Formal objection to planned heritage listing of SW property

30/6/94

The State Government has lodged a formal objection to the Australian Heritage Commission proposal to list private property in the South-West under Federal Heritage laws.

Heritage Minister Richard Lewis said the listings reflected the sheer incompetence of the AHC and pointed to the need for dramatic reform of the Commsion's Act

The Minister said there were four underlying reasons why these private properties should not be entered on the Register of the National Estate.

These were:

·       Some land owners and lease holders were not contacted by the Australian Heritage Commission (AHC) before the listings were advertised.

·       The AHC has failed to consult adequately with all affected landholders.

·       The AHC has failed to adequately address the concerns expressed by landholders before registering private property.

·       The AHC has failed to address the issue of compensation for loss in property values.

"The way in which the AHC went about the whole process is just not acceptable," Mr Lewis said.

"Throughout the Lower South-West, there have been public meetings of up to 400 people objecting to the listing of private property but the AHC has been content to hide behind its legislation without adequately informing people as to what was going on.

"For example, in mid-stream the AHC reduced the number of private properties to be listed from 330 to 24 by an apparent change in opinion within the Commission as to the heritage values of the land.

"This raises serious doubts as to the validity of the procedures.

"Another example is the incomprehensible four-page newspaper advertisement used to notify the public of the listings.  The manner in which the areas were described made it almost impossible to identify them.

"The net effect has been to create an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust.

"It has seriously affected the credibility of the the heritage listing and brought the whole process of heritage protection in Western Australia into disrepute."

Mr Lewis said that, acting in good faith, the Department of Conservation and Land Management had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the AHC on the heritage assessment of public land in the Southern Forest Region.

"The memorandum does not refer to private land as it is beyond CALM's jurisdiction," he said.

"It supports a balanced approach to forest management and states that areas within the National Estate can be used for production of timber and other products without compromising heritage values.

"But the very term 'National Estate' is being misconstrued to equate with national parks from which production is excluded.

"The AHC Act must be overhauled so that it more clearly distinguishes the important difference between the effect of nominating a building or cultural site and an area of land."

Mr Lewis said the Government wanted to develop a better process for considering places to be listed by the AHC.

He said the Government would seek further discussions with the Commission concerning consultation and joint evaluation of heritage values and the need for legislative reform.

Media contact:  Paul Plowman  (09) 222 9595