other Places of Regional Significance 95 Places recommended for consideration for addition 97 to the Register of the National Estate Places recommended for consideration for listing in 109 local municipal planning schemes Places currently listed on the Register of the National Estate 114 Places currently listed in local planning schemes 115 4 6. NOTABLE PLACES 116 Notable Historic Places in Parks and Reserves 116 Notable Historic Places in State Forests 126 Notable Historic Places on Other Public Land 130 7. REPRESENTATION OF HISTORIC THEMES 167 Historic Themes and Representative Network Places 167 8. ABORIGINAL HISTORIC PLACES 178 Aboriginal Associations with the Area 178 Views of Aboriginal Communities 178 Management and Consultation 179 Aboriginal Affairs Victoria 179 Aboriginal Historic Places 180 Recommendations 183 Appendices: 185 I Inventory of Historic Places on Public Land in South-western Victoria 185 II List of Submissions 219 III Summary of Social and Economic Assessment 221 of the Historic Places Proposed Recommendations Summary of Social and Economic Assessment 223 of Selected Historical Sites in South-western Victoria IV Criteria for Assessing Significance 225 V The Principal Australian Historic Themes 226 VI Non-LCC Recommended Historic Reserves in South-western Victoria 228 VII Principles for Managing Mineral Exploration and Extraction at Historic Mining Sites 229 VIII List of Consultancies 231 Maps: Historic Places Investigation Area In Victoria omitted LCC Investigation Areas omitted Recommendations Maps omitted 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Summary of Final Recommendations Council has carried out an investigation of historic places on public land in South- western Victoria. This report contains Council’s recommendations for the protection, management and future use of more than 700 historic places, out of 2200 places identified during the investigation. The places have been assigned to three categories, A, B and C, representing State, regional and local levels of significance. The report also contains recommendations relating to general historic places management, the processes available in Victoria for the protection of historic places on public land, and Aboriginal historic places. Council recommends that specific historic places be protected in Historic and Cultural Features Reserves, and in management zones in parks and State forests. Places are also recommended for consideration for the Victorian Heritage Register and the Register of the National Estate, while others are recommended for protection in local planning schemes. Places currently on registers or local planning schemes are also noted. Places subject to recommendations include large areas, localised places, networks of related places and linear corridors. They are found in all categories of public land and are managed by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, by committees of management or by other Government agencies as vested Crown land or as freehold purchased by the agencies. 6 1. INTRODUCTION The Land Conservation Council has carried out an investigation of historic places on public land in South-western Victoria in accordance with the terms of the Order in Council as shown in the box page 2. A Descriptive Report was published in January 1996. Submissions received following the Descriptive Report were considered by the Council during the development of the Proposed Recommendations, which were published in July 1996. Information and views contained in submissions received after publication of the Proposed Recommendations, and during public consultation, have contributed to the recommendations in this report. This report contains the Council’s Final Recommendations to the Government for the protection, management and future use of significant historic places on public land in South- western Victoria. The location of each place subject to a Final Recommendation is shown on Maps 1 and 2 in the pocket at the back of this report [Note: not in this version]. Appendix I contains a summary of the inventory of historic places compiled during this investigation. The Land Conservation Council Process The Land Conservation Council’s role is to make recommendations to the Government on the use of public land in order to provide for the balanced use of land in Victoria. The process, under the provisions of the Land Conservation Act 1970, is outlined below, along with extracts from the Act. Public land, for the purposes of the Act, is defined in Section 2(1)(a). It embraces Crown land and land held by public authorities, but excludes: • land in cities and rural cities; • land owned by municipalities (but not Crown land licensed, leased or used by municipalities), or vested in a sewerage authority and within a sewerage district. However, the Act provides a process for inclusion of such land, and for this investigation Crown land and public authority land in the City of Warrnambool and the Rural Cities of Ararat and Horsham have been included in the investigation by proclamation under Section 2(2). This Historic Places study is a Special Investigation under Section 8 of the Act, as directed by the Governor in Council. The requirements for a special investigation include specification of a time limit, as included in the Order. Section 5(2)(b) requires the Council to have regard to the present and future needs of the people of Victoria in relation to the conservation of areas of historical interest. The procedure under the Act provides two formal opportunities for public input into public land use planning. Sections 9 and 10 require the Council to consider submissions received after publication of the Descriptive Report, and to distribute the Proposed Recommendations to municipal councils, government departments and public authorities, and any person who made a submission following the earlier report. Conventionally, the Proposed Recommendations are also published and advertised, and any interested person or group can make a submission. 7 The first submission stage for this study ended on 12 April 1996. The second submission stage called for submissions in response to the Proposed Recommendations, and ended on 30 September 1996. Appendix II lists the individuals and organisations that sent submissions. In making recommendations on land use, the Council is also required, by Section 2A of the Act, to have regard to the social and economic implications relevant to the recommendations. The Final Recommendations are presented to the Minister for Conservation and Land Management. Under Section 10(3) the Minister may, after giving at least 14 days notice to relevant government departments and public authorities, recommend to the Governor in Council that notice of the recommendations be given to those agencies. It is then the duty of