Heritage Assets Lost & Threatened around Australia

Selected Australian Heritage Assets Lost and Threatened
– on-shore and off-shore

Historic Manley Ferry, Sydney. Sank January 2022 (ABC)

Australia’s heritage assets hold meaning for all citizens, regardless of state and territory borders and legislation 

If we accept that heritage assets are shared by us all, then the legislative separation between ‘owners’ or responsible authorities in relation to heritage assets is counter-productive, e.g. responsibility lies across three levels of government and private ownership. Similarly confused and often managed in a counterproductive manner is the demarcation between heritage assets on land and above or below the water. Consequently, there is duplication and competition in bureaucracies, uneven access to financial support, and inequitable distribution of heritage expertise. Across Australia, heritage assets remain in jeopardy and the threat of loss is heightened.

The media and informed heritage stakeholder groups despair at the mounting evidence that in the absence of due recognition from politicians. There are obvious deficiencies in heritage policy, persistent cost-cutting under the guise of simply devolving federal responsibility to the states. Significant national heritage assets are being lost at an alarming rate across Australia. This dire  situation is  apparent to all heritage stakeholders. Less apparent  it seems to in government it seems. Possibly not apparent at all to aspirant candidates at the 2022 federal election.  

Note: Endangered Environments and Species

Australia’s unique flora fauna and insecta constitute key elements of our heritage, not only holding meaning for all citizens but also having immense heritage ‘value’ – social, cultural, economic and environmental. Yet, Australia’s record and international reputation on protecting endangered species is a national disgrace.  An independent review of the efficacy of the EPBC Act (1999) found that it failed to ”protect nationally threatened species and ecological communities by: identifying and listing species and ecological communities as threatened. developing conservation advice and recovery plans for listed species and ecological communities. developing a register of critical habitats. See  https://www.awe.gov.au/environment/epbc/what-is-protected

DEFINING HERITAGE >
Heritage Lost & Under Threat
– a Selective List by State
Victoria

