The large tin shed with the corrugated iron roof in Nerrina was used as a pump station for the Eureka Lead Gold Sluicing Company during a revival of the gold-mining industry during the 1930s.

Now dilapidated, with a demolished wall opening a ramshackle interior to the elements, it is perhaps an unlikely focal point for the wider discussion of the heritage versus development.

But that was the discussion last Wednesday when councillors debated an interim heritage control to preserve the shed.

Part of the building is on private land; the other is on common land managed by DEWLP. Half of councillors could not see the value of forcing owners to put a house-building plan on ice.

Others cited the importance of Ballarat's golden history and supported its protection, including the Mayor Samantha McIntosh whose casting vote tipped the balance in favour of heritage control.

For Stuart Kelly, the vice-president of Ballarat Heritage Watch, it was the right call - particularly in light of the push for world heritage status.

"There are lots of little things in the goldfields area, like this shed, which add to the story of what gold-mining was like," he said. "We shouldn't lose sight of the fact that gold wasn't just in the 1850s, it kept going in Ballarat."

If the shed's history was confirmed, he said, it could be included as a stop on a goldfields tour.

He also advocated for a wider interpretation of heritage, taking in other relics of the gold rush such as mullock heaps.

"Everyone thinks of heritage in terms of magnificent buildings," he said. "But I think we need to hold on to some of the minor things too."

Mr Kelly's views echo the suggested amendment to the Ballarat Planning scheme, which cites the "positive social effect" of preserving a historical place.

As a building more than 75 years of age linked to the gold industry that shaped the city - and one with foundations that could reveal more of the past - the mining shed fits official criteria for preservation and possible inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Inventory.

Councillor Ben Taylor, however, said he recognised the importance of preserving the city's history, but this was a heritage control too far. "It's literally just timber with tin on it - it looks like a hay shed," he told The Courier. "What's the heritage value, and what's the significance long term?"

In this instance he thought it was unfair on the owners who now had to wait on council and DEWLP for a solution. "If I was the landholder, I would be pretty disappointed I had bought the piece of land with no heritage controls," he said. 

"If it hasn't been identified beforehand, why would we add [heritage control] now? You can't put the burden on people after the fact."

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