Minutes of Heritage Advisory Committee

These are draft minutes and are subject to confirmation by the Committee at its next meeting.

The confirmed minutes will replace this draft version on the website.

Meeting Name	Heritage Advisory Committee
Date	26 March 2024	Time 5:05PM
Venue	Level 12 Boardroom, 126 Church Street Parramatta + MS Teams
Attendees	Committee Members · Jeff Allen · Cheryl Bates · Laurie Bennett · Scott Hill · Wei Li · Suzette Meade · Tim Owen · Terrence Smith · Councillor Phil Bradley (ex-officio) Council Staff · Paul Kennedy - Project Officer Strategic Land Use Planning (Convenor) · Roy Laria - Team Leader Land Use Planning · Andrea Giusa - Senior Heritage Specialist DTSU · Mark Leotta - Group Manager DTSU · Michelle Desailly - Interpretation & Strategy Coordinator
Apologies / Leave of Absence	· Stephanie Licciardo (Chair) · Graham Shirley (Deputy Chair) · Michele Grande · Julie Jones
Secretariat	Melissa McIsaac - Governance
HPRM Reference	F2022/01409

No.

Item

Note: In the absence of the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson, the Committee requested, in accordance with clause 4.4 of the Terms of Reference, for Cheryl Bates to chair the meeting, which was accepted. The Committee noted that a quorum had not yet been reached, but determined to commence with an informal meeting.

Acknowledgement of Country

Scott Hill provided an Acknowledgement of Country to open the meeting.

Apologies

The Committee noted apologies from Stephanie Licciardo, Graham Shirley, Michele Grande, and Julie Jones.

Disclosure of Interests

There were no disclosures of interest made for this meeting.

Confirmation of Minutes

The Minutes of the previous Heritage Advisory Committee meeting, held on 8 February 2024, were resolved by Bates and Bennett and CARRIED.

Business arising from Minutes of meeting held on 8 February 2024

Description

The Committee received the following updates from Paul Kennedy on matters raised at the previous meeting for staff investigation:

· Item 9 – Mobile food truck inspection rate: Council’s health inspection team confirmed that food trucks are inspected annually, and where there are concerns inspections may be undertaken by Council more frequently.

· General Business – Willow Grove interpretation: Confirmed that Council staff are continuing to liaise with the Powerhouse Team, and are seeking clarification on their intent regarding consultation with the Committee.

· General Business – Church Street North Precinct rezoning: Advice was provided that heritage concerns for the Precinct planning strategy were addressed in the Finalisation Report and a background Urban Design Study. Links to these documents will be provided to the Committee, with an opportunity for further discussion at the next meeting.

Committee Members requested updates on additional matters raised at the previous meeting, as follows:

· The Committee requested an update on the status of promoting the Local Heritage Fund. Paul Kennedy confirmed that letters had been sent to owners of heritage properties, to provide information regarding Council’s Local Heritage Fund and other heritage matters. Council has since received a number of enquiries.

· The Committee enquired if Council had obtained images from Local Heritage Fund projects to be used in promotional materials. Andrea Giusa confirmed that applicants had been contacted with this request.

Clr Phil Bradley joined the meeting at 5:10pm, during discussion of Item 5.

Wei Li joined the meeting at 5:13pm, at which point a quorum was reached.

Outcome

The Committee noted the updates provided.

Committee meetings: meeting time allocation and number of meetings - Committee discussion

Description

The Committee noted that at the previous meeting, the Chairperson had recommended to consider options to address meetings requiring extended time, such as extending the scheduled meeting duration or scheduling additional meeting dates. Roy Laria raised that in the Chairperson Stephanie Licciardo’s absence, the Committee may prefer to defer consideration of this Item until the next meeting.

The Committee discussed the different options, and further raised that at the 25 March Council Meeting it had been reported that Council is more-broadly assessing its Committee framework in preparation for the next term.

Suzette Meade joined the meeting at 5:16pm, during discussion of Item 6.

