The City of Greater Bendigo seeks community involvement to help inform the preparation of a post-war era heritage background study.
The study, known as a Post-War Thematic Environmental History, will primarily focus on the history of development in Greater Bendigo from 1945-1980.
It will consider post-war development that includes commercial buildings and precincts, industrial buildings, residential developments, as well as a range of public buildings and gardens.
Strategic Planning Manager Anthony Petherbridge said the public engagement project was an important first step towards protecting more heritage places from the post-1945 era in Greater Bendigo.
“Several post-war sites have come under threat in recent years due to a combination of development pressures and a lack of background and heritage information about the places,” Mr Petherbridge said.
“The Heritage Overlay has already been applied on some individual post-war places, including 31 Bayne Street in North Bendigo.
“Another example is the Alistair Knox-designed mud-brick house in Strathdale from the 1970s, Nanga Gnulle, which had a heritage overlay applied after a concerted public campaign.
“The new study will complement the Greater Bendigo Thematic Environmental History from 2013, which provided a detailed overview of the history of Greater Bendigo but was largely silent on post-war heritage.
“This proposed background study will help us to understand how and why Greater Bendigo has developed since 1945, and how that fits within Victoria’s heritage themes.”
The study also aims to produce a list of recommendations for places identified as potentially significant, for further investigation.
It does not aim to provide a detailed analysis of individual properties or places, and will not propose any new planning controls or extension of the Heritage Overlay in Greater Bendigo at this point in time. It could lead to more detailed post-war heritage assessments being undertaken.
The community is invited to provide feedback on our Let’s Talk engagement platform where you can identify places on a map for sites that you think are of value or significant examples of the post-war era. There will also be an in-person public workshop on Tuesday May 21, 1pm – 3pm at the Bendigo Regional Tennis Centre at 21-26 Nolan Street, Bendigo. Please register to attend.
Public engagement on Let’s Talk is open from Tuesday April 30 to Monday May 27. Once the data is analysed, the community will be informed of the outcome and the next steps in developing the background study.