Lost

  • Abbotsford Yarra Riverbank – low rise Victorian/Edwardian industrial heritage including chimneys (Yarra Falls site, Trenerry Crescent) – now dominated by riverside high rise buildings
  • Bacchus Marsh – 1960’s Shire Office Main St, Baptist Church Main St & Old Post Office Main St.
  • Beaconsfield Reservoir –  Haunted Gully Gold Workings lost beneath Due to the landscape, the reservoir is not a collection point but rather a holding pond. A long system of water channels/aqueducts were built to take water from the permanently flowing Toomuc Creek and when that was found to be insufficient, the aqueduct system was increased all the way to the Tarago Reservoir
  • Brighton – Breedon House  Built 1966 by architect Geoffrey Woodfall. An intact example of entirely intact Mid-Century Australian domestic architecture. Demolished in 2020 while under review for state heritage protection.(https://www.realestate.com.au/news/brighton-midcentury-house-demolished-while-being-assessed-for-heritage-protection/
  • CBD – James Coppell Lee Foundry The original timber sawbusiness operated out of 500 La Trobe Street Melbourne for almost 120 years before relocating into a modern purpose built factory in Campbellfield, Victoria in 2004 https://www.jclbronzealloys.com.au/foundry/
  • CBD – Eastern Arcade, Melbourne –  Built 1894. When re-development was proposed, it was recommended that the unique Moorish façade be retained. Vic State Govt. failed to protect the building. Demolished 2008. (http://melbournebuildings.com/tag/eastern-arcade/;https://www.skyscrapercity.com/threads/historic-photos-of-melbourne.2220414/page-54;https://afashionablepromenade.com/2014/08/12/an-unenviable-reputation-the-eastern-arcade-bourke-street-melbourne-part-one-environs-denizens-of-bourke-street/
  • CBD – Polly Woodside Maritime Museum – The National Trust(Vic) managed childrens’ maritime museum has been gutted and converted to adult event hospitality usage. This has significantly diminished the value and public interest in the heritage vessel; Polly Woodside languishing in the Heritage- listed Duke & Orrs Dry Dock on the south bank of the Yarra River
  • CBD – Palace Theatre Built 1913, on Bourke Street Hill, one Melbourne’s best-loved music venues was demolished amidst  despite protests. Details  – Built Originally as a theatre, then became a cinema and finally notable live music venue. The building had significant social and cultural heritage.  Immense community opposition but it was  demolished except for its facade in 2020.  Replaced by a hotel.  Seehttps://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/morally-outrageous-after-108-years-demolition-of-the-metro-begins-20200221-p5438a.html
  • CBD  – Siege of Paris’ Cyclorama, Melbourne –  Opened 1891. Closed in 1896, the building was lowered in height and its Saracenic-style façade modified. In 1960, Georges department store purchased the building and opened it as its Hostess Store which closed in 1994, The former cyclorama can still be seen in the façade and in the curved walls of the underground carpark. A.Cooper, Remembering Georges, Melbourne Books, 2014, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-07/cycloramas-were-the-imax-cinemas-of-their-age/100602088; M. Colligan, Canvas Documentaries: Panoramic Entertainments in Nineteenth-century Australia and New Zealand, Melbourne University Press, 2002
  • CBD –  Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital, Melbourne. Established in 1848, it was the city’s only general public hospital for 23 years.  Major new construction was complete by 1910.  As the city changed so too did the role of the hospital until its closure in 1987. The site was valued at A$63 million and by the 1990s the building demolished to make way for a shopping centre and apartments  https://www.qvwc.org.au/history
  • Carlton – Corkman Irish Pub (formerly known as Carlton Inn Hotel) Built 1858 in the inner Melbourne suburb of Carlton .It was controversially and unlawfully torn down over a weekend in 2016 Details
  • Clifton Hill –  Royal Hotel Built 1889 (originally known as Anderson’s Royal Hotel) designed by George Jobbins, built in decorative three-storey Italianate style, this is he last remaining three-storey hotel in Collingwood. Closed in 2017. Planning applications in process. Massive public opposition. VCAT hearing adjourned until September 2022
  • Coburg – 65 The Grove. An Edwardian era House in a street entire covered by a heritage overlay yet, despite staunch  community and Council objections, is  scheduled for demolition . At the VCAT hearing Council argued that the owner had wilfully neglected the property but the new protective State Govt legislation triggered by the infamous ‘Corkman Hotel unlawful demolition, was not yet in force in this Council.  VCAT granted a demolition permit finding the building beyond restoration and vandalised. (See The Sunday Age May 22, 2022) 
  • Collingwood –  Austral Theatre  Built 1921 Closed as a cinema in 1964. “remarkably intact” used as facility until demolished for an 11 storyapartment complex. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/31537
  • Collingwood – The Baden Powell Hotel Built 1872 (originally the New Bendigo Hotel). Developer applying to demolish the building except for the facade on the south and west corner and constructing a 10 storey apartment above the building
  • Collingwood – Smith St Streetscape has lost integrity – many 2 & 3 storey Victorian/Edwardian Warehouse/Factories now interrupted by assorted medium rise buildings and remnant facades
  • Collingwood – Yorkshire Brewery Tower – remains, however it has lost its integrity as a landmark now surrounded by high rise buildings
  • Dandenong –  Drill Hall, Lonsdale Street, towards Pakenham alongside Dandenong Creek . Built 1920s. Intact condition inside and out, corrugated iron cladding and timber lining boards inside, architraves, 4 panels doors, Monterey Pines to North-East.  Demolished and is now a car park with facilities 
  • Daylesford –  Rex Theatre, Vincent Street . Built circa 1920s Acquired by the Hepburn Shire Council in 2016. Plans for a re-purposing have been abandoned. Amidst strong cand persistent community opposition, Shire has put the building up for sale in November 2021. Future uncertain
  • Docklands –  Central Pier Western Section and Mid Section  Heritage listed 100 years old timber Pier at centre of Heritage listed Victoria Harbour, Docklands. Owned by government authority Development Victoria allowed to degrade, now due for total demolition.
  • East Melbourne Precinct – Many splendid buildings lost including  St Patricks’ College – Built in 1854, formerly situated at the corner of Lansdowne St and Cathedral Place was demolished by the owner, the Catholic Church in 1971 with one bluestone tower remaining as a relic;  Fitzroy Terrace Clarendon Street, East Melbourne  Built in 1855. An Intact terrace row   of six 3-storey terrace houses demolished to make way for the Mercy Maternity Hospital, now been converted to apartments. The Mercy Maternity Hospital, was established in 1935 in East Melbourne by the Sisters of Mercy, a Catholic religious order involved in health care since providing extra nurses during the 1919 influenza epidemic;  Cliveden Mansions – Built in 1887-88. A palatial, renaissance-style mansion designed by #WilliamWardell for ‘Australia’s only Baronet’ Sir William Clarke, with the usual 20 bedrooms, ballroom, and craftsmen brought out from Italy to do the marble etc. In 1909 became luxury flats with an added floor, then demolished in 1968 for Melbourne’s first Hilton Hotel;  Burnell Building–  Built 1857.An unusual Moorish design. built for John Speechley Gotch, newsagent and partner in Gordon and Gotch.   It was demolished in the 1969 to make way for expansion of the Freemasons Hospital.
  • Fitzroy South Precinct – A Heritage cluster of State registered heritage assets including Former Eastern Hill Hotel, Edensor/Dodgshun House, various elements related to Australia’s only Catholic saint – Mary Mackillop, a site of pilgrimage. No measures exist for to address such a precinct-wide heritage conservation. Much is being demolished destroying site heritage integrity.
  • Gippsland Bridges – Lost. So many have been lost to bushfires and neglect and the ones remaining are seldom adequately maintained.  Genoa River truss bridge, Genoa – Built 1927  Victoria’s only genuine ‘Highway Bridge’ of the type illustrated in Victorian road-and-bridge construction manuals .Only surviving example of a multi-span timber-truss bridge built by the Country Roads Board. Design by T H Upton and D V Darwin. . Lost 2020-2021 Bushfires; Hinnonmunjie truss bridge. Omeo Valley – Built 1911 over the Mitta Mitta River.Double-truss timber bridge. Last remaining timber truss road bridge on the State Heritage Register. In need of major structural works to stablise and restore it after fire damage and inappropriate repairs; Stony Creek rail bridge, Nowa Nowa – Built 1916. Highest of the surviving rail trestle bridges on the former Bairnsdale-Orbost rail line. Not  currently not being maintained, at risk of damage from fire; Murrindal River truss bridge, Buchan East – Built 1927. Curved single-truss bridge over a steep waterway with timber trestles supporting the truss and the girder approach spans are supported on mass concrete piers. True timber trestles are rare in Victoria. The outer ends of the approach spans are supported by buried timber pier, Lost 2020-2021 Bushfires.
  • Hawthorn 76 Wattle Rd. 1880s manor house demolished under state planning laws despite Council support its heritage protection.
  • Keysborough  –  Egg Farm Chapel Road – Built circa 1920s derelict extensive. Lost to urban re-development.Weatherboard cottage, on Perry Road   Built circa 1900 part of the Gardeners Gate Nursery, built there and used for a family which had a market/flower garden. Re-located to Pakenham. 
