Have your say on the 2019 Queenscliffe Heritage Review

The Borough of Queenscliffe held two heritage workshops on 22 May 2019 in the Queenscliff Town Hall. Presented by Lovell Chen, the workshops were an opportunity for residents to learn more about how heritage planning has occurred in the past, and share their thoughts on how it could be approached in the future.

Participants were shown a series of prompt questions at the end of the session designed to foster thinking about how the review might consider heritage. While these questions are not designed to be responded to individually, we've listed them here for interested residents and visitors:

What does heritage mean to you? Buildings, landscapes, environment, people, activities? Why is the heritage of the Borough of Queenscliffe important to you? What do you see as are the important differences between the Borough of Queenscliffe and other places within Victoria? What opportunities does heritage present for the townships of Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale? What do you see as the strengths of heritage management and planning in the Borough of Queenscliffe? What do you see as the weaknesses? What challenges do you face dealing with the heritage provisions of the Queenscliffe Planning Scheme? In your view, how could the planning process be improved when a heritage property is involved?

The Borough of Queenscliffe Council is encouraging residents and members of the wider community to attend a workshop regarding the 2019 Queenscliffe Heritage Review. The workshop will be held on Wednesday 22 May at 7:00pm in the Queenscliff Town Hall and is an opportunity for the community to provide feedback and generate discussion regarding heritage controls in the Borough.

As part of the review, Council plans to undertake a widespread audit of heritage controls in the Borough of Queenscliffe. We aim to develop a set of enhanced heritage citations that acknowledge new and upgraded heritage sites, such as the Point Lonsdale Lighthouse Reserve and Shortland’s Bluff, and guide our understanding and implementation of heritage controls to preserve our social history. The Queenscliffe Heritage Review 2019 will include:

• Reassessment and review of the heritage of the Borough and its buildings, sites, precincts and trees; • Review of definitions, mapping and citations within Council’s previous heritage review conducted in 2009, and amendments if needed; • Identification of places of local, state and national heritage significance that were not included in the 2009 heritage review; and • Amendment of the Queenscliffe Planning Scheme to reflect the results of these investigations. Borough of Queenscliffe Mayor, Cr Bob Merriman said Council is strongly committed to the preservation of history and heritage in the Borough of Queenscliffe and engagement with the community is key to the success of the Queenscliffe Heritage Review.

“Council wants to hear from the people who live in the Borough of Queenscliffe and people in the wider community about what is important to you, how we can improve our management of local planning and heritage, and better ways of activating our heritage sites.”

“The Queenscliffe Heritage Review is an important element of Council’s custodial responsibilities in the preservation of areas of local, state and national significance in Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale. It acknowledges the personal significance of these sites to the people who live and visit here”

“Our goal is to work with the community to implement heritage guidelines in the Borough that protect the unique character of our region”, said Cr Merriman.

For further information regarding the 2019 Queenscliffe Heritage Review, please contact the Borough of Queenscliffe Planning Department on 03 5258 1377.