The Chairperson requested for Wei Li and Suzette Meade to advise if they had any disclosures of interest for the meeting. No disclosures were made.

Outcome

· The Committee determined to defer determining whether to make any changes to the meeting schedule, pending Stephanie Licciardo’s attendance.

· Andrea Giusa agreed to circulate the Committee’s Terms of Reference to Members via the Committee’s Microsoft Teams page.

Parramatta North Heritage Precinct – Committee discussion

Description

The Committee received a briefing from Committee Member Terrence Smith, regarding his involvement with Museums of History to collect heritage data on the Cumberland Hospital precinct, particularly regarding the history of mental health care in Parramatta.

The Committee discussed as to whether it was known if NSW State Government funding for conservation would continue after the current program was completed. The Committee raised concerns about ensuring the history of the site would be preserved and property condition maintained.

Outcome

· The Committee resolved the following in response to the discussion on the Cumberland Hospital Precinct:

RESOLVED (Smith/Meade)

That the Committee requests for Council to contact the State Member for Parramatta, to request an update on the site master plan, and the NSW State Government’s intention regarding heritage conservation funding for the Cumberland Hospital East and West precincts.

Heritage Plaques

Description

The Committee received a presentation from Michelle Desailly regarding Council’s preliminary investigation into a heritage plaques program for Parramatta, in response to Laurie Bennett’s proposal. The Committee were reminded about the intentions of the proposal, including to increase both recognition and visitation, and considered information obtained by Council staff regarding the operation and outcomes of the NSW State Government’s similar Blue Plaques program.

The Committee were further advised that measures for seeking to increase heritage promotion and interpretation in Parramatta could alternatively be considered during the planned review of a number of related Council strategies and plans this year.

The Committee discussed considerations for the direction of a potential plaques program, comparisons with other similar programs and approaches for Aboriginal heritage site interpretation, and also raised known condition concerns with existing interpretation signage installed in the LGA.

Outcome

· Andrea Giusa agreed to circulate the provided presentation to Members via the Committee’s Microsoft Teams page.

· Michelle Desailly agreed to provide the Committee with information at a future meeting on Council’s ongoing condition audit of existing heritage interpretation signage.

· The Committee resolved the following in response to the discussion on the proposed heritage plaques program:

RESOLVED (Bates/Bennett)

That the Committee supports for a heritage plaques program to be referred to Council’s Interpretation and Strategy Coordinator for consideration when developing related strategies and plans this year.

Michelle Desailly retired from the meeting at 6:18pm, at the conclusion of Item 8.

Update from City Strategic Planning

Description

The Committee received a presentation from Paul Kennedy and Roy Laria regarding Council’s proposed Comprehensive Heritage Review.

The Committee were informed about the work undertaken by Council staff to develop the draft 6-year project delivery plan, and the outcomes of research on best-practice approaches for staging the project segments.

The Committee considered the outcomes from preliminary consultation on the draft project delivery plan, including with Council’s First Nations Advisory Committee, key external organisations (including NSW Heritage and the National Trust), and a Councillor Workshop held on 19 February. The Committee noted that Council staff and Councillors have further become aware of anticipated NSW State Government housing reforms which could impact heritage conservation areas (HCAs). The Committee were advised that Councillors generally supported the proposed project delivery plan at the Councillor Workshop, but that it may be determined to re-prioritise the planned order of project stages to address these housing reform planning changes and prioritise work on HCAs, depending on the State Government’s response to Council’s submission in relation to these matters.

The Committee noted that it is planned to put the draft project delivery plan to Council for endorsement in mid-2024, and that funding for the first stage would be pursued as part of the 2024/25 budget process.

The Committee were generally supportive of the draft project delivery plan, although a query was raised as to whether the 6-year timeframe could be shortened. The Committee were advised that shortening the timeframe would require increased budget allocation for staff resources, above the proposed amount articulated in the draft project delivery plan. Committee Members agreed with concerns raised by Councillors about the potential need to re-prioritise work on HCAs. Committee Members also expressed an interest in ensuring the review considers the listing of new heritage items, which officers confirmed forms part of the proposed process.

