Adopted by City of Greater Bendigo Council August 20, 2014 WHITE HILLS AND EAST BENDIGO HERITAGE STUDY STAGE 2: METHODOLOGY, FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS Prepared for The City of Greater Bendigo (Contract no. CT00036) June 2014 (Revised August 2014 & September 2015) TABLE OF CONTENTS Project team ii 1.0 Introduction 1 1.1 Project brief 1 1.2 Study area 1 2.0 Methodology 3 2.1 Overview 3 2.2 Project management 3 2.3 Guiding documents 4 2.3.1 Burra Charter 4 2.3.2 VPP Practice Note: Applying the Heritage Overlay 4 2.4 Stage 1 4 2.5 Stage 2 7 2.6 Historical research 9 2.7 Site inspections 9 2.8 Assessment 10 2.9 Place citations 12 3.0 Recommendations and findings 13 3.1 Recommendations for inclusion in the HO 13 3.2 Additional recommendations 16 3.3 Archaeology 16 3.4 Review of the TEH and Statement of Significance 16 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 20 APPENDICES Appendix A Project brief Appendix B Project plan Appendix C Community consultation (select outcomes) Appendix D Properties included in the WHEB Heritage Study Stage 2, Phase 1 (including the Bendigo Hospital precinct) Appendix E Citations and Recommended Permit Exemptions for Stage 2, Phase 1 LOVELL CHEN i Project team Lovell Chen Architects & Heritage Consultants Pty Ltd Kate Gray Adam Mornement Libby Blamey ii LOVELL CHEN 1.0 Introduction This report has been prepared for the City of Greater Bendigo. It comprises an overview of the methodology adopted for the White Hills and East Bendigo (WHEB) Heritage Study, and presents the findings and recommendations of the study (Stages 1 and 2) undertaken by Lovell Chen between April 2013 and June 2014. 1.1 Project brief The WHEB Heritage Study seeks to identify, assess and document places of post-contact cultural heritage significance within the north-eastern urban area of the City of Greater Bendigo. The WHEB Heritage Study has been undertaken in accordance with the Project Brief Contract No. CT000036, prepared by the City of Greater Bendigo and dated 29 January 2013 (refer Appendix A) and the Response to the Project Brief prepared by Lovell Chen in February 2012, revised March 2013. The project objectives as set out in the Project Brief are as follows (refer p. 2): Review the relevant sections of the Thematic Environmental history specific to the history of change and development in the north eastern urban area of Bendigo; and Identify, assess and document the places of post-contact cultural heritage significance to the locality, municipality, or the state; Enter this information into the HERMES database to be provided to the client; Make recommendations for the conservation of the cultural heritage in the north eastern urban area of Bendigo as groundwork for a planning scheme amendment. 1.2 Study area The WHEB Heritage Study assesses particular areas of the municipality which have either been excluded from previous heritage studies or where a need to undertake further review work has been identified. The Thematic Environmental History (TEH) project, completed for the City of Greater Bendigo by Lovell Chen in 2013, identified a number of 'gaps' in the Schedule to the Heritage Overlay (HO), and recommendations were made for areas to be assessed in future heritage studies. Localities/areas identified as priorities for future assessment included White Hills, industrial areas of East Bendigo and areas subject to Neighbourhood Character Overlays (NCOs) in the Greater Bendigo Planning Scheme (see Section 2.5). In addition to the recommendations of the TEH, some parts of North Bendigo and in the north-east of Bendigo proper were also considered by Council to be priority areas for assessment and documentation. This reflects anticipated changes in these areas arising from the redevelopment of Bendigo Hospital. A Precinct Structure Plan has been prepared to guide future development in North Bendigo and the north-east of Bendigo proper.1 1 At the time of the writing the Hospital Precinct Structure Plan was on public exhibition, www.bendigo.vic.gov.au/Residents_and_Services/Strategy_unit/Current_Projects/A_pla nned_Precinct_for_our_New_Hospital, accessed 27 May 2014. LOVELL CHEN 1 Figure 1 Recent aerial photograph, indicating the study area, the expanded Bendigo Hospital complex and the study area for the Bendigo Hospital Precinct Structure Plan Source: The City of Greater Bendigo (base photograph) 2 LOVELL CHEN Accordingly, the 22 sq km study area (illustrated at Figure 1) includes: White Hills parts of Epsom and Ascot East Bendigo a number of NCO1 areas North Bendigo the northeast of Bendigo proper 1.3 Existing heritage listings Eight sites in the study area are included in the Victorian Heritage Register and, as such, are subject to the provisions of the Heritage Act 1995. These sites (listed below) have been excluded from the current study. H781 Former Bendigo Gas Works H674 Bendigo Pottery H1935 King’s bridge over Bendigo Creek H1791 Bendigo Chinese Temple / Joss House H2136 White Hills Cemetery H1915 White Hills Botanic Gardens H1406 Dawson Cactus Gardens H2106 Chinese Kiln and Market Garden A further 24 places within the study area had previously been included in the City of Greater Bendigo Planning Scheme. These existing heritage overlays protect the major parks and plantings, the Bendigo Creek channel, churches, hotels, railway workshops and bridges, a small number of residences, and the Chinese Diggings Historic Reserve. These places have also been excluded from the current study. 