By Ruza Zivkusic
ABIDto have the residents of Sushine’s oldest houses polled about a proposed heritage overlay has been rejected.
A request by Albion resident Terry O’Connor that a questionnaire be sent to the owners of the houses was rejected by Brimbank City Council at its meeting last week.
The council plans to request heritage listing for Sunshine’s oldest properties, mainly dating from the 1920s.
Andrew Gray, Brimbank City Council planning manager, said that “decisions on whether to include or exclude a heritage place is not based on a nomination process or by polling”.
Instead, residents were consulted during the preparation of the Brimbank Heritage Study, when 89 residents out of 1700 sent their submissions back to the council, he said.
“The volume of submissions neither positively nor negatively affects the consideration of these issues,” Mr Gray said.
Mr O’Connor questioned how the council could follow through on a decision when only a small number of residents sent back submissions.
“They should have a true indication of what people think, not by the submissions returned, which is only going to represent a small number of people who are going to object,” he said.
The notification received by residents in November last year was difficult to understand, Mr O’Connor added.
Mr Gray said the council would consider the value of the heritage and the property itself when making a decision.
“In many instances (the council) will discuss the issues raised with individual property owners,” Mr Gray said.
The council would also make a request to the Victorian Planning Minister to assign an independent panel, which would conduct a hearing into the heritage amendment, Mr Gray said.
Residents who sent a submission would then have an opportunity to be heard by the panel.
The whole process might take several months, Mr Gray said.
Terence Carver, who has been living at his Sydney Street home for 55 years, said the heritage overlay process had been a struggle.
He said most of the houses were not worth saving, unless they were made of bricks.
“You can never lose hope, but I just feel that we’re fighting an uphill battle,” Mr Carver said.