  • Lakes Entrance –  Port Entrance Training Walls– part of the ’New Works Complex  site – jetties, cottages, piers, cranes. ’ Lakes Entrance in Victoria, Australia, is the man-made channel that links Bass Strait with the 400 km square inland network of Gippsland Lakes. The walls attest to the ingenuity of 19th century engineering construction works.  Environmental erosion and planned new port works threaten integrity of the site 
  • Lanes – 19th century, bluestone laneways have been lost throughout  inner city and inner suburban areas – notably within the CBD Hoddle Grid . Laneways were integral to social, cultural and commercial life – business was conducted, children played, neighbours interacted. Developers apply to Council’s to appropriate public laneway land into private developments. Incrementally public heritage assets have been lost or damaged in this way.  These laneways are essential elements within a heritage precinct and are also of significance in heritage overlays. Note – While many properties and sites have heritage value, Heritage Victoria’s authority and responsibility is under the Victoria Heritage Act 2017, is limited to matters relating to heritage-listed properties
  • Licola  – Round Post Yard  Built during a battle between a large squatter and a selecting family in the 1870s-1880s in a remote locality. Believed unique, north of Heyfield. Wellington Shire a large sheep yard built of immense standing sawn logs in stockade fashion. Unprotected and Lost in the 2006, bushfire. Medowra Cheese Factory Located between Glenmaggie and Mudbrick factory is made of corrugated iron in a traditional style by significant local Abyssinian man who also built his own two-story mudbrick shop and residence at Glenmaggie. These were the only two known examples of his work. Replaced an earlier cheese factory in this remote location that was destroyed by fire in 1908.Unprotected and Lost: June 2007, flood. Holmes Plain Yard – Located near Mt Tamboritha and  Licola Built circa 1870s by Holm brothers of Eaglevale/Crooked River, who had the run from 1869. Large, multi-sectioned cattle yard built using nearby timber with a number of fencing techniques no longer in use. This was the oldest known structure relating to use of the high plains for summer Alpine grazing. Used by a number of legendary high-country cattlemen. Unprotected and Lost: between c.1990 and 2010 due to fires and increased influx of campers
  • Marengo –  Black Beacon– Built 1858 Early navigation aid one of a set of beacons built in the to aid shipping along the notorious “Shipwreck Coast” of South West Victoria. Removed. At risk of collapse. 
  • Murray-Darling River System – Red Gum Works.  Many genuine operational works were demolished.in the 1960s eg. Evans Sawmill, on Murray Esplanade, Echuca. The brick Murray River Sawmill office was demolished around1975. https://www.tuugo.biz/Companies/evans-bros.-echuca-red-gum-sawmills/0050003430491#!    
  • Newport 19th Century Bluestone cottage , Blackshaws Rd.
  • Northcote Theatre – Built1912State level of significance in relation to both its architecture and social history. Theoldest purpose- built cinema surviving in Melbourne. An example of what became a typical format for cinema design, classically derived, but with cantilever construction simple, flat applied decoration, a central arch a stage dress circle, stalls – and an electric generator.  Currently leased by a developer seeking a permit to partially demolish the exterior and interior for re-purposing a large-scale night club/live music venue. Demolition has commenced without necessary permits. See http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/search/nattrust_result_detail/65465
  • Numurkah Various assets Pumphouse Station situated on the Broken Creek built in 1889 and demolished 1998 to enable improvements to the town water supply Timber Foot Bridge over the Broken Creek linking the town area to the showgrounds built in 1883, replaced with a newer wooden bridge.Wesleyan Methodist Church a small brick building  built in 1890 in Quinn Street  used continuously until demolished in 1975.The stained glass windows were repurposed into the new modern style church. Numurkah Post Office: red brick two-storey building, built in 1904 and demolished in the early 1960’s – the building was considered too old for modern day post office and telephone exchange use. SE corner of Quinn and Melville St. The Postmaster and family lived upstairs. Penzance Private Hospital: one of a few private hospitals in the town, but was the last one used before the town gained its War Memorial Public Hospital in 1957. Penzance was built in 1930, closed in the early 1960’s and the building demolished in 2000’s. Showgrounds Grandstand: Built in 1891 for the Numurkah Agricultural Society. Wooden structure with tiered seating and rooms below. Demolished in 1970’s.
  • Railways – Suburban Lines Lost – Melbourne Look at the dates and reflect on todays road  traffic congestion. Many of the railways stations have been re-purposed as community facilities. Inner Circle line 1888-1981 Outer Circle line 1880-1893  Kew line  1887-1957 Gembrook Line 1900-1954 Healesville Line 1889-1980 Mornington line 1887-1957 Mont Park line 1911-1964 Sandridge (Port Melbourne) line 1854-1987 St. Kilda-Windsor line 1888-1916 St. Kilda line 1888-1916Red Hill line 1854-1987 Springvale Cemetery Line 1904-1951 Rosstown line 1888-1916 Warburton line 1901-1965 Whittlesea 1989-1959 
  • South Melbourne  – Tram Depot  Opened 1925, closed 1997 and demolished in 1998. The site became valuable and was redeveloped as office accommodation
  • Stringer’s Knob Fire Tower, North Bete Bolong Unique firewatcher’s cabin of  an experimental  single timber 100ft.  pole design.Yellow Stringly Bark wood and  Red Ironbark trees.Built in 1941 after the 1939 Black Friday bushfires. Lost in 2020-2021 bushfires. 
  • Talbot – Victorian Goldfields Township Established c1852 as the Goldfields opened up around Amhurst. In 1859 the Scandinavian Lead was discovered nearby at Black Creek.Since the mid 1980s the Goldfields has been developing a case for applying for World Heritage Status. Neglect and Loss of heritage assets over this period is jeopardising the process.  Lost heritage assets around Talbot jeopardizes the area’s claim to WH status. For example: 1861 modest brick town commercial building of great significance. one of the oldest brick commercial buildings in the main street of Talbot. Office of the local newspaper, the Talbot Leader, 1861 to 1948. Notably the original editor was Robert Clark, who went on to become the founder of the Ballarat Courier, still a thriving newspaper.  Privately owned, deemed to be a public risk leading to ‘demolition by neglect’.  Lost in June 2021.Horse-drawn puddling machine, and, in close proximity, Chinese garden beds on Crown land. Network of blue-stone water races, and settling pond
  • Vessels – HMAS  Otama. The last of the  submarines commissioned by the RAN,  built in Scotland commenced service in service in 1978 until late 2000, when she was decommissioned and sold to the Western Port Oberon Association, a community group that planned to preserve the submarine as a museum ship, The plan failed. The Otama has been towed off away as scrap metal. 
  • Werribee Geodatic Survey Baseline  In 1860 Robert Ellery, Government Astronomer and Supervisor of the Geodetic Survey of Victoria, installed permanent markers (South Base, North Base and Green Hill extension): Markers were of a solid bluestone  with a plug made of gun metal and platinum centre of set into the ground, capped by a heavy stone.  Originally these crucially important triangulated Baselines were critical to the development of Victoria and heritage listed as ‘physical evidence of an important element of the 19th century Geodetic Survey and consequently the earliest maps of Victoria’.  Lost : No longer accessible because of urban development.  See dttps://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/6068  
  • Werribee Irrigation Colony  Constructed 1880s Chaffey Bros.,  on behalf of the Werribee Irrigation and Investment Company, planned scheme to ensure  a reliable water supply for a rural subdivision which ultimately failed due to the financial crisis in Victorian banking system. Evidence of irrigation schemeremains at the Chaffey Pump site on the Werribee River – Bluestone footings,  a sluice gate, the channel . Urban development threatens this https://digital.wyndham.vic.gov.au/myWyndham/doc/HO61%20Chaffey%20Irrigation%20Scheme.pdf
  • Werribee  – Beamish Family Hom Built 1881 and became Wandeen Private Hospital in the 1940s and a Boarding House in the 1970-80s. Demolished in 1988 and the site is now occupied by McDonald’s restaurant. https://wyndhamhistory.net.au/items/show/1000
  • Werribee  – The Manor  Built 1889 by Capt. Percy Chirnside separated from the original Werribee Estate of the Pioneering pastoral Chirnside family. Burnt down 1966.
  • Williamstown –The Oriental Hotel, Nelson Place, North Williamstown Railway Station
  • Windsor –  Cottage, George St – Built c1855 A rare intact  example of the small cottages built in Prahran/Windsor during the 1850s. Permission was granted  to allow partial  demolition but it was  completely destroyed on February 2022. See  (https://www.realestate.com.au/news/windsor-heritage-cottage-demolition-sparks-city-of-stonnington-legal-action/?rsf=syn%3Anews%3Anca%3Ahs%3Asocref&fbclid=IwAR1K4Kt0w_dcrfkn8UjB95KdrPgf2G3m06snO5W2y0DSAZfo-I4MBRZHqTQ
  • Yarrawonga Township – Community Hall Built 1959, an adjunct building to the  Yarrawonga Shire (Town) Hall which failed an interim heritage application and was demolished in  late 2021   Lost to development: Sacred Heart Catholic Presbytery,  Gorman family homes – one in McNally Street and one corner of Woods Road and Murray Valley Highway Yarrawonga.

