New Approach Towards Heritage

Heritage plans play a crucial role in protecting our valuable assets and providing guidance on how to manage them for the future.

Informed by community feedback, internal review, stakeholder engagement, and ongoing conversations with Traditional Custodians, Council's new draft Heritage Strategy 2024-2034 reflects an updated approach towards heritage management in our City.

The new approach responds to contemporary challenges and new opportunities in our City and includes a greater focus on:

  • partnering with and supporting Traditional Custodians to understand and better protect pre-contact and contemporary Aboriginal cultural heritage
  • addressing knowledge gaps to better understand and protect diverse cultures and histories
  • tangible and intangible heritage
  • adapting our heritage places for climate resilience and providing sustainable heritage buildings and places for people to live, work and enjoy
  • exploring contemporary methods and emerging technologies to raise awareness and appreciation of the City's heritage and create experiences that connect with the stories of place.

We're keen to understand what you think of the draft strategy, including the proposed vision, objectives, and actions, and whether you feel we have missed anything.

To be part of the conversation, provide your feedback by midnight Sunday 19 May 2024.

Your feedback will help inform the final Heritage Strategy, which will be presented to Council for endorsement in the second half of 2024.

Strategy overview

Vision

Objectives

Quick Poll

Overall, what do you think of the proposed vision and objectives of the draft Heritage Strategy?

Background

Second Conversation

From April to May 2023, we shared a Challenges and Opportunities Paper for further feedback that outlined 11 potential opportunities to address identified challenges. This was to ensure that the foundation of the proposed approach for heritage management aligned with community values.

The Challenges and Opportunities Paper was informed by learnings from an internal review of the previous Heritage Plan, and the first conversation with stakeholders and the broader community.

From the 50 responses received, almost all supported addressing knowledge gaps and growing community awareness of heritage; the majority favoured balancing heritage protection with property growth, and protecting indigenous and natural heritage; and there was strong support for the remaining seven opportunities.

What we heard

Across both conversations you told us:

  • overall, there’s a sense of comfort with proposed heritage opportunities
  • you would like Council to take a stronger stance in safeguarding heritage assets
  • you are also keen to see heritage buildings adapted to today’s climate
  • First Nations, natural and built heritage were top priorities from those who responded
  • more festivals, events and creative ways to share and celebrate our heritage would be welcomed, along with more engaging and innovative ways to connect with your cultural roots and appreciate the history that surrounds them.

You can read more about our engagement approach and what we heard in the Heritage Challenges and Opportunities Engagement Summary Report, located in the Document Library.

First conversation

During our first community conversation in 2022, you shared with us your heritage aspirations and what you believed was worth valuing and protecting into the future. This feedback helped inform 11 key opportunities we proposed for future heritage management.

Your heritage aspirations

Some of your comments included: