Community concern is mounting about the marginalisation of heritage and of our heritage laws. The latest blow came this week with the announcement that the Heritage Office will effectively be dismantled. The Heritage Act and the Heritage Council are being reviewed, but the submissions have not been made public and the outcome is still unknown. Part 3A of the Planning Act already allows the Minister to switch off the Heritage Act.  The proposed “streamlining” of the planning system further threatens heritage protection. The cumulative effect of these changes on several fronts amounts to a crisis in heritage conservation. The places we hold dear may now be at risk. The situation is now urgent with the new planning legislation due to be passed in June, a decision on major developments such as Catherine Hill Bay (CHB) due imminently and the continuing silence about the outcomes of the Heritage Review. The Trust is urging the community to act now:
 Join the National Trust
 Check our website for details and campaigns
 Write to the Planning Minister
 Join community actions such as the CHB rally on Sunday 24 February at 10am

Tina Jackson
Executive Director

THE WAR ON HERITAGE
An open letter from National Trust President, Zeny Edwards
The major restructure at the Department of Planning is yet again set to denigrate the value of heritage with the announcement of the ‘dismantling’ of the Heritage Office. The Office has been emasculated with most of its staff relocated elsewhere in the Department and only a ‘core’ left to service the Heritage Council. This move reinforces the view that heritage is a very low priority for government, being seen as the obstacle to development.  Most notably, the Heritage Office has been sidelined under Part 3(A) of the NSW planning act, which enables Minister for Planning Frank Sartor to approve developments deemed ‘State significant’, overriding heritage and environmental policies and legislation. It is sad but true that the National Trust may be the only community advocate left to fight for heritage. Its own survival is seriously under threat because of drastic cuts to government grants. To read the letter in its entirety please click here.

Save Catherine Hill Bay – Protest Rally this Sunday 24 February
The National Trust has stepped up its campaign to protect Catherine Hill Bay, a heritage village on the Central Coast (30km south from Newcastle), from proposed redevelopment. This idyllic mining village from the 1870s on the Central Coast (30kms south of Newcastle) comprises about 100 homes set in rolling green hinterland fronted by a pristine surf beach. The area is highly significant environmentally and for its rich built and cultural heritage. Developers plan to build 900 dwellings here totally engulfing the town. To sign our online petition against this redevelopment please click here.  A protest rally has been organised for this Sunday 24 February, from 10am on the beach of Catherine Hill Bay. Please join us for a day at the beach and to add your voice – HELP US SAVE THIS HISTORIC GEM. Click here for more information about the Protest Rally. If you cannot make it to the rally, please consider making a donation to the Catherine Hill Bay Fighting Fund.
Note: The Catherine Hill Bay Progress Association website included some out of date photomontages and at the request of the Rose Group, these have been removed.

National Trust's Campaign to save our Coastline
If approved, the massive CHB developments proposed would set a precedent along the entire NSW coast, raising developers’ expectations that they could develop headlands, conservation areas and precious places long regarded as off-limits to such proposals. This could raise the market value of lands zoned conservation making impossible their acquisition by the government for addition to national parks. Following the rejection of a second CHB development proposal by the government appointed panel, a third development proposal is now being finalised which still proposes the maximum of 600 lots, with one stage likely to be sited on the slopes leading down to Moonee Beach and sensitive wetlands. Terania Creek was the turning point for rainforest conservation in NSW and in earlier years action to save Kelly’s Bush ensured our urban bushland’s future. Catherine Hill Bay will set the scene for the future of our precious coastline.

Heritage Office Disbanding
Heritage Office key staff have been subsumed into the Department of Planning. This has been portrayed by the government as a positive step feeding heritage expertise directly into development planning teams. However, there is little doubt that the influence, advisory capacity and precautionary role of the Heritage Office will now be swamped by development promotion priorities and directives. The independence and public face of the Heritage Office as a heritage ambassador has now been downgraded and with the scattering of the staff throughout the Planning Department there will be few people able or willing to speak out when it is most needed. The advocacy and educational roles of the office have effectively been removed and much needed support for local government will be drastically curtailed. The National Trust is taking every possible opportunity to condemn these actions and calls on its members to voice their concerns at every opportunity.