Under Threat

  • Apollo Bay – Cable Station Museum and Manager’s Residence Built 1935. The property as a whole is a unique part of Australian’s communication history. It housed and operated the telegraph and telephone connection between Tasmania and Victoria until 1980. The Museum has a local Heritage Overlay but the Residence has no such protection. the heritage integrity of the site is threatened with the prospect of the building being separated from the rest of the property with possible sale. Mechanics Hall Built in 1887. One of the few buildings remaining from this period in the town’s history. recent downturn use due to COVID has meant loss of income. And growing threat to ongoing viability of the hall. Future uncertain. Paradise Reserve, Barham River. A picnic area since the in the early 1900s. Working bees by locals created the area and maintained it. The State government took control and failed to maintain the space. The consequence of this it its attraction and significance in the district.
  • Bacchus Marsh – Websters Cottage, Graham St.,Hoblers Cottage, Masons Lane, Symington House.
  • Ballarat –  Lake Wendouree Public heritage asset with 50 year history.The name comes from local Aboriginal word wendaaree which means ‘go away’  A story is told that when settler William Cross Yuille asked a local indigenous woman the name of the swamp who replied ’ wendouree’.Created when  the swamp was dammed following the Victorian gold rush in 1851 and since the 1860s it has been a popular recreational lake for Ballarat’s citizens. The Ballarat Council plans to install 225 x 6m high light poles digging through over 400 tree protection zones generating light pollution hazards for wildlife
  • Beaconsfield Reservoir – Built circa 1918 at severe risk from state agency Melbourne Water plans to remove a large portion of the dam wall to create this historic reservoir into a chain of ponds. It was built around 1918 to feed water to HMAS Cerebus planned during and finished post WW1. Strong community opposition.
  • Beaumaris Resident group Beaumaris Modern has been campaigning for years for the recognition of the many heritage significance of post-war buildings in the Bayside area. Of the 78 significant properties only 28 have acknowledeged by Council leaving the rest vulnerable,
  • Blackrock  – HMAS Cerberus The HMVS Cerberus is a breakwater shipwreck that served as part of the Victorian Naval Forces when Australia was still a British colony and also as part of the Royal Australian Navy until 1924. It now rests just off the coast as a rusting scrap. Subsiding into Port Philip Bay off without any serious attempt to keep her visibly a presence.
  •   Box Hill Former Standard Brickworks, Federation St. Box Hill.  The site is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register; http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/mobile/result_detail/154 The building has been vandalized and graffitied for many years, while the surrounding land is unstable and leaks methane and cannot currently be redeveloped.  Demolition by neglect is probably the most apt description of the building, yet it is on the State Register.
  • Former Gas & Fuel Showrooms, 942-946 Whitehorse Road Box Hill.   An Art Deco building, that has a Whitehorse Council Heritage Overlay, yet is slated for demolition as part of the development of the Suburban Rail Loop project, along with surrounding buildings that also have local heritage protection. McCook property. 83-87 Dorking Road Box Hill; the   Architect designed Queen Anne villa, has a Whitehorse Council Heritage Overlay, and a vegetation protection overlay.  Developers have moonscaped the site, and neglected to maintain the building, Council has taken them to Court for breaches of their permit.
  • Burwood – Wattle Park Originally managed and maintained  by the Tramways Board.  Parks Victoria took over management of Wattle Park about 30 years ago. Lack of maintenance has led to deterioration of many key heritage elements in the Park – most of which are listed on the Victorian Heritage Register as having State significance.   Tiered Fountain and Lily Pond – Tiered fountain and lily pond. Entrance Bollards – Allegedly these concrete pillars have ‘concrete cancer’ and too expensive to repair. The connecting cable is also broken in parts. The Lone Pine A significant tree at risk through the planned construction of a running track on adjacent oval.
  • Camberwell ‘Rotherwood’ 5 70 Riversdale Rd. Built in 1939 fine art deco building now facing demolition. Despite heritage significance given it is not situated in a heritage overlay area, it has no heritage protection at all.
  • Camberwell Rotherwood, Riversdale Road Block of 1939 3 story, red brick, 9 apartments without Heritage protection or Council and under threat of demolition.
  • Carlton – The Royal Exhibition Building and the surrounding Carlton Gardens is the only UNESCO World Heritage-listed site in Melbourne. Some heritage advocates are worried that development in permitted in the areas surrounding the structure and gardens jeopardize the World Heritage status. Details
  • Carlton – Curtin Hotel 150 year old building opposite Trades Hall and  steeped in Labor Party history.  Unions are discussing a bid to save a Carlton pub  from development. Named after wartime Labor prime minister John Curtin, the pub became the national meeting place for generations Labor party and union figures, including former prime minister Bob Hawke. Under threat of demolition for apartments. https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/bid-to-save-historic-carlton-pub-steeped-in-labor-history-20220215-p59wr1.htm
  • CBD  – Old Melbourne Observatory Established in 1863 through the merging of Williamstown Observatory as an astronomical observator, together with Flagstaff Observatory, which had been conducting magnetic and meteorological observations since 1858. A unique scientific complex of structures housing a unique still operational instrument collection. Currently languishing under control of the adjacent Royal Botanical Gardens. Threatened by encroachment by the RBG seeking revenue from commercial activities and public entertainment events requiring a level of illumination. This adversely impacts on night sky observations and operations. Details
  • CBD – Queen Victoria Market Officially opened in March 1878, State and Nationally heritage-listed as an authentic 19th century open inner-city market .The last remaining example of the many  open markets which operated in the CBD. It has been the heart and soul of Melbourne for 140 years.  Many argue that, as a subsidiary of the City of Melbourne, the market is at risk due to major ‘renewal’ works which some argue are not always heritage compliant and are designed shift away the traditional market operations, customers and traders into a sanitised ‘modern’ curated retail era. 
  • Clifton Hill – Royal Hotel 41 Spensley St – Inappropriate development
  • Clifton Hill – The Shot Tower Alexandra Parade – highly significant landmark structure under threat from future medium to high rise development adversely impacting on visual and structural integrity
  • Collingwood – The Baden Powell Hotel, 61-65 Victoria Parade, plans submitted to demolish most of the fabric leaving only two street walls of façade
  • Dandenong – Drill Hall Lonsdale Street, towards Pakenham alongside Dandenong Creek. Built 1920s. Intact condition inside and out, corrugated iron cladding and timber lining boards inside, architraves, 4 panels doors, Monterey Pines to North-East. 
  • Daylesford – Rex Theatre, Vincent St. Built circa 1920sAcquired by the Hepburn Shire Council in 2016. Plans for a re-purposing have been abandoned. Amidst strong cand persistent community opposition, Shire has put the building up for sale in November 2021. Future uncertain.
  • Docklands – Central Pier  Last remaining portion of this heritage-listed infrastructure abutting Harbour Esplanade, Docklands. Neglected over decades by the responsible authority, Development Victoria. Slated for demolition 2022. Application Permit to demolish nowsubmiutted. See https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/rebuild-pier-pressure-grows-as-report-shows-shutdown-will-cost-865m-20211216-p59i8v.html  Shipping Control Tower, Collins Wharf  Current structure replaced an earlier timber octagonal Watch Tower of 1934, was designed by architect C J Smith. Since abandoned and degenerating since 1966 Shipping Control Tower, a technologically advanced its time, servicing the Port of Melbourne – and the public at a time when the public more widely understood the value of, and our reliance upon shipping. Yet the tower has  never been officially heritage-listed.  Recently approved plans from Development Victoria perhaps indicate retention of the structure. Future remains uncertain.  https://storeyofmelbourne.org/2021/06/23/shipping-control-tower-abandoned/  
  • East Melbourne – Valetta House Built 1856 by Osgood Pritchard for John Gray, Supreme Court Judge and first Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, Redmond Barry, became owner and occupier in 1879, and died there in 1880, only twelve days after the execution of Ned Kelly, over whose trial he presided. Used for a range of institutional purposes and private most recently the homeless resulting in broken windows and doors. Galvanised iron, boarded up windows and security wire are now its most prominent and saddest features. Continues to be neglected.
  • Geelong – Marshall’s Bluestone Cottage A simple but significant bluestone building in the Geelong region threatened by road construction & needing relocation. Details
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  • High Country – Multiple Historic High Country Cattlemen’s Huts..  Dating from mid 1800s. These huts represent the post settlement history of the high country, often the only remaining structures of that era. Structures were originally built by cattlemen, foresters, and miners. There were 200+ huts known but only three or four huts are currently heritage-listed in their own right. Devastating bushfires in Victorian National Parks and State Forests have destroyed many of these heritage structures The major risk is bureaucratic demarcations leading to inconsistent support in relation to protection, appropriate care and maintenance sensitive which is to respectful of the heritage value.   High Country Cattlemen’s Huts include Guys, Howitt, Millers and Moroka. www.hutsvictoria.org.au Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hutsvic
  • Hopetoun ( Bacchus Marsh) – Webster’s Cottage Graham St, Hobler’s Cottage, Masons Lane, Symington’s House at the east end of the east end of Hopetoun
  • Keysborough Precinct – In 1861 William Keys sold land for church and private school. Gothic Revival Church, Keysborough Primary School– Keysborough common school was started on adjoining site July 1869 to be replaced by the new state school in 1873; Hall circa 1920s weatherboard and corrugated iron thought part of old church. Although a Community Group has established a Trust to fund repairs, they await agreement from the Uniting Church to the transfer of the building and land in an area which is attractive for other urban developments. Future uncertain. Methodist Church and Hall Built 1870s for the original settlers to the area. Honour Board records congregation from World War it until 1950s. Currently being used by MLG. Operating both as a church and collection centre for overseas island aid missions. Over 60 years of service by volunteers. Site is valuable. Future uncertain.
  • Lake Knox – City of Knox. Wetlands home to endangered duck species. Under threat from proposal by Development Victoria and Knox Council to drain the 19 hectares of wetlands and convert to a housing development site. Strong local opposition. There is a Save Lake Knox video petition – over 24,500 people have signed to date 2022.
  • Lakes Entrance – Port Entrance Training Walls Part of the ’New Works Complex  site – jetties, cottages, piers, cranes. Lakes Entrance in Victoria, Australia, is the man-made channel that links Bass Strait with the 400 km square inland network of Gippsland Lakes. The walls attest to the ingenuity of 19th century engineering construction works.  Environmental erosion and planned new port works threaten integrity of the site. 
