Nine of Wollongong local heritage items are set to be removed from the council's protection list, as the city seeks to clear up a number of administrative errors and out-of-date listings.
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And two heritage properties - West Wollongong TAFE and a farm at Dombarton - will be put back on the heritage schedule, after being mistakenly left off during the last review.
The work is the first step in a two stage Heritage Schedule Review Project, and is an opportunity to make minor amendments to existing listings of local heritage items.
Among the nine items slated to be removed are two sets of Norfolk Island pine trees which no longer exist due to the construction of Sea Cliff Bridge and Memorial Drive and an "interesting example of 1960's domestic architecture" on Taronga Avenue Mangerton, which was recently knocked down after a new development was approved by the council.
A Helensburgh cottage that burnt down, a Bulli guest house razed to build a road, a dilapidated Port Kembla mural and an "avenue of trees" planted in the 1960s and 70s on Keerong Avenue in Russell Vale are also on the removal list.
Two items - Port Kembla's historical military museum, break water battery and concrete tank barriers and a homestead and barn at Marshall Mount - will be removed from the council's list because their significance is now recorded on separate state environmental planning policies.
In a report to councillors, staff said an "administrative error" during the implementation of the Wollongong Local Environmental Plan 2009 was to blame for the inadvertent removal of Wollongong Trade School at Gladstone Avenue and Hillside Farm at Dombarton from the heritage schedule.
"Both landowners are aware of this issue and the items have continued to be managed as local heritage items for the purposes of the Wollongong Local Environmental Plan 2009 despite their current [omission] from the schedule," staff said.
Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said the minor amendments were important to make sure Wollongong's history was correctly maintained for future generations.
"In our city we've got some 475 heritage items and 9 Conservation Areas, including in Kembla Heights and at Garrawarra that are currently listed in our Local Environment Plan," he said
"This first stage of the heritage review has provided the opportunity for us to review how these sites are captured in Council's Plan, and to ensure the information is as up to date as it can be.''
The council is also proposing dozens of small amendments to address details, property names or boundaries of heritage properties.
Council will now prepare a draft Planning Proposal to progress the housekeeping amendments and forward this to the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment for Gateway Determination.
Should the Determination be issued, the council will then place the draft Planning Proposal on public exhibition.
Stage 2 of the review will propose the listing of additional heritage items and will be reported to the council later in the year.
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Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
