A group of West Footscray area residents have questioned the value of Maribyrnong council placing interim heritage controls on their homes, despite many being unable to carry out basic repairs and having their market value slashed. Matthew Sims spoke with a number of property owners about how a permanent heritage overlay would impact their dreams for the places they wish to call home.
West Footscray resident Arthur Richardson is a Vietnam War veteran who has been unable to work since 1996.
Now, he said that due to Maribyrnong council’s planned amendment to implement an interim heritage overlay on his house, the projected market value of his Duke Street house according to a local real estate agent has dropped by up to $400,000 or about 18.4 per cent – from $1.85 to $1.9 million to $1.45 to $1.55 million.
“Besides the mental fuss it’s caused, the financial loss is enormous,” Mr Richardson said.
In September 2021, council endorsed the West Footscray Inter-war and Post-war Heritage Precinct Study 2021 for community consultation conducted across 1400 property owners in December 2021 and requested the planning minister provide authorisation to prepare and exhibit a planning scheme amendment to implement interim planning controls to protect the precincts in the study.
The minister granted authorisation in November 2021, with interim controls then implemented on December 12, 2021.
Under the interim heritage overlay controls, more than 900 affected property owners across eight precincts need a planning permit to demolish, alter or extend a building or construct a new building, with the intended aim to conserve and enhance the heritage value of the impacted properties.
Maribyrnong council conducted public consultation of the permanent overlay from February 28 to April 7, 2022.
After receiving 199 submission during this process, the council requested the planning minister to appoint an independent planning panel, with public hearings held in late November and December of last year.
Mr Richardson said as Duke Street contained a mixture of inter-war, post-war austere and post war brick veneer houses, it should not be considered as part of any heritage overlay.
“Our street should not be on it at all,” he said.
“We are so far removed from the viewing public.”
Mr Richardson said he was “disgusted” with the council’s decision and lack of proper consultation with the community.
“They are ruling people’s lives.”
Maribyrnong chief executive Celia Haddock said the controls are the result of 18 months of community engagement of the draft West Footscray Neighbourhood Plan, beginning in 2017.
“A key theme that emerged in community feedback across this engagement focused on retention of existing neighbourhood character and the perceived lack of guidelines for heritage,” she said.
“The interim overlay approved by the planning minister is designed to safeguard existing character while potential ongoing heritage protection is considered.
“No decision on permanent heritage controls has been reached and the amendment is yet to be considered by council.”
West Footscray resident Cameron Goodison said he and his wife bought their Wellington Street home with the hope to make it their dream home and add a third bedroom despite it having a number of issues, such as a leaky roof and floorboards in need of replacement or repair.
“We are planning to have a family,” he said.
Mr Goodison said he and his wife had been left “frustrated and angry” in the wake of the decision to implement interim controls and push for a permanent heritage overlay with little to no direct consultation with homeowners.
“We’ve contacted the councillors and had no response,” he said.
“It would have been so easy to do consultation.”
Mr Goodison and his wife have now had to move forward with renovation and extension plans six times more costly so as to not infringe with the heritage overlay controls, with any other work such as installing solar panels visible from the street or removing asbestos restricted.
“To do any work, we need to get a planning permit,” he said.
“I’m not sure it is all that safe.”
Mr Goodison said he believed the majority of affected properties within the overlay were not of significant heritage value and required immediate repair work.
“My personal opinion is they should have done a development overlay,” he said.
“Almost none of these houses are intact.
“To limit development on 20 per cent of the suburb is a crazy idea.”
Maribyrnong council conducted a heritage review across 2000 and 2001 focusing on a number of properties and houses, but did not recommend any houses currently within the interim heritage overlay controls.
Mr Goodison said with the influx of young families coming to the west on the back of large-scale projects such as the Metro Tunnel, the council should be looking at supporting development to support projected growth.
“I think we’re sitting in one of the perfect spots for medium-density housing,” he said.
Royal Historical Society of Victoria heritage committee deputy chair Ian Wight said the controls are still able to change further.
“The community needs to understand that people have still had the full opportunity to object to the amendment and the council and the panel can recommend changes to the amendment in the light of these objections,” he said.
“We have not yet heard from the panel and the council may make further changes before it goes to the minister for approval.
“The interim control will lapse in favour of an amended permanent amendment.”
Mr Wight said he believed the distribution of the heritage overlay in the amendment was “fairly selective”.
“This is a difficult decision for councils,” he said.
“This follows a standard procedure that has been applied in most municipalities across Victoria to identify and document significant heritage places.”
Mr Wight said his impression is that similar heritage overlays had delivered benefits to a number of areas, including heritage overlays in Brimbank and Wyndham.
“Having had extensive experience assisting councils with heritage studies and implementation, I have found most residents in proposed heritage overlay areas have welcomed the introduction of the overlay for the benefits it brings,” he said.
“There are now around 180,000 properties in Victoria covered by the heritage overlay, most of these in residential precincts.”
The next step is for the independent planning panel to provide a report advising council and the planning minister, with the report expected early this year.
Maribyrnong council must then consider the panel’s recommendations before deciding on the amendment and submit it to the planning minister for approval, with the whole process scheduled to conclude mid-2023.
Details: www.maribyrnong.vic.gov.au/amendmentc172 or www.change.org/p/maribyrnong-city-council-vic-delwp-objection-to-proposed-heritage-overlays-in-west-footscray
