By Mikayla van Loon
Extra heritage protection has been granted by Yarra Ranges Council for significant trees and properties across Lilydale.
After the proposed change of the Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, under Amendment C207, to apply a heritage overlay to significant locations in the suburb went out for community consultation in November last year, two more items were identified as needing protection.
At the 11 April council meeting, councillors voted to refer an olive tree and a 1930s property to an independent panel for consideration of their heritage value.
The planning panel’s findings were handed down in a report and supported the amendment with some modifications to the applications.
The olive tree at 2-4 Albert Hill Road and Heatherlie, a property located at 57 Warburton Road, as well as the pine trees lining the driveway, will now be included in the planning scheme.
It was accepted by the panel that the olive tree was one of the earliest plantings in the suburb and was formative in Lilydale’s settlement in wine country.
An adjustment to the 15 metre curtilage was made to reduce it to 5.9 metres in radius to protect the tree.
Lilydale and District Historical Society treasurer Phil Burton, on behalf of president Sue Thompson, spoke at the council meeting on 10 October in support of the new additions.
“This final step has been a long time coming, the slow progress has probably been worth it,” he said.
With discussions of protecting Lilydale’s history first beginning in December 2017, the need for heritage overlays became apparent in February of the following year leading to the employment of a heritage architect at the council.
“This has been a very difficult and costly process but has been cheap compared to the value of the story of each of the buildings and homes and people who lived and worked in them. It is both priceless and timeless.
“Once gone, it is forgotten along with our sense of where we came from.”
Pleased with the outcome of the final round of heritage overlays to be applied, Ms Thompson said in her written statement that after four submissions to the council since 2017, she was glad the one at the 10 October meeting would be the last but left some wise words.
“I want to stress that heritage overlays are just one part of protecting and preserving our history. Our history is woven through most facets of council activities and greater consultation should be built into council’s processes.
“This would mean staff throughout the council would have to consult or at least contact and inform relevant local heritage organisations.
“I look forward to seeing heritage overlays from other parts of the municipality being reviewed, updated and added.”
Cr Fiona McAllister passed on her “heartfelt” thanks to not only members of the Lilydale Historical Society but also the broader heritage groups.
“The role that all of you…have played in the conversations and where we’ve landed today and I guess it goes out more broadly to all our historical societies, our heritage groups for their critical role,” she said.
“We have 13 across the Yarra Ranges and nights like tonight are only one moment where I think we see the huge value, just this passion and wealth of knowledge and the stories.”
Despite costing the council $55,000 to employ a heritage expert to prepare background on the two items under assessment, as well as covering the $5000 cost for the panel hearing, councillor Sophie Todorov said it was a necessary step in achieving better protections.
“We know this has come at a cost to the council but [it was] an important cost and one we needed to bear,” she said.
“It’s given our municipality some better planning controls around the protection of the significant historical places which do form our identity and shape our history.”
Supported in moving the motion by Cr Tim Heenan, he said learning that some of Lilydale’s street trees didn’t have heritage protection left him “gobsmacked”.
“I just thought something that would have been planted prior to the turn of the 20th century would have had the protection,” he said.
“It’s great we can protect the history of the future…To look at the future we need to understand the past and I think that’ll always be the case.
“Unfortunately in Yarra Ranges, throughout the whole of the two and a half thousand kilometres, we haven’t got a lot of history that exists in structures but what we’ve got is important.”
The motion to approve the amendment and forward it to the planning minister was unanimously voted through.
