Postwar buildings recommended for heritage protection

Some of Melbourne’s most important places and precincts could receive permanent heritage protection following a review by the City of Melbourne.

​The Hoddle Grid Heritage review has recommended permanent heritage controls for 137 properties and five precincts within the grid.

Lord Mayor Sally Capp said 55 of the sites recommended for protection are postwar buildings constructed between 1945 and 1975.
“This is the most comprehensive review of heritage buildings in the Hoddle Grid since the 1990s. It’s also the largest study of postwar heritage we’ve ever completed” the Lord Mayor said.  
“Fifty-five of the sites are postwar buildings, including two hotels, a post-office, a cinema, a women’s club, two -telephone exchanges and retail and commercial buildings.”
“This is about protecting our city’s heritage while providing certainty and clarity to landowners about how they can develop their properties while respecting the places that are significant and warrant protection.”
“Pre and postwar buildings can be easily adapted for new purposes while ensuring their heritage character is retained.”
The final Hoddle Grid Heritage Review, along with the Planning Scheme Amendments to implement the Review, will be considered by the Future Melbourne Committee on Tuesday 4 August 2020.
If the recommendations are endorsed, residents, landowners, businesses and the community will be able to share their views during a formal exhibition process later this year.
The new heritage overlay does not necessarily prevent redevelopment, but will ensure more sensitive and enduring development outcomes on these sites. Interim controls will not be sought for places with live planning permits.
Heritage portfolio chair, Councillor Rohan Leppert, said the independent review of more than 1,000 buildings took a holistic view of heritage by considering Aboriginal, colonial, contemporary, community, tangible and intangible values. 
“Melburnians may be surprised that these buildings haven’t been granted heritage protection already. The review gives us an opportunity to protect these cultural legacies,” Cr Leppert said. 
“It’s not about age. It’s about recognising the places that have importance to us as a community.” 
“Melbourne was Australia’s fastest growing city in the postwar period and became a leading centre of modernist innovation in art, architecture and design.” 
“Our recovery from the Second World War was led by a construction boom based on modernist optimism and innovation. We now have a chance to protect our modernist architectural legacy.” 
Councillors will also consider endorsing the Heritage Design Guide and Heritage Owner’s Guide, which aims to help owners of heritage properties in the City of Melbourne understand heritage planning and policy.
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