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Going, Going, Gone?
BY JANE ALEXANDER, ADVOCACY MANAGER
International Day for Monuments and Sites (also referred to as World Heritage Day) on 18 April is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate our precious, globally-significant heritage. But it’s also a chance to reflect on the work still to be done. Recent events show that we can’t take our World Heritage status for granted.
In July 2021, the World Heritage Committee stripped the City of Liverpool (UK) of its coveted world heritage status. While the decision came as a blow to many, it was hardly unexpected; almost ten years ago, UNESCO warned that the city’s heritage-rich waterfront was facing “irreversible damage” from unsympathetic development.
Liverpool’s delisting should be a wake-up call for Sydney. Our world heritage sites, like all our urban heritage sites, are under enormous pressure from overdevelopment, over-commercialisation and poorly thought out ‘activation.’ Developments are chipping away at buffer zones, settings are deteriorating, and the qualities that make these places so special are disappearing before our eyes. If we are to avoid losing the value of our world heritage sites, or indeed their status as world heritage places, we need to act now.
One site in immediate danger is Old Government House in Parramatta. The National Trust, which manages the property, is deeply concerned about the impact of nearby development on its settings and views. Ominously, these concerns were foreshadowed in the site’s original nomination to the World Heritage List, which noted the threat of growing urban environments and development in the property’s peripheral area.
The situation in Parramatta is now alarmingly similar to Liverpool – overdevelopment in buffer zones and a rezoning proposal of nearby sensitive areas to allow for greatly increased building heights. The effect of these changes cannot be underestimated and will ultimately erode the significance of the area. Like Liverpool, Parramatta faces death by a thousand cuts from the cumulative impact of piecemeal development to its world heritage, state heritage and local heritage places.
Time is running out for the Female Factory These impacts also make it increasingly difficult to secure world heritage status for other worthy places. In 2020, the National Trust renewed calls to add Parramatta’s Convict
Female Factory to Australia’s serial listing of Convict sites on the World Heritage List. The Female Factory and its adjacent precinct are outstanding in their capacity to tell the stories of women and children in institutions over the course of Australian history. It demonstrates how colonial and state governments chose to address the perceived problem of vulnerable women and children through institutions as a core element of the welfare system, where the purpose and promise of care were far from the reality.
Despite the significance of the Female Factory, it was not included in the World Heritage inscription of Australia's convict places. Meanwhile, the threats to the site continue to increase. Proposals for numerous high-rise buildings, the bisection of the city by a new light rail line, and ill-thought projects like the new Powerhouse Museum in the flood zone and the “reconstruction” of Willow Grove as faux-heritage will all impact the significance of this special place and its ability to demonstrate the outstanding universal values required for world heritage inscriptions.
A big picture perspective Yet, it doesn’t have to be this way. There are many examples across the world of careful development and adaptive re-use within and around world heritage sites that Australia can draw from to carefully balance the revitalisation of these sites and their surrounds. The right balance is not in conflict with heritage – quite the opposite; it showcases heritage, recognising the benefits it brings to an area.
If Sydney’s world heritage sites are to be protected, we need to bring a new way of approaching their re-use and a new way of managing developments that impact their setting and views. They should not be seen in a ‘bubble’ or as separate from the broader landscape. Urban planning has for many years recognised the need to approach development from a precinct or area perspective, rather than just looking at individual developments.
It's time we adopted the same ‘big picture’ approach to heritage as we do with urban and transport planning. Why? Because with our heritage sites, when they’re gone, they’re gone forever. Show your support this year and attend one (or more) of the many events taking place across the country as part of the Australian Heritage Festival. See the jampacked NSW calendar on the following page.
Heritage Forum – Parramatta
The National Trust has always recognised the importance of a layered urban fabric, where the best of our history informs the present. We’ve long advocated for the protection of Parramatta’s colonial houses, and recently listed that city’s ‘Octagon Building’ (1987-90) designed by prominent Australian Architect John Andrews.
As the city grows the pressures on Parramatta’s heritage continues, and important components of this rich history and development are at great risk of permanent loss. Following the success of the 2021 Heritage Forum on the NSW Heritage Act, the National Trust will host a forum to tackle the issues facing urban heritage in general, and Parramatta’s heritage in particular, before it is too late.
The forum will facilitate discussion on the important questions of balancing future development with heritage character, and seek to present a holistic vision for Parramatta and urban heritage. Caring for our heritage places is a shared responsibility. The National Trust invites you to amplify our advocacy and make your voice count.
For the full details of the next Heritage Forum, subscribe to our eNews: nationaltrust.org.au/enews-nsw
Opposite Female factory (photo by the National Trust).
Above A 2016 NSW Government proposal originally sought to build up to 4,100 apartments, up to 30 storeys high, adjacent to the Female Factory site (image via abc.net.au).
