Olwen BEAZLEY & Bronwyn HANNA
With the shift in economic activity in rural areas much historic built infrastructure is no longer in use and, as a result, is suffering gradual demolition through degradation and neglect.
The Heritage Branch of the NSW Dept of Planning manages NSW heritage policy with focus on places and items of State significance under the Heritage Act 1977. There are currently 208 places listed on the State Heritage Register under the pastoralism and agriculture themes; this includes homesteads, farms and barns. The Heritage Branch seeks to develop leading edge policy on how to identify, conserve and manage rural heritage across the NSW. A major partner in any policy work in this area would be the NSW Department of Environment Climate Change and Water, which manages the largest public collection of pastoral heritage places and landscapes in NSW.
In February 2009, the Heritage Council presented a paper on Rural Heritage to the Heritage Chairs and Officials of Australia and New Zealand (HCOANZ). The objectives of the four-part rural heritage strategy focused on; a thematic heritage study for NSW, the development of a rural listing theme to add significant viable places to the NSW State Heritage Register, sustainable alternate uses for rural heritage; and the development of a working policy for managing “unsustainable” places; which could include refining the NSW Heritage Branch’s Ruins Policy.
This paper will provide examples of rural heritage places already on the SHR and examine the key objectives from the HCOANZ paper including initiatives to encourage tourism to rural heritage places. It will also touch on questions such as; What is already known about the extent and significance of rural heritage in NSW? How does the Burra Charter offer guidance for the identification and conservation of rural heritage?