Heritage in Palerang
Heritage Listings
Local government is the principal manager of heritage in NSW, mainly through local environmental plans.
These plans contain schedules or lists of properties, buildings, places etc considered to be of local significance. The lists or schedules are statutory lists meaning that the provisions or clauses in the plan relating to these lists can be legally enforced.
The aim of having such lists is to ensure the conservation of buildings, places etc, which are considered to be significant to the local community, although the relative level of significance of each item may differ considerably.
The local heritage of the Palerang Local Government Area is managed through the draft Palerang Local Environmental Plan (PLEP). Clause 5.10 contains the planning controls for heritage places and Schedule 5 lists the statutory heritage items in the Palerang LGA.
What is a Heritage Item?
A heritage item is something which has been assessed as having at least local significance using the heritage assessment criteria in the NSW Heritage Manual.
An item will be considered to be of State (or local) heritage significance if it meets one or more of the following criteria:
| Criterion | Detail |
|---|---|
| Criterion (a) | An item is important in the course, or pattern, of NSW’s cultural or natural history (or the cultural or natural history of the local area). |
| Criterion (b | An item has strong or special association with the life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in NSW’s cultural or natural history (or the cultural or natural history of the local area). |
| Criterion (c) | An item is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in NSW (or the local area). |
| Criterion (d) | An item has strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group in NSW (or the local area) for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. |
| Criterion (e) | An item has the potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of NSW’s cultural or natural history (or the cultural or natural history of the local area). |
| Criterion (f) | An item possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of NSW’s cultural or natural history (or the cultural or natural history of the area). |
| Criterion (g) | An item is important in demonstrating a class of NSW’s or the local area’s cultural or natural places or cultural or natural environments. |
While reference to all criteria should be made during an assessment, only particularly complex items or places will be significant with reference to all criteria.
Once the heritage significance of an item is established, Council must undertake the statutory process (including public exhibition and consultation) of amending its Local Environmental Plan (LEP) in order to add the item to the heritage schedule.
There are currently around 375 heritage items that have been identified within the Palerang LGA and are listed in Schedule 5 of the draft PLEP.
What is a Heritage Conservation Area?
A Heritage Conservation Area (HCA) is an area that displays the same attributes or elements of heritage significance as a heritage item but extends beyond a single site and can include whole sections of towns and villages.
There is only one HCA currently within the Palerang LGA, as listed under Part 2 of Schedule 5 of the draft PLEP:
- Braidwood and its setting
This Heritage Conservation Area, along with the other heritage assets listed in Shcedule 5, are shown on the Heritage Map that is part of the draft PLEP.
Confirming heritage & other planning information
A planning certificate (also called zoning certificate) under section 149 of the Environment Planning and Assessment Act 1979 should be obtained to confirm the planning details (including zoning and heritage) applying to your property.
A planning certificate will state whether your property is a heritage item or within a conservation area. There are two types of certificates: s.149(2) and s.149(2) & (5), the latter providing additional information. (Note that the 149(5) certificate does not provide additional heritage information.)
The form to apply for a planning certificate, the Property Information Enquiry Form, is available from the Palerang Council website.
The benefits of owning a property listed as an item of environmental heritage
The advantages of heritage listing a property include:
- It provides certainty for owners, neighbours and intending purchasers. This is important when people are looking for a particular environment in which to live and work.
- Protection of an item also requires Council to consider the effect of any proposed development in the area surrounding heritage items on that item.
- It confirms a heritage status that many people are proud of and is useful for many commercial operators for use in advertising e.g. bed and breakfast places. Listing often provides information on the history and style of the item not known to the owner.
- It enables free access to Council’s heritage advisory service.
- It enables potential savings through special heritage valuations. If a property is listed in the PLEP, a property owner can request a heritage valuation for land tax purposes through the Office of State Revenue. This can result in a reduction in land tax. It also means properties are given a discounted property value by the NSW Valuer General’s for rating purposes, thereby reducing Council rates.
- It enables priority access to heritage grants and loans through both the NSW Heritage Office. Listing is a requirement for all NSW Heritage Office funding.
- Real estate advertising suggests that heritage properties are considered favourably and that they command a premium price in many markets including the residential market, country towns, villages and farms.
Implications of heritage listing on future development
The following is a summary of the types of development affected by a heritage listing and the implications of such a listing.
Demolition
The demolition of any building, whether heritage listed or not, requires the approval of Council.
There is nothing in the draft Local Environmental Plan which states that a heritage asset cannot be demolished. However, where, upon assessment, a building or structure is found to have significance, and does not have structural problems or any other cost associated with it which would make it unreasonable to retain, Council may refuse to grant approval for its demolition.
Where an application is made to demolish a heritage asset, Council is required to refer these applications to the Heritage Office within the Department of Planning for their comment, prior to the application being determined.
It is important to recognise, however, that this is not a concurrence provision (except for items listed on the State Heritage Register).
In some instances the retention of items may be potentially harmful to the community, or would entail such an unreasonable cost that restoration or maintenance of the property or building is impractical. Under these circumstances Council may consider approving demolition.
It may be the case though that it would be of value to the community to have some kind of record of the building or structure’s existence. It is for this reason that a listing in the PLEP can be important—to prevent the loss of knowledge or history associated with our area. As a condition of approval for demolition, Council can require that photographs and details of the site, its operation, owners etc. be supplied to Council. In this way knowledge about a certain item can be retained without the need to retain the item itself.
Extensions/alterations
Prior to the changes made to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act (in 1997), one of the main differences between having a building listed as an item of environmental heritage and not having it listed, was the requirement to obtain development consent for alterations and additions. Except for those items that classed as Exempt Development, however, development consent is now required for alterations and additions regardless of the status of the building.
For heritage items, one of the considerations in assessing an application for an extension or alteration is whether or not the significance of the building or property would be diminished by the proposed works. Depending on the particular asset, this can depend on a number of factors including:
- Size and scale of the proposed extension;
- Location of the extension;
- Materials and finishes;
- Style; and
- Impact upon the streetscape; etc.
This does not mean that extensions have to replicate the style and proportions of the era of the building, rather simply that any works should be compatible with the building and not detract from it nor diminish its significance. This will rarely be an issue as most owners of heritage assets seek to achieve this end in any case.
Maintenance
Development consent is not required for day to day maintenance of items of environmental heritage. Painting (where the same or similar colour is used), repairs to the building etc, do not require Council consent. It is only where maintenance also entails larger scale alterations to the building that development consent may be required. For instance, large scale fire safety upgrades may require approval.
Where an item such as a garden has been listed, the ordinary day to day maintenance and replanting of garden beds would not require approval. The removal of significant mature trees, however, or changing the form of a garden designed in a certain style, would require consent.
Other than normal property maintenance, it is not expected that owners are required to take any special care of the property. Only properties listed on the State Heritage Register (not Council’s LEP) are required to meet minimum standards of maintenance and repair.
Much of the above content was taken directly from information prepared by Wingecarribee Council and presented on their website.