A small number of houses in Heathpool, in Adelaide’s east will be protected from demolition to preserve the character areas of the historic suburb under a heritage building code amendment, the South Australian Government announced today.
The City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters Council is running the Inter-War Housing Heritage Code Amendment to address a gap in the recognition and protection of heritage buildings constructed during and between the First and Second World Wars.
The Code Amendment proposes the identification of:
- A new Historic Area Overlay within Heathpool;
- 20 new Local Heritage Places;
- 12 new Representative Buildings and amendment to one Representative Building;
- Minor rezoning of a block of six units in Heathpool from the Established Neighbourhood Zone to the General Neighbourhood Zone and removal of the existing Character Area Overlay;
- Minor rezoning of a specific property in Heathpool from the General Neighbourhood Zone to the Established Neighbourhood Zone.
The majority of the proposed Local Heritage Places are located within Heathpool, with the Code Amendment also proposing changes to heritage and character policies in the suburbs of Marryatville, St Peters, College Park, Hackney, Marden, Maylands and Royston Park.
The Council is concerned many of the nominated properties in the Code Amendment currently do not have demolition protection.
SA Minister for Planning, Nick Champion, has placed the identified properties under ‘early commencement’ which provides interim protection, while the Code Amendment is under consideration.
This prevents any potential pre-emptive development or demolition on these sites.
“The Council has identified a number of significant properties that have local heritage value that are important to the unique look and feel of the area,” said Minister Champion.
“It’s important these properties are protected from demolition or development while the formal assessment for this Code Amendment is underway.
“As a state, we need to continue to look at ways to protect our valued heritage assets.”
This follows an appeal by the State Government to encourage councils to increase building protections to significant sites by elevating existing Character Areas to new Historic Areas and ensuring Local Heritage Place listings are appropriate.
The City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters Council has received $47,600 from the Government to support its important heritage code amendment work.
Member for Dunstan, Cressida O’Hanlon said that protecting local heritage has been of high importance to the Dunstan electorate over many years.
“I am very grateful for the responsiveness of the Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Nick Champion MP, in enabling the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters to better protect interwar houses from demolition and ensure the preservation of the character of our historic suburbs,” said Ms O’Hanlon.
“I also congratulate the City of Norwood Payneham and St Peters for taking up the opportunity to identify properties that warrant further protection.
“I encourage them to continue with this process to ensure better protection of more of the historic buildings in the City of Norwood Payneham and St Peters so the beauty and history of our local historic buildings are preserved for generations to come.”