2.0 Methodology 2.1 Overview The WHEB Heritage Study adopts a standard two-stage approach and methodology which is generally based on Heritage Victoria’s Model Consultants Brief for Heritage Studies (January 2010). In summary, Stage 1 focused on the identification of places of potential cultural heritage significance (and which are not already subject to statutory heritage controls) within the study area, while Stage 2 involved the assessment and documentation of the first group of those places including the development of recommendations for statutory controls (application of the HO through the Greater Bendigo Planning Scheme). Stage 1 of the project was undertaken between April and July 2013. Stage 2 was undertaken between September 2013 and June 2014. 2.2 Project management The project has been managed by Dr Dannielle Orr, Heritage Planning, City of Greater Bendigo. LOVELL CHEN 3 A Project Steering Committee (chaired by Councillor James Williams) was also convened to provide advice to the consultant team. The steering committee also included Councillor Peter Cox, together with officers from the strategic and statutory planning departments of the City of Greater Bendigo and a representative of Heritage Victoria. Key tasks and timelines were set out in a project plan dated May 2013. Templates for property datasheets (for Stage 1) and detailed citations (Stage 2) were attached to the project plan. Refer to Appendix B. 2.3 Guiding documents 2.3.1 Burra Charter The methodology employed the WHEB heritage study is informed by the principles set out in the Burra Charter, 2013, adopted by Australia ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites), which are recognised Australia-wide in the identification, assessment and conservation of heritage places. Cultural significance is defined in the Burra Charter as being, '... embodied in the place itself, its fabric, setting, use, associations, meanings, records, related places and related objects'.2 An understanding of the Burra Charter values has informed the assessment process. 2.3.2 VPP Practice Note: Applying the Heritage Overlay The methodology for the study as a whole is informed by the VPP Practice Note, Applying the Heritage Overlay (revised September 2012), which provides guidance on what should be included in the HO. This includes ‘What places should be included in the Heritage Overlay?’, ‘What are recognised heritage criteria?’, and ‘Writing Statements of Significance’. The statements of significance prepared for the citations (Stage 2 Phase 1) adopt the format prescribed in the Practice Note ('What is significant?', 'How is it significant?', 'Why is it significant?). In addition to the above documents, as noted above, the methodology adopted is generally in accordance with the approach and tasks identified in Heritage Victoria’s Model Consultants Brief for Heritage Studies (January 2010). 2.4 Stage 1 The objective of Stage 1 was to identify places of potential cultural heritage significance within the study area for further assessment as part of Stage 2. Places were identified through a desktop review of the TEH and other relevant documents and reports, a program of community consultation, and fieldwork. Review of documents A series of Council reports and documents were reviewed including the following: Thematic Environmental History prepared by Lovell Chen for the City of Greater Bendigo, June 2013 Eaglehawk & Bendigo Heritage Study, prepared by Graeme Butler & Associates, 1993 Reports, historical research and heritage assessments prepared by City of Greater Bendigo officers for properties located within the study area (various dates, but generally post-2010) 2 Burra Charter 2013, Article 1.2. 4 LOVELL CHEN Databases of pre-1980 commercial and residential buildings in the study area provided by the City of Greater Bendigo, including estimated dates of construction Community consultation Two public information sessions were held on 21 May 2013. An ‘Open House for Business and Industry’ workshop was held for business owners/operators within the study area, and a ‘Community Information Session,’ open to all members of the local community, was held to introduce the project and encourage members of the community to get involved, specifically through recommending places of potential cultural heritage to the project team. A focussed briefing session was also held in Bendigo on 17 May for members of the business community and additional meetings were held with a small number of individual owners. Members of the community with places to recommend for consideration were asked to fill out forms and submit them these to the City of Greater Bendigo.