Heritage Studies
The backbone of the Australian heritage management system is the municipal-wide Heritage Study undertaken according to standardized procedures as directed by key government agencies such as Heritage Victoria and the Australian Heritage Council.
The recognition and articulation of a place’s heritage significance is a core statutory duty of local government. The stakes can be high, with Councils often faced with multiple viewpoints, complex scenarios, and tension between what individuals and communities value.
RBA prioritise the need to provide timely, strategic and credible heritage expertise. We have a very high strike rate in achieving formal statutory recognition.
Engaging independent, forthright heritage experts to undertake such heritage studies, whether targeted at a perceived ‘gap’ (thematic or geographical), locality, landscape, or entire municipality, goes a long way in ameliorating risk, ensuring resource expenditure is justified and, importantly, protecting places that underpin local identity, culture, and distinctiveness.
Community consultation is a key aspect of the heritage study process. Distilling local community sentiment regarding the identification and conservation of valued sites, is a responsibility we take seriously. Ultimately, heritage protection measures exist to safeguard meaningful and tangible links to the past.
Our assessments benefit from targeted place-based historical investigations and a profound knowledge of international and domestic architectural and design cultures, as well as responding to recent shifts in heritage practice emphasising social and more intangible values.
We are proud of our ability to craft precise Statements of Significance and citations, whether for individual places, precincts, serial or group listings, that are in line with best practice, will hold up against strutiny and act as useful management documents.
RBA senior staff are recognized and respected for their Expert Witness Appearances before planning panels concerning recommendations made in heritage studies.
RBA has undertaken heritage study work for many metropolitan and rural municipalities, some of these include: Melbourne, Greater Geelong, Hobsons Bay, Mount Alexander, Strathbogie, Towong, Boroondara, Melton, French Island, Ballarat, Bendigo and Port Phillip.