  • Lanes – 19th century, bluestone laneways are to be found throughout  inner city and inner suburban areas – notably within the CBD Hoddle Grid. The public purpose of lanes was to enable rear access to properties and importantly the removal of night soil. Lanes are mostly 3 metres wide and often one-way. Laneways were also integral to social, cultural and commercial life – children played, neighbours interacted and business lives. Developers now routinely apply to Councils to appropriate these public laneways incorporating public land into private developments- enclosing, roofing over or eliminating heritage laneways. Councils set an extremely price when developers apply to acquire public laneway land. Councils also remove or asphalt over bluestone pavers and remove guttering oblivious to heritage concerns. Incrementally heritage public assets are lost or defaced in this way,  These laneways are essential elements within a heritage precinct and are also of significance in heritage overlays. Note – While many properties and sites have heritage value, Heritage Victoria’s authority and responsibility is under the Victoria Heritage Act 2017, is limited to matters relating to heritage-listed properties
  • Lorne – Fishermen’s Cooperative Building on Point Grey. Operational from 1949. Heritage maritime rail infrastructure on the adjacent pier was discarded and regional authorities recently developed ambitious re-development plans for this modest site which paid no heed to the heritage significance of commercial fishing at Lorne. Strong community opposition to the development has prevailed but the future outcome remains unclear. See https://timesnewsgroup.com.au/surfcoasttimes/news/community-rallies-to-fund-co-op-vcat-appeal/ see also http://www.greatoceanroadauthority.vic.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Engagement-Summary-Report-2018.pdf
  • Mt Buffalo – Chalet  Opened 1910 as the first ski resort in the Vic Alps but closed to the public since 2007. It is the largest wooden building in Australia. Under threat by a disinterested state agency without funds for maintenance, utilities up-grading and compliance or re-purposing. 
  • Myrtleford – Tobacco Kilns Distinctive corrugated iron tobacco-drying kilns appeared in great numbers in the 1930s as the tobacco industry grew in Myrtleford. Tobacco farming started to take hold with the arrival of Italian migrants in the 1920s and grew post WW2 and peaked 1950-1960. Now in private ownership, some are being used for storage, some converted but some just falling over without maintenance.
  • Newport  – Railways Workshops Commenced in 1880 Victorian Railways purchased annexes used at the 1880 Melbourne Exhibition and erected one of them at Newport, naming it the Newport Carriage Workshops.Com completed in 1889. Railways enthusiasts are planning an application for World Heritage Listing while the State Govt.  is currently pursuing a major redevelopment of the entire site. Heritage -listed, potentially a World Heritage site but subject to Govt neglect and underfunded. Details . Masonic Lodge,Melbourne Rd.
  • Numurkah Various assets Band Hall a weatherboard building, originally the dining room at the Railway Gate Hotel built in 1882, moved to Quinn Street used by the Lodge before being moved to its present site in Stringer way.  Water Tower 70 foot high, topped with a steel tank weighing 5 tons. Over 70,000 red bricks used each one personally selected by the Engineer Joseph Sheard whene rected in 1889 Showgrounds Ornamental Gate donated by the Thornton Bros as a memorial to their father Thomas a previous President of the Agricultural Society, erected in 1929.
  • Bank of Victoria: built in 1891. Red-brick, two-storey bank offices and manager’s residence. Currently owned by the Moira Shire, and occupied by Numurkah & District Historical Society. Building was purchased from the bank (NAB) in 1988 by the Numurkah Shire (also using local fund-raising) for the sole purpose of the preservation of local history.Court House: built in 1888. Red brick, single storey building, Victorian free-classical architectural style, Queen Ann gables. Court proceedings finished in the 1980’s Building is now used by various small businesses.Railway footbridge: built in 1890. Cast iron. It connected the passenger railway station on the west side, to the goods area and the street going to the centre of town, on the east side.  
  • Piers of Victoria There are at least 19 piers in jeopardy around the Victorian coastline entirely due to State negligence. Significant piers in jeopardy include: Workshops Pier, Boyd Pier, Commissioner’s Piers in Williamstown. Significant maritime heritage infrastructure, closed to the public and inadequately maintained. Flinders Pier – Built in 1864 the original timber pier alongside which the first telegraph cable connecting Victoria and Tasmania was rolled out into the sea. Much of the pier is now cordoned off due to “structural defects’’. Hampton Pier – First pier built in 1882. The centre for the Melbourne fishing fleet which on entering Port Phillip Bay, unloaded their catch at the pier, and then trucked to a railway link to Melbourne. 
  • Point Nepean Quarantine Station Established in 1852, nearly 50 heritage-listed buildings. In 1901 with Federation o quarantine moved from state to Commonwealth control. Responsibility now lies with Parks Victoria which has seriously neglected the site.  In 2022, State Govt allocated some funds for restoration but many fear it is too little too late. https://www.parks.vic.gov.au/places-to-see/parks/point-nepean-national-park/attractions/quarantine-station
  • Richmond –  The Jack Dyer Stand in Punt Road Oval Built in 1914 and cited by the National Trust as having “architectural, historic and social significance to Victorians”. Named after legendary Richmond footballer, Jack Dyer. 1998 threatened with demolition as part of planned re-development of oval by Richmond Football Club. The Melbourne Council supported the redevelopment. 2022 Situation dire. https://www.trustadvocate.org.au/threat-to-jack-dyer-stand-intensifies/  
  • Ringwood – Blood Brothers Store Built circa 1915 and an iconic part of Ringwood, a town once the outskirts of Melbourne. See Blood Bros. Store Heritage Assessment V1.2s (final).pdf
  • Sassafras Creek Walking Track Constructed in stages between 1890 and 1912 the 15 km walking track from Sassafras, through and past Sherbrooke, Kallista, The Patch, Olinda, Monbulk and Emerald to Clematis as – a tourist drawcard in Dandenongs for over 100 years
  • Southbank – Repatriation Building  310 St Kilda Rd adjacent to Victoria Barracks. The Defence-owned and formerly Heritage listed but suffering progressive demolition by neglect. Future uncertain.  Details
  • Southbank  – Heritage vessel Polly Woodside. Now floating in the Duke & Orrs dry dock in the forecourt of the Melbourne Exhibition andConvention Centre. Built in Belfast in 1885, the three-masted cargo vessel carried coal and wheat between England and South America. Polly Woodside sailed around Cape Horn 16 times trading coal and nitrate in South America. As the coal/nitrate trade began to diminish and returned little or no profit, the ship was sent on two round-the-world voyages picking up and discharging cargoes wherever they could be found. Sold to the National Trust in 1968 for one cent. Volunteers valiantly struggle to maintain the ship but without adequate funding, the rate of deterioration is increasing rapidly.
  • Talbot Township – Fire Engine House, Heale St. Built 1873, Became unsuitable for larger fire eqpt.  Now used by RSL. Walls and floor in poor condition and in need of restoration. Future uncertain. The Talbot Leader building, Scandinavian Crescent, Talbot near Ballarat built in the late 1850s . A rare existing example of a pilastered, or columned, single-storey, free-standing commercial brick building of the gold rush era. Gas Works, Whitakers Lane Produced first gas in1859 less than a year after the discovery of the Scandinavian [gold]Lead. One of only 5 gas works operating in Victoria during the 1850s. The Gas Holder is probably the earliest surviving relic of the gas industry in Victoria. Its brick base is in poor condition. See https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/7297984/demolition-looms-for-historic-goldrush-news-building/  
  • Traralgon – Tyers Road Viaduct Built 1920-21 on the approach to the Latrobe River on the road to Tyers. Now bypassed. Made from hand-hewn timber still showing broad-axe marks. “This ancient-looking and primitive earliest surviving CRB Developmental Road bridge must rate amongst Victoria’s longest surviving all-timber road bridges” (Chambers) Classified by National Trust 1999. No commitment to maintenance for many years, now at risk from a new bridge due to be constructed. https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/68769 (VHD) Don Chambers Wooden wonders: Victoria’s timber bridges. 2006.
  • Warragul – Crossover Road Bridge. Built in 1892 a timber road bridge across a deep railway cutting on the rail line to Noojee at Rokeby near Warragul. Listed on the Victorian Heritage Register as having  scientific and historical significance. Degrading without maintenance due to the absence of any clear management responsibility.  ahttps://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/12314 Don Chambers Wooden wonders: Victoria’s timber bridges. Don Chambers,WoodenWonders 2006. https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/34362187
  • Werribee – the remaining Magazine at the former Truganina Munitions Reserve has been further built around and there are fears that it will be demolished indue course.
  • Western Port – Phillip Island, French Island, Corinella and Grantville  – Chicory Kilns   In 1878, the first chicory kiln was built in Cowes, For the first 2-3 years the  green chiccory crop was shipped to Melbourne by Cpt. John Lock in his ketch, John and Elizabeth.  A second kiln was built in 1880.  By 1920 there were at least 25 kilns erected on the Island. The chicory industry peaked in the 1940’s when 164 growers in the Western Port area produced over 75% of Australia’s requirement was grown.  http://pidhs.org.au/essay/28
  • Williamstown Sea Port and Ship Building Centre established in 1837 Originally Melbourne’s first sea port, Inadequate maintenance over decades has resulted in three important wharves are closed to due to public risk. See https://www.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/visit/Blog/Melbournes-original-seaport  Alfred Graving Doc – Major facility 1858 which remained in use until 1911.  Provide dry docking for ships requiring maintenance or repair services. It is an excavated area lined with mortar bonded, closely inter-locking basalt blocks, generally about one metre cubes and is built in the form of an inverted arch. The stonework of the dock structure is largely as originally constructed. http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/search/nattrust_result_detail/65993 See also heading Piers of Victoria .Reid St Pier historic relationship with with Williamstown’s tug fleet for decades is lying in ruins and Booth Pier is degenerating. Mechanics Institute Caretakers Cottage(, Elektra St. House No. 19 Elektra St.
  • Yarram – Hiawatha Bridge Built by the CountryRoads Board in the 1930s. Its A-shaped truss meant using a central pier, subject to constant loss to flooding, and degrading rapidly, On the Victorian Heritage Register. An example of one of these spectacular small-scale bridges, which were a uniquely Gippsland ‘solution’, mainly for the Strelecki Ranges, that is left in the state. Not being maintained by Wellington Shire and degrading rapidly. https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/13064(VHR) Don Chambers Wooden wonders: Victoria’s timber bridges.  2006.
  • Yarrawonga  Township Heritage Buildings in Belmore Street- the main street. Significant heritage shop frontages & heritage buildings including the 2nd Post Office Built 1897, the 1st. Shire Offices Built 1897; Yarrawonga Convent,  Shire Hall (Town Hall) Built 1930  – an Inter War Free Classical Style building with Tower and War Memorial Clock completed 7 years later( Heritage Application 2019 still awaiting decision); Former Yarrawonga Primary School Site-Built – 1880 with additions 1912,1961,1998 ; Brick Water Tower Built  1875; Heritage listed Yarrawonga  Court House Built 1887; Fire Brigade Built 1898  Inter War Free Classical Style with modifications and extensions 1931; Catholic Presbytery, Witt Street,; Gorman family homes:  one house in McNally Street and one house corner of Woods Road and Murray Valley Highway Stand of  16 National Trust heritage listed Tamarisk trees planted in memory of ex-students who were killed in battle in WW1 & War Memorial Cairn. Community is fighting for the entire site to be acquired by the Moira Shire Council for Community Use, rather than subdivided and buildings demolished
Help AHAA demonstrate to all candidates that heritage assets are being lost, and that policy reforms are required – urgently.

