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Heritage and Conservation Planning

Among many other things, the principles of sustainability are about the wise use of the existing, non renewable resources and to put it simply heritage i.e. the natural and built environment inherited from Earth and/or from our ancestors, is one of them.

Sustainability is also about long term, about recognition of how economic and social goals need to simultaneously include environmental goals. It is about more effective use of urban resources and helping to build up civil society, as well as tapping its resources. In this context heritage conservation is one of the urban expressions of sustainability and an operational means for sustainable development. Mainly because it is not only about buildings and not only about ‘aesthetics’ or ‘character’. It is also about our roots, history, sense of belonging and sense of community and about the social capital, social stability (as Putnam puts it: a mutual trust and community relationships, which give strength to a society’s ability to change) – all the intangible things which evolve with the history and tradition and culture of a place and its people.

Therefore, sustaining heritage is a vital component of sustaining community and an essential part of the broader goal of a sustainable development and viable future for Fremantle. Extending economic life of our shared heritage is an effective tool for preventing depletion of both, natural and man made resources. In this case the shared resources of cultural heritage significance. Heritage conservation aims to ensure that those resources continue to be used, upgraded, their values revealed and appreciated, and that old buildings, parks and squares continue to serve a useful purpose in order to yield greatest sustainable benefit for the community. Effective conservation management allows the city to evolve, but not at the expense of its heritage values. Heritage conservation provides the framework for and supports a sustainable, organic type of development – an ongoing improvement by adding value to what already exists rather than unsustainable development through cycles of demolitions and growth. It ensures development that minimises waste of resources and aims at extending economic life of what already exists.

Peter Newman once (1999) said that heritage fits the three characteristics that are central to all sustainable development approaches and have not been demonstrated on heritage issues before. This is the heritage based development, which:

• Helps create a better urban economy rather than a worse one (as suggested by free market approaches) because it is able to make more effective use of urban resources.
• Helps to build up civil society, as well as tapping its resources.
• Can only proceed through partnerships between government and the private sector who agree on the necessary regulation and processes to ensure civil society goals and values can be achieved whilst enabling the market process to still work.

Having said all that, here are some general points about how the City of Fremantle to date have managed the heritage resources of Fremantle in a sustainable/integrated way.

Firstly conservation of the existing (not only heritage listed) places in Fremantle remains a priority in the City Plan, our strategies, policies, initiatives and capital projects. Our policies encourage the ongoing ability of the individual as well as public places (streetscapes, landscapes, reserves, beaches, waterfronts, precincts, special places) to continue to evolve in a harmonious way and continue to define Fremantle’s character rather than to remain the pristine, monuments to the past. This approach is based on the premise that the best conserved house is the one which is appreciated, cared for and continually used. This can be achieved by a range of conservation means and preservation is only one of them. Others include ongoing maintenance, reconstruction, restoration, adaptation, heritage interpretation and usually involve a combination of these. The most common and creative of conservation means is ‘adaptation’ because it allows for modifications/upgrading of an original house in order to meet the needs of its current owners and to comply with the modern standards for living. Our policies apply the same principles to public domain of the city.

Most importantly our current and draft future scheme and planning policies have been based on the premise that in Fremantle, the ‘proper and orderly planning’ includes consideration of heritage conservation in the same way as consideration of a new development, sustainability, traffic, infrastructure. The principle of ‘orderly and proper’ planning here incorporates heritage and its conservation providing the framework and support for a sustainable, ‘organic’ type of development which has been proven to be a successful form of urban development for traditional cities around the world.

The conservation approach is currently ingrained in our policies and this approach allows for Fremantle’s heritage to continue to be upgraded and improved in a compatible way. This also means that to date demolition has not been a favoured type of development in Fremantle.

The sustainability criteria based on heritage conservation has been applied to Fremantle, at least since early 1980s, where heritage has been treated as an inherent component of the ‘orderly and proper’ planning process and ingrained in the Town Planning Scheme no.3 since 1987.  The draft Town Planning Scheme 4 (CPS4) further strengthens heritage conservation through the requirements particular development applications need to meet.

If these programs and established processes are adhered to and balanced, they should ensure that Fremantle evolves and improves in a harmonious way, that we do not lose what the community values, while making sure our city grows into a better place for all. And, as the contemporary caretakers of the things we have inherited, we are able to pass the enhanced inheritance to future generations. In this respect there is still a lot we all can do better.

Examples of well preserved and maintained heritage buildings in Fremantle include the Roundhouse and the Maritime Museum. 

Roundhouse at end of High St	Maritime Museum on Cliff St

For more information, please contact Agnieshka Kiera (City of Fremantle) on 9432 9746.