The National Trust needs to explore other sources of income to help sustain heritage properties, CEO Brian Scarsbrick said.
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Mr Scarsbrick made a surprise visit to Grossmann House and Brough House yesterday to look at the work to be carried out under a $34,000 grant from the Office of Environment and Heritage.
Under the grant, the houses will be painted in their original identical colours, which has not been the case in decades.
Mr Scarsbrick said the city’s heritage amazed him and the future of maintaining heritage buildings relied on the National Trust sourcing income from various places including government grants.
“I am very impressed with the two properties here, the textile collection is of state significance, and the Victoriana collection is the best in the state,” he said.
“Old buildings need a lot of money to maintain, and the Trust does a range of things to generate income.
“There are a range of other things we can implement and the National Trust does this very efficiently – a lot of the time we create something out of nothing.”
Mr Scarsbrick said the National Trust was conducting an internal review to look at ways to generate income.
The Office of Environment and Heritage is also conducting a review of the National Trust through a consultancy firm to identify possible ways to raise money.
Envrionment and Heritage Minister Robyn Parker said some heritage buildings across the state were now used as coffee shops, galleries and workplaces to maximise their economic sustainability.
“The review will look at the different ways we can manage funding and we are finding it’s best to be adaptive wherever possible,” she said.