Add to the AHAA Lost Heritage catalogue by emailing: info@ahaa.net.au

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New South Wales

Lost

  • Sirius Social Housing Development. The fight to save the Sirius social housing complex in Sydney was boosted by creative, design-led community engagement strategies but, ultimately, the residents were not able to stay. Details
  • Gundagai Prince Alfred Timber Bridge Destroyed by the NSW Government October 2021 See https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-03/gundagai-farewells-historic-prince-alfred-bridge/100589708
  • Historic Home  “Tilba”, Liverpool Road,  Burwood was listed on the National Trust Register ten days after its demolition on 28 April, 2010 See https://federationhome.com/2018/09/12/burwood-federation-house-tilba/
  • Theatres – all 22 Georgian and Victorian Theatres have been demolished in Sydney (National Trust NSW) https://www.centralwesterndaily.com.au/story/4673390/theatre-of-dreams-our-lost-heritage-and-famous-buildings-map-photos/
  • Odeon Theatre, Goulburn Opened in circa 1914 initially as the “Empire Atmospheric Theatre” with a Venetian/Spanish Byzantine theme. Re-opened grandly in 1930 . It sat 2,200 people and the foyer could accommodate 1000, people. One of only 5 such theatres in Australia Closed in 1966. Demolished, replaced by a shopping centre.
  • Hoyt’s Ritz Theatre, Auburn St Goulburn.  Opened 1936 Art deco, 800 patron capacity. The interior was notable for use of art with murals painted on canvas for the curved stairs. Streamlining effects included textured plaster with decorative details for the walls and ceiling Demolished and replaced by (a fast food outlet (KFC)
  • St Johns Orphanage, Munday St, Goulburn aka Goulburn Boys  Orphanage. Built circa 1913 – a main building and three outbuildings . Sisters of Mercy and the Catholic Church until its closure in 1978. Severely damaged by fires between 2016 and 200.Home to 2500 children between 1912 and 1978. Only 4% were actually orphans. A large building completely neglected leading to many fires and finally demolition. The owner is proposing Project 150 retirement units be built on site.
  • Royal Oak Hotel and Stables, Parramatta – Built 1813 as an inn by convict John Metcalf. In 1823 John Tunks – son of William Tunks, who arrived on the Sirius First Fleet – built the present pub, originally named the Shamrock, Rose & Thistle. Closed Jan 2020 and demolished by NSW  to make way for light rail.Note: The 1813 Stables owned by the NSW Govt. at the rear of the Hotel where John Andrews sadly committed suicide in 1832 by hanging himself from the stable rail, will remain on the site. The threat is that this valuable land will be sold by the NSW Govt. See https://tunksaustralia1788.com.au/royal-oaks-hotel-update/  

