FAQ

Heritage listing provides formal recognition by your local council or the State Government that a place has heritage significance and that the community wants to keep it for future generations. There are two levels of statutory listing:

• Local heritage items listed on heritage schedules to a local council's Local Environment Plan (LEP). This covers most of the 20,000 heritage items in NSW; or
• State heritage items listed on the State Heritage Register. This list includes only those items which have been identified as having particular importance to the people of NSW.
  

The house at 65 Hotham Road Gymea is proposed to be listed as a local heritage item.

An Interim Heritage Order is a temporary heritage order (made for up to one year), which provides time to arrange for a detailed assessment of the heritage significance, or values, of a potential heritage item and its subsequent heritage listing.  While an IHO is in place, Council can approve all or part of a development to continue but cannot authorise demolition.

Council’s first comprehensive heritage review was conducted in 1993 by consultants Perumal, Murphy Wu. The house at 65 Hotham Road Gymea was evaluated in that review as having local heritage significance, being a good example of a large individually designed, Inter-War brick house. However, Council did not list the property at that time, at the request of the then owner.

The house was again proposed to be heritage listed in SSLEP2015. A submission was received by the then owner of the land objecting to the proposed heritage listing. Given lack of detailed heritage analysis, its inclusion in the draft LEP was not supported by the Independent Panel who conducted a review of Version 2 of the draft LEP. The listing was not pursued by Council and the house was not listed as a local heritage item when SSLEP2015 was made.

A recent development application for the President Private Hospital (DA18/0788) initially included the demolition of the house at 65 Hotham Road Gymea. During public consultation for DA18/0788, Council received 84 submissions objecting to the demolition of the house because of its local historical significance, with some submissions providing details of the history of the property as a poultry farm considered important to the history of the area.

A preliminary heritage assessment was prepared by Council’s Senior Heritage Architect. The report concluded that the house is likely to be of local heritage significance. Council resolved (PLN049-18) to apply an Interim Heritage Order to the house, which was published in the NSW Government Gazette on 23 November 2018.

At Council’s request, a detailed heritage assessment was done by heritage consultants Architectural Projects Pty Ltd (Jennifer Hill Director), to determine if the item warrants statutory listing. The consultant’s report recommended that the item be heritage listed as an item of local heritage significance.

Yes Council will consult with the landowner during the public exhibition process.

The planning proposal will be on public exhibition for 28 days. During this time Council invites submissions. The submissions will be reported to Council. Council will then resolve whether to proceed with the heritage listing, and if so, refer the amended LEP to the Minister as the plan-making authority.

The Gateway Determination requires that the amendment to the Local Environmental Plan is finalised within 6 months of the date of issue of the determination (that is, by 24th December 2019)

The Minister for Planning and Public Spaces is the plan-making authority in this case.