City of Ballarat votes to amend planning scheme with 'permanent heritage controls'

On Wednesday night, councillors voted unanimously to call on the Planning Minister to implement permanent heritage controls for five houses considered to meet the "threshold for local significance" and "have heritage values outside Ballarat's existing Heritage Overlay".

The buildings included are 89 Magpie Street, Golden Point; the Mossmont residence at 1207 Winter Street, Buninyong; the Bournedale at 618 Howitt Street, Ballarat North and Victory House on 742 Geelong Road, Canadian.

While councillors did eventually agree to move the motion of recognising the heritage of these properties in this way, there was initial debate over 89 Magpie Street, Golden Point which Sovereign Hill are owners.

An amended motion to remove 89 Magpie Street from the permanent heritage controls and review the Golden Point property at next month's council's meeting was put forth by Cr Ben Taylor.

This was seconded by the mayor Cr Des Hudson who said this approach represented "procedural fairness" for all parties involved.

Deputy mayor Cr Amy Johnson also spoke in favour of the motion. She said without speaking to the Sovereign Hill board, the council did not "have all the pieces to make a properly informed decision".

However, this amended motion was rejected by most councillors. Cr Mark Harris, who spoke against the change, said the council "shouldn't be in the position of waiting on organisations to get their acts together".

Similarly, Cr Daniel Moloney said such a move would set an "ugly precedent". He said he felt delaying their decision on the Magpie Street address was unlikely to change the minds of council officers.

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In the end, after quite some discussion between councillors over the Golden Point property, the motion reverted back to the original council officer's recommendation.

Cr Samantha McIntosh, who moved the motion, said heritage protection was a "clear message from the community".

"It is crucial we continue to work diligently," Cr McIntosh said.

Cr Mark Harris, who seconded the motion, congratulated the council officers considering the shortcomings of the City of Ballarat's Heritage Gap Review which failed to identify the value of Victory House.

Similarly, Cr Moloney said the decision would be the "first few steps" to come in marking the "start of the journey" in protecting the city's five assets.

Chinese Australian Cultural Society Ballarat president Charles Zhang, who is also a part investor of Victory House, said hearing the motion being passed in the council's chambers was monumental.

"This is the right decision, not only for Ballarat's Chinese community but for Ballarat's history," Mr Zhang said.

He said it was vital the city's history is preserved. "Ballarat is booming which is great but we also need to look at what we can save too," he said.

"Ballarat's history is such a unique selling point and history is something we cannot make."

Fourth generation Ballarat Chinese descendant Brian Foo, who has advocated alongside Mr Zhang to retain Victory House, said the decision was a "good starting point".

"The input of the Chinese into the making of Ballarat was significant. They worked in the mines and they had the market gardens. They've done so many things and they put money back into the community and now we're finally going to be able to get somewhere where we can recognise it and show it," Mr Foo said.

Mr Zhang who will receive the keys to Victory House on February 17 said he was eager to restore the building to its original form.

He said his plans for the property to be refurbished into a museum, alongside his co-investor who requested anonymity, remained.

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.

Victory House 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.

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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.

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