Under Threat

  • Hawks Nest Coastline: Obeid family’s short-sighted and greedy beachside apartments would destroy a stunning natural environment for short term gain. Details
  • Kenmore Asylum –  Hospital complex – Opened 1895 with 19 wards and 700 patients, closed in 2003. Around 40  Georgian buildings  with State  heritage listing . Now suffering neglect such situations. A large fire at engulphed the building in mid-October 2021 resulting in Heritage NSW this week enacting urgent legal action following ongoing calls from the community to ensure its protection. Now owned by a developer. Heritage NSW issued a section 120 Order on 26 November to the owners, requiring them to ‘take immediate and active measures to redress disrepair or risk to a listed place’.Future uncertain. 
  • Goulburn and District – Rate records. Declared Australia’s first inland city in 1863.Critically important archive of dates relating to residents and properties (Who, When and Where) and in particular the transition from town to a city. Council records are dispersed with access tracing information poor.
  • Goulburn Viaduct aka Kenmore Railway Bridge aka as Mulwaree River Railway Viaduct,. Built 1915 heritage-listed railway bridge that carries the Main Southern railway lineacross the Mulwaree River at Goulburn, the longest on the Main South line with 13 x 13.1 m (43 feet) clear span brick arches. is the longest viaduct on the Main South line. It is accessible from Mulwaree Street.[1][2] The abandoned skew brick piers of the 1869 single track railway are evident the Up (north) side of the brick viaduct. Owned by RailCorp, poorly maintained and now degenerating. 
  • Sirius Public Housing Building, The Rocks district of Sydney, Iconic design, built 1980 by the NSW Government which  refused Heritage Listing to optimise its value on-selling to a developer in 2021.
  • Coal Loader, Balls Head Reserve in the lower north shore suburb of Waverton. See https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/we-re-not-going-to-see-this-lost-heritage-protection-for-harbour-coal-loader-20210616-p581jm.html
  • Black soils of the Darling Downs. Loss or degradation: Hydrocarbon pollution of the soil from leaking gas. Soil subsidence of up to 15 cm on broad acre farms. salinity or contamination of aquiferscrop contamination.
  • 29 Aboriginal sites including 7 ‘highly significant sites. Between Katoomba and Lithgow, west of Sydney.  State and Federal Govt Highway upgrades threaten to a “direct” or “indirect” impact on sites, Long before European settlers built a road through the Hartley Valley, it was where the Gundungurra, Darug and Wiradjuri people shared culture and trade. 14-kilometre stretch between Little Hartley and Lithgow, which is slated to become a four-lane highway. ABC News 28/3/2022
  • Roxy Theatre, Parramatta –  Built 1929, Heritage listed,  the Spanish Mission style. Closed in 2014. Threatened with transformation into a 29-storey mixed-use development in 2019. See  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-27/roxy-theatre-parramatta-spared-development-wrecking-ball/11255038). (https://www.roxytheatreactiongroup.com/
  • Metro Minerva Theatre Sydney – Built 1939. Heritage of the Tivoli Circuit fame. Became a cinema in 1950 and a market in 1970.   A rare surviving example of the Art Deco style in Sydney, providing a link with Sydney’s theatrical heritage of the late 1930’s and 1940’s and again in the 1970’s.  Under threat of redevelopment – a 63 room hotel be built over the theatre’s tower and a restaurant, 300-seat black box space and nightclub See  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minerva_and (https://www.metrominerva.com/). 
  • Paragon Café, Katoomba.  Built and operating since the 1920s now facing closure. Maintenance and repairs are urgently needed to save the heritage-listed premises, which features spectacular Art Deco embellishments and furnishings. Negotiations over a new lease and repairs have failed. See https://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/story/5232154/paragon-cafe-forced-to-quit-historic-home/
  • Appin Township,  SW of SydneyEstablished 1811. Threatened of encroachment by urban development. Important buildings include:  Appin Inn1826; Schoolmaster’s Residence 1867; Stone Cottage 1830s and St Bede’s Roman Catholic Church 1841.See  (https://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/appin-nsw)
  • Two Willow Grove Houses, Parramatta. Built 1880s.NSW State Govt. plans to re-locate CBD Powerhouse Museum to a large site on the Parramatta River threatens two historic buildings:  Willow Grove.1886 and St Georges Terrace 1881. The Willow Grove House was to be dismantled brick by brick and re-located. Locals argue that the works constitute demolition, not dismantling.  Although plans were scrapped plans to close the Powerhouse Museum’s Ultimo site, an extension of the museum continued. Land at the rear of  St George’s Terrace was to compromised by construction of a large structure. The heritage outcome remains poor. See 
  • Menangle Township NSW. Established in the 1860s a prosperous historic township SW of Sydney CBD. a prosperous farming community. including:Menangle Railway Bridge and Menangle Railway Station Built in 1863 the bridge is the oldest surviving railway bridge in NSW,  buildings include Camden Park House,, Ellel House(Gibulla) , St James Anglican Churchand St Patrick’s Catholic Church. Menangle Store and the marvellous Rotolactor See https:// camdenhistorynotes)(.com/2019/07/19/the-menangle-rotolactor/ ) Planned redevelopment of surrounding farming land to create 4000+ house sites threatens loss of heritage integrity. See https://www.menanglepark.com.au/ttps://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/aug/24/powerhouse-parramatta-three-year-battle-to-save-historic-willow-grove-ends-in-union-backdown).(https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/blog/willow-grove-a-missed-opportunity/

Millers Point, Rocks and Observatory Hill – Views should  rightly be understood as public assets. This public space is  the highest point in Sydney Harbour, chosen by early European settlers as the site for the first windmill, flagstaff, military hospital, defensive fort and observatory for the new colony.Such  observatories were understood as critical  maritime and civic. This is an area of immense state and national significance hence its State Heritage listing of Millers Point and The Rocks on Sydney Harbour and Foreshore dating from early 1800s.  Currently a proposal to construct  40 metre buildings  will blocking views of the area from the west and a 70m tower blocking views from the northern edge of the sit place the site in jeopardy.,  The NSW State Government Development and a Developer propose building out the western edge of the Rocks which will  obscure iconic views from public spaces from Millers Point and Sydney Observatory  from  western harbour and opposite foreshores of development. There is strong community opposition to this proposal  

https://bit.ly/3sMp4Pe

South Australia

Lost

  • Grand Central Hotel. Located on the corner of Pulteney and Rundle Streets Adelaide, built in 1910 but after 15 years became a department store HQ of the Electricity Trust of South Australia. Demolished by the State government to be a car park. 
  • Aurora Hotel, Hindmarsh Square. Built in 1912 and demolished in 1983. This in itself is significant leading to the formation of the Aurora Heritage Action Group a landmark time in South Australian heritage politics. 
  • Fernilee Lodge, Greenhill Road, a grand 8 room home with unusually large underground rooms and a water tank in response to the hot climate. In 1881, Fernilee was sold to James Gartrell in who increased the home to 20 rooms, adding towers and other embellishments in about 1907. Unfortunately the building. It had no State or Local Heritage Listing, and was demolished unlawfully by a developer in the 2003. Details

Under Threat

       

Australian Capital Territory

Lost

  • Royal Military College Duntroon. The rare sprung-floor in the wooden gymnasium at the College. Details unavailable.
  • Glebe House Rectory for St John’s Church, Reid –  Built 1871-73  The Rectory sat in farmland which later became a large Park. Nearly 700 Elms were planted in the park accessed by ten historically significant gates. The park t area is only 1/8 of its original size. Size. Despite a strong campaign to save the building  it was demolished in 1956 and the Acton Football Club used the bricks to build a club house in Forrest.  

Under Threat

  • Anzac Hall, Australian War Memorial in Canberra. The Australian Institute of Architects has been a key player in the campaign to save. Details
  • Hill Station, Hume. Established circa 1862  rammed earth  construction heritage-listed in October, 2012, as a significant example of a 19th and early 20th century rural station with strong links to early settlement in the ACT. Repurposed as a restaurant but closed in 2009. Future uncertain.
Western Australia

Lost

  • Juukan Gorge rock shelters – 46,000 years old. Destroyed by Rio Tinto for an iron ore mine. Details
  • AMP Chambers.  Corner of St Georges Terrace and William Street. Built 1915. Demolished 1972. Building in the Renaissance Revival architectural style, clad in limestone and an interior finished in WA jarrah. See https://thewest.com.au/news/perth/new-photos-show-the-beautiful-buildings-perth-lost-as-the-city-grew-to-its-modern-shape-ng-b88476522z
  • CML Building, a Gothic masterpiece. Built in 1936 and demolished in 1980 replaced  by a modern building of exactly the same height and shape
  • Viking House. 49 William Street Built 1912. Demolished 1970.
  • Empire Building. Corner of Murray and Barrack streets. Built 1902. Demolished 1981.
  • Adelphi Hotel. Corner of St Georges Terrace and Mill Street. Built 1935. Demolished 1967.
  • Albany Deepwater Jetty in Princess Royal Harbour. Built 1862 but became obsolete after the Crimean war and the advent of steamshipping. http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/Details/996c7c9f-bfd8-42cf-be91-e8af19d34f71
  • House 932- 934 Albany Hwy, East Victoria Park, Perth,- Built in 1930 and heritage listed built house. Known to be under threat since in 2019. Now demolished and the land is now advertised as a development site. 

