The longevity of a prominent piece of Ballarat built history and an important marker of the region's Chinese community could be guaranteed as the City of Ballarat bids for "permanent heritage controls".
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In agenda documents for the council's planning meeting this week, officer's recommendations are seeking to make amendments to the current Ballarat Planning Scheme.
These changes, which are being directed to the Planning Minister, have been made to ensure properties which meet the "threshold for local significance" and "have heritage values outside Ballarat's existing Heritage Overlay" like Victory House are protected.
Victory House, located on Geelong Road, Canadian, has been a catalyst for the council in recognising historical sites after Ballarat's Chinese community rallied extensively for almost a year to safeguard the ancient property.
Constructed prior to 1889, the building was initially made on a miner's right for R.G Hardy. However, it was later revamped with a few alterations to house Ballarat Chinese miner James Wong Chung.
In 1903, when Mr Chung moved into Victory House, he was made the manager of the You Hing mine. He lived in the property with his wife and their six children with the house staying within the Chung family for more than 100 years.
Despite the city at the time resisting to acknowledge the existence of Oriental influence, the Chungs' legacy has lived on with their tireless efforts to the Ballarat's Chinese community being honoured through their active involvement in the trades union movement with Chung family members serving in various roles including as presidents of the Textiles Union and Railways Unions.
In a council meeting in early 2022, an application to demolish Victory House, which had not been identified in the City of Ballarat's Heritage Gap Review, was being debated.
A community campaign to save the house, highlighted in The Courier, eventually saw the City of Ballarat commission a heritage report in August 2022 which recommended an interim preservation order apply to the building.
The decision was voted against by councillors Mark Harris, Des Hudson, Tracey Hargreaves and Peter Eddy at the time.
However, five weeks later after enduring sustained backlash from the local Chinese and wider community, the decision was reversed including from three of the four Crs Mark Harris, Des Hudson and Peter Eddy at a September 2022 council meeting.
Speaking to The Courier a day after the meeting, Chinese Australian Cultural Society Ballarat president Charles Zhang said the decision was a "historic turning point" for the Ballarat Chinese community, worthy of commemoration.
Late last year, after the property was put up for sale, Mr Zhang along with another investor who requested anonymity, purchased Victory House.
In October 2022, he said their plans would include establishing a company to begin the building's transformation into a museum celebrating the Chinese contribution to Ballarat.
Mr Zhang said there would be two components to the museum, which would focus on a local history of the Chinese in Ballarat, as well as a broader consideration of the Chinese in Australia.
He said he'd begun preliminary work with the Trembath family, who are one of the lineages of the Chungs, seeking photographic and historical material to depict the cultural milieu which existed at the house from the 1900s to the 1960s.
A decision will be made at council's meeting this Wednesday at the Ballarat Town Hall.
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Malvika Hemanth
Malvika has a strong interest in covering stories on welfare, cost of living pressures and the arts. She works on the unceded lands of the Wadawurrung people and pays her respect to elders past, present and emerging.
Malvika has a strong interest in covering stories on welfare, cost of living pressures and the arts. She works on the unceded lands of the Wadawurrung people and pays her respect to elders past, present and emerging.
