Heritage Review Alert!

Date: 27-Feb-08
Author: Elizabeth Roberts (Convict Trail)
Organisation: Convict Trail
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Dear Members and Colleagues

You will have heard via the press and radio the Heritage Office is being heavily restructured such that the important role it performs will be severely compromised.  Below is a document which the Royal Australian Historical Society is currently sending out to its affiliates by email. 

Last night the RAHS wrote

Attached to this email is an information sheet prepared by the RAHS to brief you all about the serious situation of heritage in NSW. This morning, representatives of the RAHS, the National Trust, History Council of NSW and various other community groups met to discuss what action we could take in the light of the actions of Mr Frank Sartor, Minister for Planning. We hope the attached information will prompt you to act if you believe, as we do, that heritage is worth saving.

If you could copy the RAHS in to any emails you send to local press, Members of Parliament, or other interested parties, we could keep track of the action. Please direct your emails only to the following email address... executive@rahs.org.au

As you are all aware the Convict Trail Project has depended heavily on grant funding from the Heritage Office, the executive will be meeting next week to look at contingency plans for future operations if the rumored cuts to grant funds comes about.

Regards

Elizabeth

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RAHS information sheet

The Secret Review: Background

Last August Planning Minister Frank Sartor announced a review of the NSW Heritage Act. Submissions were invited but to date they have not been released, and no interim discussion document was published. The review panel's report was due to be handed to the Minister at the end of December 2007.

Since then there has been no release of its recommendations. However these appear to be already being implemented with the appointment of the review's chair as the new Chair of the Heritage Council, and the downgrading of the Heritage Office to a branch within the Department of Planning.

This process is being undertaken without any public scrutiny or community input, and without the review being released. We call on the Minister to release the Heritage Act review so that the community can discuss decide whether this is what we want to happen to our heritage.

The Secret Review: What Next?

Rumours abound about what is coming next. Until we see the report it is difficult to comment on specifics, but areas of particular concern include:

Membership of the Heritage Council - will the council continue to have community representation with members appointed for their professional skills and experience? Or will there only be members appointed by the Minister?

Heritage Advisers - what will happen to the funding and training for local government throughout the state, used now to employ heritage advisers?

Heritage Grants - $2.635 million was allocated in 2008-2009. Local societies around NSW know and value these grants. Will the grants continue?

What You Can Do

Until the secret review is released we are working in the dark. If there is nothing to hide then the review should be made public so that the process is transparent. You can help by contacting your local Member of Parliament asking for the review to be released.

You could also write letters to your local paper or telephone your radio station. Tell them what heritage means to you and your community. Heritage is one of the things that makes local communities special. Your streets, museums and heritage places are important to tourism and the local economy. Let's make sure that heritage is not undermi