Planning System Changes
The Trust’s submission to the “Planning System Reforms” has condemned many aspects of the proposed changes. We have stressed that speeding up the system should not be at the expense of heritage protection. We have also pointed out that most councils are within the statutory period for development approvals, particularly compared with other countries. Much of the alleged “red tape” is not “road blocks” to development but effective “speed humps” to slow down questionable developments to allow proper evaluation and public input. The Trust has argued that development applications should always be required for heritage items and within heritage conservation areas. Statewide default planning codes also pose great dangers as some “minor” developments to historic and architecturally significant buildings within streetscapes and heritage precincts would have the potential to seriously degrade those places. Accredited local codes must be allowed to be more stringent than statewide codes and the Trust has offered to assist local councils to develop best practice guidelines to accompany new Local Environmental Plans. This would enable people lodging development applications to have a clear understanding of the documentation required and the limits of acceptable development.

Free Photographic exhibition of Swimming Pools: until 24 February
Don’t miss the nostalgically beautiful photographs of public swimming pools in NSW by Jenny Rix. The exhibition POOLS - NO DIVING: Sanctuaries on the edge, aquatic architecture of myth and memory, the drama and humour of the daily dip displays saleable photographs of well loved pools. It supports the National Trust’s campaign to preserve our heritage of public ocean and harbourside pools, some dating back to the 18th century. Unfortunately many public pools are threatened by increasing maintenance and public liability costs, and by a view that the growing number of private backyard pools make these public pools redundant. The exhibition will be held at the National Trust Centre in the Annie Wyatt room, Thursdays to Sundays 11am to 5pm. For enquiries please call Jenny Rix 0411 044 545 or Julie Blyth 02 9258 0123.

National Trust Travel - Chateaux, gardens and picturesque sites in the Loire Valley & Brittany 15 – 29 September - A must for all Francophiles!
This once in a lifetime National Trust tour leed by experienced National Trust guides  will commence in Paris with a welcome drink at our hotel. Here we will meet fellow travellers and our specialist guide Odette Livingstone Smith who lectures and guides for the National Association of Decorative & Fine Arts Societies and lives in the area. The coach tour will visit unusual and interesting Chateaux in the Loire, with lunch at a private chateau around Montbazon and Angiers. Time to explore small villages with their markets, before travelling west to Nantes and Vannes to visit an abbey, tapestries and recently opened chateaux after restoration. Our last town will be Quimper, with its famous pottery and delicious Breton crèpes before returning to Paris with a one night stop on the way. Cost: $8,950 twin share $2,300 single supplement. Bookings and Enquires: Beverly Cohen and Edwina Walker, Wentworth Travel (02) 9387 4377 Tour Leaders: Rosslyn Sweetapple (02) 9389 5664 and Margaret Durham (02) 9326 2963

Reptile Day at Wirrimbirra Sanctuary – 24 February
Never smile at a crocodile… but you can pat one, at Wirrimbirra Sanctuary’s Reptile Day on Sunday February 24, 2008. ‘Crocodile Encounters’ will be giving talks at 11am, 12 noon, 1pm and 2pm with plenty of hands on opportunities! While you’re there be sure to take the wildlie walk and see the kangaroos, wallabies, cockatoos, emus and wombats.  There will be BBQ food and drinks available for purchase. Wirrimbirra Sanctuary is a National Trust property and is run entirely by volunteers.  Entry to Wirrimbirra is free but a gold coin donation is appreciated. For more information phone 02 4684 1112 or click here for further details.

Music in the Gardens – Saturday 1 March
Enjoy an evening of classical music in the beautiful gardens of Everglades House, Leura, on Saturday March 1. From 7:30pm the Cologne New Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, will perform a popular program comprising Vivalidi, Bach, Paganini, Mozart, Massenet and Elgar. Seating and refreshments will be available. Tickets $30 Adults, $25 concession/ members, Children $20. For information and bookings Ph 02 4784 1938.

National Trust Festival 2008 - 'Our Place'
The National Trust invites you to celebrate Australia’s natural and cultural heritage and to be part of one of the largest and longest running community festivals in the state. In what will be the twenty-eighth year of the National Trust Festival, 2008 will once again see a fantastic variety of over 400 community-hosted events held across metropolitan and regional NSW from Saturday 5 April to Sunday 20 April 2008. For information on National Trust Festival events in your area please click here.

Donate to the National Trust and help preserve our heritage for future generations.
For details of our latest appeal, click here.
To leave a gift to the National Trust in your will please call 02 9258 0182 or click here for further information.

Principal Sponsor