Wyndham Heritage Review Stage 1 (Gap Study)

In 2019 Council engaged Context GML heritage consultants to prepare the Wyndham Heritage Review Stage 1 (Gap Study). The purpose of the project was to identify gaps in protection of Wyndham’s post-Contact heritage places in established areas (excluding places located within Precinct Structure Plan areas, which have been the subject of separate heritage studies).

Heritage places were identified through a review of existing heritage studies and databases, and nominations from the Wyndham community. The study identified interwar and post-war residential development, industrial and transport-related sites, and migrant heritage places as the biggest gaps in Wyndham’s current heritage protections.

The report recommended the detailed assessment of 173 individual sites (including residential, commercial, industrial, archaeological and community places, landscapes, trees, military and infrastructure/transport-related sites).

At the 29 June 2021 Ordinary Council Meeting, Council resolved to adopt the Wyndham Heritage Review Stage 1 (Gap Study) and carry out the recommendations, commencing with the Wyndham Heritage Review Stage 2 (Residential Places and Precincts).

Related documents

The adopted Stage 1 Heritage Review (Gap Study) document

Council Report 29 June 2021

Wyndham Heritage Review Stage 2 (Residential Places and Precincts)

In 2022, Council engaged Lovell Chen heritage consultants to prepare a detailed heritage study assessing the 87 individual residential places and 7 precincts originally identified in the Gap Study and provide recommendations for residential places and precincts that meet agreed heritage criteria and thresholds for heritage protection.

Findings and Recommendations

The Wyndham Heritage Review Stage 2 (Residential Places and Precincts) identified 15 individual places and 1 precinct that meet the required criteria and thresholds for being of local heritage significance and are recommended to be protected through the Heritage Overlay.

The recommendations were adopted by Council at its meeting of 25 June 2024.

Individually significant places - Werribee and Little River

Fifteen (15) individual places in Werribee and Little River were found to be of historical significance (Criterion A), representative significance (Criterion D), and aesthetic significance (Criterion E) to the City of Wyndham and have been recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Heritage Overlay.

  • 13 Anderson Street WERRIBEE VIC 3030
  • 15 Anderson Street WERRIBEE VIC 3030
  • 57 Cottrell Street WERRIBEE VIC 3030
  • 1 Francis Street WERRIBEE VIC 3030
  • 2 Galvin Road WERRIBEE VIC 3030
  • 26 Geelong Road WERRIBEE VIC 3030
  • 24 Market Road WERRIBEE VIC 3030
  • 13 Princes Highway WERRIBEE VIC 3030
  • 23 Princes Highway WERRIBEE VIC 3030
  • 1 Purcell Court WERRIBEE VIC 3030
  • 112 Wedge Street WERRIBEE VIC 3030
  • 8 Wyndham Street WERRIBEE VIC 3030
  • 46-62 Flinders Street LITTLE RIVER 3211
  • 48 Manor Road LITTLE RIVER 3211
  • 60 and 80 You Yangs Road LITTLE RIVER 3211

Beamish and Gibbons Streets Residential Precinct (Werribee)

The Beamish and Gibbons Streets Residential Precinct has been found to be of historical (Criterion A), representative (Criterion D) and aesthetic (Criterion E) significance to the City of Wyndham. The precinct comprises a total of 34 multi-stylistic residential properties dating from the 1910s to the 1950s and is notable for including a large percentage of buildings of the interwar period. The Precinct has been recommended for inclusion in the Schedule to the Heritage Overlay.

Council also resolved to implement the recommendations of the Wyndham Heritage Review Stage 2 (Residential Places and Precincts) through the commencement of Planning Scheme Amendments C270wynd (that seeks to apply permanent Heritage Overlay controls) and C271wynd (that seeks to apply interim Heritage Overlay controls) to the Wyndham Planning Scheme.

Heritage Review - Beamish and Gibbons Street

Werribee South

Council has decided to explore alternative approaches to recognising the heritage values of Werribee South, in line with the recommendations outlined in Volume 4 of the Wyndham Heritage Review Stage 2. This recognises the unique identity of Werribee South agricultural area, and its complex and dynamic heritage values including its rich social history. This work will be undertaken in consultation with the community.

Campbells Cove and Baileys Beach Boatshed Precinct

The recommendations for the Campbells Cove and Baileys Beach Boatshed Precinct are subject to further work and will be presented to Council at a later date.

The minutes of the Council Meeting can be found here.

Related documents

Read More About the Heritage Review

As a region with high growth, there are pressures on our special heritage places due to development and competing strategic objectives such as infrastructure provision and housing growth.

Council must manage these pressures on our historical places, to ensure that amenity and the character of areas are retained and protected, and that we can grow while maintaining the special character and places that reflect the history of our region.

Respect for our cultural heritage involves retaining and managing places that have importance to us as a community, providing historic continuity and a sense of place.

Currently, Wyndham has two sites on the National Heritage List (RAAF bases in Laverton and Point Cook) and 13 sites listed on the Victorian State Heritage Register.

Wyndham currently has 134 sites of local significance protected in the Heritage Overlay, including dry stone walls, homesteads, mansions, gardens, infrastructure, cemeteries, and significant residential buildings and precincts.

Council manages the identification and protection of local places under the Wyndham Planning Scheme and is responsible for issuing planning permits for the use and development of heritage places under the Planning and Environment Act 1987.

What is a Heritage Place?

A heritage place may be a site, area, building, group of buildings, structure, archaeological site, tree, garden, geological formation, fossil site or other place of natural or cultural significance and its associated land.

Not every place has heritage value, and not every place with heritage value has sufficient value to meet the threshold justifying inclusion on a particular list, such as the Heritage Overlay for locally significant places, or the Victorian Heritage Register for places of State heritage significance.

Criteria and thresholds are key tools used to help decide the level of protection a place warrants.

In Australia, the ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) Charter for Places of Cultural Significance 2013, known as the “Burra Charter”, provides a set of principles that have been adopted to create a nationally accepted standard for heritage conservation practice in Australia.

The Heritage Review is looking at built heritage, vegetation and places of archaeological sensitivity within the post contact period. It has also included a review Thematic Environmental History of Wyndham, which identifies the key historical development themes of Wyndham, and apply these themes in identifying heritage places.

Get in Touch With Us

For further information on this project, please contact the Heritage Team (Strategic Planning and Property Department) Heritage.Review@wyndham.vic.gov.au or 1300 023 411.

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