City of Ballarat councillors have expressed frustration with heritage regulation and the powers of delegation rescinded by them to the council executive, saying it leaves them uninformed about developments and unable to adequately address the concerns of their constituents.
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Two councillors spoken to by The Courier, Jim Rinaldi and Samantha McIntosh, also said the lack of a suitably qualified full-time heritage architect employed by council was leaving Ballarat unable to manage a loss of its historic built fabric at a time when significant change and building expansion was taking place.
Their comments follow the loss of a significant stables building in Yarrowee Parade on Monday, after the City of Ballarat gave approval for its demolition on March 25. The large timber and bluestone building, which dated to the 19th Century, was thought to have been used by the Cobb & Co stagecoach business at one time. That history is lost.
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Being unaware of pending developments and decisions was a deep source of discontent for councillors, Cr Rinaldi told The Courier.
"Unless it's brought to our attention by our constituents or The Courier, we don't know what is going on, and that puts us in an awkward position," Cr Rinaldi said.
"How can we protect things if we don't know what's happening? Heritage is the heart of our city, it's important and it needs to be preserved. Having one person part-time (as the city's heritage consultant) is just bloody ludicrous.
"We need to look at the delegations as well, at the powers we (the councillors) have given away. We need to look at what is happening in the lead-up to these developments; we need to upgrade our protection overlays - because they are causing trouble.
"I mean, you look at some things and think to yourself, 'Why would you approve that?'"
Cr Samantha McIntosh reiterated her belief that council's extensive outsourcing of its building and planning department had led to poor outcomes for heritage and planning overall.
She says while there are a lot of complex delegation issues, there has also been an increase in the complication of building matters by the separation of the building department from immediate council control.
"Once we could get all this work done in council - you might come in for two, three, four hours and it was all done here," Cr McIntosh said.
"This (demolition approval) was done by an external building surveyor. A full-time heritage architect is a better way forward; the maintenance of our heritage can't be managed without one. They have specialised skills in architecture, in building, in council operations.
"We're not just looking at the goldrush now; it's other periods, the 30s, 40s, 50s which need protection. There are Indigenous sites which need protection. Our heritage policy has huge gaps and loopholes that are being contorted and poked and are not being policed properly."
In 2016 City of Ballarat advertised for two permanent heritage advisor positions on its Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) website. It currently has no permanent heritage advisor; Ms Annabelle Neylon was previously consulting to council.
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