It was the final straw in the fight to save what is left of our city’s heritage.
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The demolition of a humble heritage cottage in Church Street, Maitland earlier this year was the catalyst for a group of residents to form an organisation which will lobby for the preservation of heritage buildings, gardens, trees and landscapes across the local government area (LGA).
Heritage conservationist Chris Richards said Maitland Heritage Guardians Incorporated, will be an overarching body that protects and promotes Maitland’s historic assets ranging from opulent historic buildings to iconic vistas.
“Myself and others have done a lot of heritage work over the years trying to save things in Maitland and in recent times Maitland City Council has made some terrible decisions which affected a lot of people's lives such as the property in Church Street, located in a conservation zone, demolished to make way for a block of flats,” Mr Richards said. “A lot of people came together out of anger following that council decision to fight to save buildings and bring council back into reality,” he said.
Mr Richards said the new group aims to reintroduce a tree and heritage garden register with specialists on a sub-committee who can identify significant trees and gardens across the LGA. “The group will also look at natural landscapes and scenic vistas,” Mr Richards said. “We intend to do a listing of new heritage items such as the recent discovery of some culverts at Morpeth built as part of the Great Northern Road around 1833.”
The group will examine the reintroduction verandah policy for historic buildings. “In the 1900s shops in the main street had verandahs with verandah posts but when the motor car came, posts were hit bringing the structures down. Council brought in a policy to get rid of them. Drivers are a lot safer now and the reintroduction of verandahs would enhance the heritage streetscape,” Mr Richards said.
“Maitland has some of the best heritage in Australia but it has been death by a thousand cuts because council is very weak on heritage. Enough is enough and Church Street was the line in the sand.”
Council’s Development and Environment Manager David Simm said all development applications, either in heritage conservation areas or as listed heritage items, are thoughtfully and thoroughly considered against council’s development control plan and the State’s Heritage Policy. “In all cases a balanced position on each individual development application is presented to council for determination,” Mr Simm said.
A heritage festival, heritage tourist trail and the reintroducion of an annual garden competition, will also be explored by the group.