Heritage place owners afforded greater protection

The Queensland Heritage and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 has been introduced into parliament.

The Bill seeks to maintain the protection of heritage sites, while considering the rights of owners and streamlining statutory processes regarding the Queensland heritage register.

 

The Property Council has previously provided a submission to the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection. Many of the issues raised in this submission have been considered in the Bill including:

• A five year moratorium on applications for places being remade after a place has been considered for entrance into the heritage register
• Increased timeframes for owners to respond to heritage recommendations.
• Increasing the scope of works under exemption certificates
• The inclusion of a value test to assess the economic rationale for building repairs (a destroyed place recommendation).

 

While the Bill has addressed these issues, it also falls short in some areas, including;

• The protection of owners from egregious nominations by requiring the nominator’s name be disclosed
• Expanding the scope of the essential repair and maintenance notice provision.

 

The Bill has been referred to the Transport, Housing and Local Government Committee for review and submissions can be provided until 24 September.

More information can be found in the Bill and Explanatory Notes.