Under Threat

  • Aboriginal archaeological underwater sites off the Pilbara, at Cape Bruguieres and Flying Foam Passage. Details
  • Sacred sites in the northern goldfields of Western Australia, near Leinster. A coalition of international institutional investors representing $461 billion in assets under management have called on the WA government to delay the passing of the Aboriginal cultural heritage bill, and to partner with Indigenous people to co-design a new version of the proposed legislation. See https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-22/wa-sacred-sites-bill-prevent-juukan-gorge-incidents-investors/100638520
  • South Perth Post Office, Mill Point Road, South Perth. Part of a group of late 1800’s early 1900 (extant) red brick Civic and Community buildings all of which (apart from the Post Office) are on State Heritage lists. Regrettably and inexplicably authorities claim that the South Perth red brick Post Office within the Mends Street Heritage Precinct would not be of State significance.
  • Birrup Peninsula (originally known as Murujuga).World heritage nominated area in the Pilbarra region. Understood to be Austalia’s greatest  concentration of indigenous art  under threat by extractive industry organisation.  The Age, 24/3 p. 16
  • Mundy Swamp, Perth – Heritage listed 20 hectare ethnographic site and wetland located within the eastern portion of the Perth Airport estate. It is believed Munday Swamp was named after a young Nyungah man called Munday, who led the Beeloo people in 1929. Aboriginal heritage value and one of the last banksia woodlands in WA. Mythological and cultural significance to Noongar people and is still used for sacred ceremonies and hunting. Threatened by expansion of the Perth airport.
  • Tumulus (organic mound) Springs of the Swan coastal plain: Characterised by continuous discharge of groundwater in raised areas of peat. The peat and surrounds provide a stable, permanently moist series of microhabitats. Intact vegetated tumulus springs are only found at four locations. There is a high level of heterogeneity of invertebrate fauna assemblages between these sites, but all are associated with a rich, healthy fauna. Groups commonly represented include Ostracoda, Nematoda, Cladocera, Copepoda, Oligochaeta, Tardigrada, Turbellaria and Insecta. Listed as critically endangered under WA Minister Environmentally Sensitive Areas list in policy. Threatened by urbanisation
  • WA Environments under threat according to the WA government are  numerous to list  here but see numberso sites in jeop ardyby  Regions: Pilbarra  43 listed, Kimberley  62 listed, Goldfields 63 listed, South West 27 listed, Swan 33 listed, Warren 13 listed,  Wheatbelt 23 listed, South Coast 42 listed, Mid West 109 listed, South West 27 listed,  Swan 33 listed, Warren 13 listed, Wheatbelt 23 listed. For a descriptive  list see https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/images/documents/plants-animals/threatened-species/Listings/Priority%20Ecological%20Communities%20list.pd
Queensland

Lost

Under Threat

  • Three historic dwellings in Lambert Street at Kangaroo Point which will be shifted elsewhere if a three-tower Kangaroo Point development approval gets the final go ahead. Kangaroo Point
  • Lamb house Lambert Street at Kangaroo Point https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/loss-of-historic-brisbane-home-prompts-calls-for-heritage-overhaul-20210408-p57hmh.html
  • Great Barrier Reef, Premier World Heritage Asset remains severely threatened despite government action. Details
  • Six plant species have been assessed by Queensland as under serious threat. Details
  • Old Burleigh Theatre Arcade Goodwin Terrace ,Burleigh Heads. The structure  had its origins in the 1930s. as the Theatre De Luxe picture theatre and dance hall, The building was partially demolished and remodelled in 1955; closed in 1966; then repurposed as a shopping arcade in 1977. Council unsuccessfully sought State heritage listing in 2019. The community fears a loss of what remains.  Planned tower  planned developments  will overwhelm the t street façade. The QHC noted that although  the state heritage listing criteria was not met,  Old Burleigh Theatre Arcade is  greatly valued by the community. 
Tasmania

Lost

Under Threat

  • Ecological Communities. eg Giant Kelp Forests , Alpine Sphagnum Bogs,  Saltmarshes, Grasslands https://www.awe.gov.au/environment/biodiversity/threatened/communities/tas
  • Wilderness Areas. See https://www.wilderness.org.au/news-events/tasmanian-government-appears-to-be-deliberately-misrepresenting-world-heritage-committees-concerns
  • The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area is threatened by the proposed Lake Malbena development and UNESCO has asked the government to halt tourism development. Details
  • Clarendon House, one of the National Trust’s eight Tasmanian properties, is, like all the others, underfunded and its façade is in danger of collapse. Details
  • Port Phillip Pilot Cutter Wynua restored and languishing without public asset awaiting funding for planned relocation to Victoria
  • Woolmers Estate, Longford, Tasmania. Founded 1817 by prominent grazier and member of parliament Thomas Archer.  Woolmers Estate is among eleven places included in the Australian Convict Sites World Heritage Property. One of the most historically significant heritage properties in Australia.It consists of an 82ha property, including a two-part manor house, coach house, the National Rose Garden, extensive outbuildings and convict cottages and formal gardens. The main house consists of a brick nog weatherboard homestead, built in 1819, with an attached extensive addition in Italiate style, designed by William Archer and built in 1842-1843. Under threat from chronic under-funding.
  • Pinnacle, kunanyi/Mount Wellington The Pinnacle area, which contains cultural heritage remains dating back to the early 1800s, is under threat from a large scale commercial development associated with a cableway. The threat is exacerbated by the Wellington Park Management Trust’s management plan which contemplates and permits major developments in this area, notwithstanding that The Pinnacle has been assessed as the most culturally significant place in the Park

https://www.tasconservation.org.au/cable-car-appeal

Northern Territory

Lost

  • Marandoo Caves and Overhangs on southern flanks of Punurunha, now known as Mt Bruce. Housed Indigenous artefacts  and sacred site of the Eastern Guruma people. Destroyed in the 1990s and now a mine site. In 105 heritage sites. Researchers uncovered rock art, traditional burial sites, scarred trees, stone quarries, walled storage sites, stone arrangements, and rockshelters with evidence of grinding material, marine shell, animal bone, stone, and wooden artefacts visible on the surface. See https://nit.com.au/disposal-of-heritage-material-a-devastating-blow-to-traditional-owners-and-science/
  • Marron Newsagent, Alice Springs –  Bult circa 1930s. The last original  shop in Alice Springs main street. The façade featured th  first glass shopfront in the town. .Entirely demolished 1988.. Although not a ;colonial’ building the décor and style remained intact from the 1930s.
  • Anzac Hill High School. Opened in 1954.70th anniversary of the tender being advertised by the Chifley Labor Government for the construction of the Anzac Hill High School. NT Government. The only physical manifestation of the defeated Chifley Government’s northern development policies of 1949 that has survived to this day. Population grew post War and this was the only public school in town; Local contractors were involved in the construction, including Aboriginal war veteran Harold Liddle, who manufactured the bricks for the building – his brickworks was the first in Alice Springs. It Initially known as Alice Springs Higher Primary School, it became . Alice Springs High School itIt was also the base for the Alice Springs School of the Air, the first such service for remote education in the world, from 1954 until 1968, the first exclusively secondary education campus in the town. In early 1975 the campus served as an emergency centre catering for the requirements of evacuees from Darwin after Cyclone Tracy. The campus provided the venue for the earliest hearings in Central Australia into land rights cases for Utopia, Willowra and the Tanami.

Under Threat

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