Tumut

Heritage

What the results tell us for Tumut

Photo of Westpac Bank, corner Wynyard and Russell streets, Tumut. Listed on Register of the National Estate and 1990 Local Environment Plan; credit: RW Purdie

Forty-one places in Tumut Shire were listed on various heritage registers at the end of the reporting period, the majority of them of cultural or historic significance. Only one new place in the shire was listed during the reporting period, namely the Snowy Mountains Scheme, which was added to the Register of the National Estate.

At least one third of the listed heritage places in Tumut Shire appear to be well managed, as they were reported to be in good condition during the reporting period. The physical condition of most other places was not known. Little information was available on whether management plans were in place. Over the four years of the reporting period, Council allocated a total of $42,500 from its own budget for the management of heritage items, and employed a part-time heritage officer. It accessed a further $57,000 from external grants for the management of two heritage places.

Details of listed places

List of all places on heritage registers in Tumut Shire

Forty-one places in Tumut Shire were on formal heritage lists at the end of the reporting period (see Table 1 for a summary of places). Thirteen places were listed on more than one register, and a few individual places listed more than once within a given heritage list (i.e. individually and as part of a heritage group). All except one of the places on heritage registers were listed prior to the current reporting period. The only place added to a register between July 2000 and June 2004 was the Snowy Mountains Scheme, which was listed in the Register of the National Estate in 2002.

Table 1. Summary of places on heritage registers in Tumut Shire, June 2004
Name of register		Number of places	Change since July 2000
Register of the National Estate
	Cultural places	20
	Natural places	3
	Aboriginal places	1
	Total	24	+1
State Heritage Register		3	0
Section 170 NSW State agency heritage registers		4	0
Local Environment Plan (LEP)		23	0
Total places identified		41

Listed items include 23 places in Schedule 1 (Heritage items) of the 1990 Tumut Local Environment Plan. Of the three places on the State Heritage Register, only two (Adelong Falls Gold Processing Site and the Tumut Railway Station Group) were included in the 2000 State of the Environment report, although the third place (Junction Bridge) was also gazetted during that reporting period (in June 2000). Similarly, although no places were reported to be on state agency s.170 heritage registers in the last State of the Environment report, all four places now included on such lists appear to have been listed prior to the current reporting period.

Current condition of heritage places

Photo of Adelong Falls Gold Processing Site, which is listed on State Heritage Register and 1990 Local Environment Plan, showing a buddel for holding and mixing gold–soil slurry; credit: RW Purdie

Forty two percent of listed places in the shire had their condition assessed during the reporting period. Of these, thirteen places (77%) were reported to be in good condition, and the remainder in poor to fair condition. The latter included one place on the State Heritage Register—Adelong Falls Gold Processing Site—whose condition in 2003 was reported to be poor and declining. The condition of most other places during the reporting period is not known. Although each place listed in the Register of the National Estate typically contains a description and condition statement, the latter usually relates to the date of listing or earlier and thus is not applicable to the current reporting period for most places in the shire on this register.

Only one place—Adelong Falls Reserve—was reported to have a conservation management plan in place during the reporting period; the plan was published in 2003.

Resources for heritage identification and management

Resources for heritage identification and management for the shire are summarised in Table 2. On average, Council allocated $10,625 per annum from its budget for heritage management during the reporting period, and had a part time (1 day per month) heritage officer on its staff. It accessed a total of $57,000 from external grants, mainly from the State Heritage Office, and obtained additional heritage expertise on a needs basis for particular heritage projects. External funds obtained in 2002–03 were used to upgrade the Montreal Theatre, while the 2003–04 grant was used to develop a Conservation Management Plan for the state-listed Adelong Falls.

Table 3. Annual heritage funding for Tumut Shire Council, July 2001 to June 2004
Type of heritage funding	2000–01 $'000	2001–02 $'000	2002–03 $'000	2003–04 $'000
Council budget allocation	9.5	10.0	11.0	12.0
External grants	-	-	27.0	30.0

About the data

Data were provided by the Tumut Shire Council, from Council records, the NSW Heritage Office http://www.heritage.nsw.gov.au and from the Australian Heritage Council http://www.deh.gov.au/cgi-bin/ahdb/search.pl.

Photographs were both provided by RW Purdie.