" Heritage " Issues !

We have just had a local government election in New South Wales and the political control in a number of local councils has changed.  With that change will come a very different outlook on how decisions are made and this will probably change the " look " of many of our older suburbs.

There is a constant battle in most area between " developers " who want to tear things down and build new structures, and a " heritage lobby " who want to keep iconic structures which preserve the heritage aspect of our past.  We well remember the battles in past decades over preservation of Sydney's  " The Rocks " area with its green bans that led to the disappearance and probable murder of Juanita Neilsen.

The problem is that bringing a new development on line usually delivers a huge profit to a successful developer and this breeds an " whatever it takes " style of thinking to apply to overcoming obstacles. Developers - or people closely allied with developers - seek election to councils and we are painfully aware that not all council decisions are made entirely on the merit of the proposal.   Often money changes hands to influence decisions.

When heritage issues arise it has become the custom to arrive at a partial solution.  The development is approved, but with the proviso that a portion of the original structure be maintained to preserve a memory of how Sydney used to be.  This is often impractical and causes an immense cost blowout in building the new structure.    In some cases, it is preferable from a cost point of view to ignore the order and pay a huge fine rather than suffer the disruption that preservation would impose.

Just such an incident is happening in the heart of Sydney's Kings Cross at this moment.  A Singapore based developer had approval for a forty-four apartment building in Bayswater road.  The problem was that this construction required the demolition of an existing building which has heritage claims.  Known as " The Hensley " this issue led to a battle in council between opposing forces and eventually the matter was settled with an arrangement whereby the façade of the old building would be preserved and the new structure would be erected behind and above the existing façade which would remain facing Bayswater road.

When construction began, workers with sledge hammers simply demolished most of the front of the Hensley, leaving just two slim columns which have little identification with the old building.  There are claims of heritage heresy, but the developer has a point that access to the site is impossible with the heritage section blocking entry.

This removal of the wall contravenes the development approval but that is now no longer a live issue. That façade no longer exists and it can not be resurrected.  The only retainer to the old Hensley is that the name will be bestowed on this new apartment building.  The only remaining issue is the penalty for the breach that will be imposed on the builder.

Last weekends council elections delivered change.  The attitude of councils is conditional on the mix of people who now make the decisions and developers will be carefully evaluating he mix of Liberal, Labor, Greens and Independents who are new to office.   It may take a little time until a ruling outlook manages to coalesce.

Hopefully, a more practical solution to heritage issues may emerge.  Many of the awkward contradictions that served for solutions in the past were doomed to failure !