A vital piece of Ballarat's Chinese history is closer to preservation with a recommendation to go before council this week that a house in Canadian receive heritage protection.
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'Victory' at 742 Geelong Road was home to the Yung Chung family for 100 years. From 1902 until the early 2000s generations of the family, who play a significant role in the cultural, sporting and political life of Ballarat, lived in the house, which is little changed from when it was constructed around 1906.
It is also remarkable for its enormous cypress hedge, surrounding the dwelling on three sides.
An application to demolish the home, named after the 1902 Melbourne Cup winner (winnings from which reputedly help finance the building of the house), was lodged with the City of Ballarat in July 2022, after a development application for four dwellings on the site was received in March 2021.
In that month The Courier published an extended article on the significance of the house and raised the potential loss of its heritage with the City of Ballarat. In response, the council arranged a review of the history of the site by Dr Robin Ballinger of History Making Pty Ltd.
Dr Ballinger spoke to family members and other Chinese residents in Ballarat, finding the house had played a vital role in the cultural and political development of the city.
"Victory House has strong associations with Ballarat's Chinese community, which is comprised of those who are descended from, or have associations with Chinese migrants who settled in Ballarat," Dr Ballinger found.
"The Canadian Gully was the principal area around which Chinese miners were working during the peak operations of the Ballarat Goldfields... The association goes back over several generations and relates to the influential Chung family who opened their home to their home as a regular informal and formal meeting place for local residents of Chinese and mixed cultural backgrounds at a time when racial prejudices in the broader community often led to suppression of language, culture and traditions."
In Wednesday's agenda for its Planning Delegated Committee, The City of Ballarat says interim heritage controls are required to protect the buildings from demolition while a planning scheme amendment for permanent heritage controls is being prepared and considered for a site identified for protection.
It recommends a request be submitted to the state Minister for Planning to implement interim heritage overlay controls on the site, and to seek authorisation to proceed with a planning scheme amendment to apply permanent heritage controls.
