Proposed changes “won’t protect our heritage buildings”
Despite repeated denials and persistent misinformation from the State Planning Commission, the Local Government Association of South Australia (LGASA) has made clear its position that heritage protections would be weakened by the changes being proposed by the Commission. Those working in local government have the most experience in working to protect our heritage. The LGASA has criticised a lack of detail in policy proposals advocated by the Commission and called for a “genuine engagement” around proposed changes to heritage protections.
As the National Trust argued in the Advertiser last month, the State Government must start a genuine public consultation around the future of heritage protection in South Australia.
In 2016 the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure sought public comment on an earlier set of proposed changes to local heritage protection.
183 people and organisations made submissions in response. The Department has never responded.
In 2017, the National Trust took on the task of collating and analysing those submissions to produce a full report:
The principal finding of that report was:
One hundred and eighty-three written submissions, a number of public meetings and an online survey delivered a resounding, completely lopsided verdict: the existing system of heritage protection works pretty well. Any changes should aim to enhance, not diminish protection
Once again, the Department ignored that report. Why is that public officials can ask for public comment and then completely ignore it?
When can we have a proper open public debate about the future of heritage protection in South Australia? Is it really that hard?
