Heritage Studies and Plans
Wingecarribee Heritage Study 1993
The original study for the Wingecarribee Shire was commissioned in 1990 by the Heritage Council of NSW, the Department of Planning and Wingecarribee Shire Council and was undertaken by JRC Planning Services. This study examined the heritage of the Wingecarribee Shire, provided recommendations about the conservation and management of heritage and recommended a list of heritage items, which were subsequently listed in the Local Environmental Plan (LEP) of the day: the Wingecarribee LEP 1989.
Volume 1 (comprising Introduction, Historical Context, Overview of Heritage Resources and Assessment of Significance, and Heritage Conservation Strategy) of the study can be accessed from the links below. It has been broken into 4 parts for ease of downloading.
All the inventory sheet volumes of the Wingecarribee Heritage Study 1993 have been digitised by Heritage NSW and are available via their online library at https://heritagensw.intersearch.com.au/heritagenswjspui/ by searching “Wingecarribee Heritage Study”.
Wingecarribee Heritage Survey 2009
In early 2008, Council embarked on a project to investigate the heritage significance of approximately 700 new buildings and places within the Wingecarribee Shire as potential new heritage items.
These sites had been identified for further investigation through earlier heritage studies and reports, through Development Applications (formerly called Land Use Applications) received by Council, by Council’s Heritage Advisor and planners, and nomination by members of the local community.
Council engaged heritage consultants to research each identified site and to evaluate its heritage significance. The consultants recommended that nearly 400 of the investigated properties be made heritage items under the Wingecarribee Local Environmental Plan (WLEP) 2010.
Council resolved on 8 February 2012 to notify the owners of these identified properties to inform them of the consultants’ findings and to provide an opportunity for them to discuss the implications of heritage listing with Council officers. These notifications and consultations commenced in February 2012.
Council, at its Ordinary Meeting of 11 July 2012, resolved to defer a decision on this report pending further consultation with owners. Further consultations and requests for feedback were subsequently undertaken with property owners, the results of which were reported to Council on 28 November 2012. Council resolved to heritage list Council owned and controlled properties and those whose owners supported heritage listing and defer those items whose owner at the time objected to the proposed heritage listing or whose owner did not respond to Council’s offer to consult.
There were 81 items that were subsequently heritage listed and included in Amendment No. 40 to the WLEP 2010 which was published on the NSW Legislation website on 10 March 2017. The more than 250 proposed heritage items that were deferred by Council have been re-examined as part of the Community Heritage Study 2021-23 (see details below).
A copy of the Wingecarribee Heritage Survey 2009 is available for download below.
Wingecarribee Heritage Survey 2009(PDF, 14MB)
Community Heritage Study 2021-23
Heritage and history experts in the community in partnership with Council prepared a Community Heritage Study that examined the proposed heritage items that were deferred by Council in 2012 plus a significant number of newly identified potential heritage items and heritage conservation areas. The draft study was subject to affected owner and community engagement and public exhibition in the latter half of 2023 and was subsequently peer reviewed by an independent heritage consultant engaged by Council. The independent Peer Review report was publicly exhibited in June 2024 and the Wingecarribee Community Heritage Study 2021-23 was adopted by Council on 7 August 2024 following endorsement by the Local Planning Panel.
A Planning Proposal (ref. PP-2024-2040) to amend the list of heritage items and areas in the Wingecarribee Local Environmental Plan 2010 to include the recommended items and areas from the adopted Community Heritage Study, has been prepared and is awaiting a Gateway Determination by the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure. The Gateway Determination will allow the Planning Proposal to be put on public exhibition. Further details on the progress of the Planning Proposal and background to the Community Heritage Study (including the full suite of Study and Peer Review documents) are available on the Community Heritage Study page of Council’s community engagement website, Participate Wingecarribee at https://participatewingecarribee.wsc.nsw.gov.au/community-heritage-study.