PLANS to commence a heritage review in selected townships across South Gippsland has been announced as part of South Gippsland Shire Councils draft budget 2025/26 – 2028/29.
The document, which concluded its public feedback submissions last Wednesday, has been called conservative by the councillors, but with a shire wide approach to funding allocation.
Overall, capital works have been set at $21 million, with smaller funding initiatives proposed for disaster recovery, community grants, developer contribution plans, open spaces, tackling weeds and mental health.
$50,000 for a heritage review is among these funding initiatives.
“Compared to other Gippsland councils, South Gippsland has comparatively few heritage buildings protected by heritage controls. Protecting heritage buildings and high-value heritage precincts is increasingly important in supporting the local economic activity generated by tourism,” said Tony
Peterson, while acting as the Interim Chief Executive Officer for SGSC.
“The project will investigate if applying additional Heritage Overlay (HO) controls is warranted and where they may be applied. If the project outcomes recommend additional HO inclusions, this will occur as part of a separate project and involve extensive landowner and community engagement.”
In 2004, the SGSC carried out an extensive study of places with potential heritage value, including those that were recognised on a local, state and or national level.
Over 1200 places were identified, detailed and recommended for inclusion in the Heritage Overlay, in the study.
This encompassed buildings, structures, monuments, trees, landscapes and sites of aboriginal or archaeological significance.
More recently, in 2022, the South Gippsland Heritage Study by SGSC, showcased 144 places of significance, and stated in that document that only 106 sites across the shire are safeguarded through the local Heritage Overlay.
Nine state-registered places are listed through the Victorian Heritage Register, as of 2021, across South Gippsland and include:
Bell Point Lime Kiln in Tarwin Lower, Korumburra Railway Station Complex, Leongatha Secondary College, Mirboo on Tarwin Hall, Notched Log Cottage in Poowong, Refuge Cove, Sealers Cove Saw Mill and the Light station on Wilsons Promontory, and the Walkerville Lime Kilns.
Heritage Overlays exist to protect and preserve places of aesthetic, social or historical importance. The inclusion of properties in the Heritage Overlay aims to ensure that new development does not negatively impact on the heritage significance of a place or area.