Outcome

· Andrea Giusa agreed to circulate the provided presentation to Members via the Committee’s Microsoft Teams page, for further consideration following the meeting.

Local Heritage Fund

Description

The Committee received a presentation from Andrea Giusa, Senior Heritage Specialist, regarding the balance of Council’s Local Heritage Fund and received applications.

The Committee were advised that four applications had been received by Council, however only two applications were recommended by Council staff as suitable to consider approving at this time. The Committee considered the applications and whether to approve the requested funding.

Outcome

· The Committee determined the received Local Heritage Fund applications as follows:

Address	Works	Cost of Works	Fund contribution considered	Move/Second
15 Arthur Street, Granville	Repair paling fence	$2262.50	$565.63	SUPPORTED Bates/Meade
21 Eastwood Avenue, Eastwood	Replace tessellated tiles and bluestone bullnosed steps, repair fence	$19,280.00	$4820.00	SUPPORTED Bates/Allen
87 Weston Street, Harris Park	Repair ceiling gyprock and render walls, paint house interior	$23,000.00	$5750.00	NOT SUPPORTED Hill/Bennett

· The Committee noted that Council will continue to await requested clarifying information regarding the application for 87 Weston Street.

· The Committee noted that an additional application had been received for works at 1 Villiers Street, Parramatta, and that the application will be presented to the Committee for consideration at the next meeting, once the clarifying information requested by Council is received.

Update from Senior Heritage Specialist

Description

The Committee received an update from Andrea Giusa on the following heritage properties:

1. 43A Thomas Street, Parramatta (Broughton House): The owner has been presented with a letter from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, formalising the schedule of works as determined at the site meeting. The owner has until 21 April to respond.

2. 16 Cocos Avenue, Eastwood: Council has requested the owner to rectify a number of illegal works. The applied render has been removed to restore part of the original façade. Council will continue to seek to rectify a concealed window and has recommended that the owner engage a heritage consultant.

Outcome

The Committee noted the provided updates.

General Business

Description

The Chairperson invited the Committee to raise any other matters of general business, as follows:

· Cheryl Bates enquired as to whether the food carts outside the heritage items on Ada Street, Harris Park, were continuing to operate. Mark Leotta confirmed that Council is currently assessing the received application for retrospective approval.

· Laurie Bennett raised for the Committee’s interest about seeking to confirm the site in Parramatta where Ludwig Leichardt had departed for a key expedition, that the Parramatta League’s Club is seeking to modify its Development Application, and that Council had resolved on 25 March to determine a site to name in honour of former Clr John Brown.

· Jeff Allen notified the Committee that the Hambledon Cottage Bicentennial Day community event will be held on 13 April.

· Suzette Meade updated the Committee that the development application (DA) for 9 Albert Street, which had previously been presented to the Committee, had been replaced from a proposed apartment block with a new DA for a plant nursery. This is anticipated to be a likely temporary site use.

· Laurie Bennett raised a book of interest by GML Heritage regarding archaeological sites in Parramatta. Committee Member Tim Owen was confirmed to be an author of the book, and briefed the Committee about considerations for identifying archaeological sites without impacting their conservation.

· Clr Phil Bradley raised for further discussion about the 25 March Council Report seeking to broadly review Council’s Committee framework. Clarification was provided that all Committees are dissolved at the end of the term, and that current members would need to re-apply pending Council’s endorsement of the Committee structure for the new term. Clr Bradley encouraged Committee Members to provide any feedback on the Council Report to their representative Councillors, but noted that the matter will need to be reported back in the new term for final endorsement of the structure.

Outcome

· The Committee recommended for Council to consider compiling a register of conserved archaeological sites in the LGA, as part of the planned Comprehensive Heritage Review.

Next Meeting Date: 6 June 2024

Meeting Closed: 7:25pm