Macedon Ranges Heritage Strategy 2024-2034
There are many types of heritage in the Macedon Ranges, from the natural, Aboriginal, and historic places we have created and inherited, to plantings of mature trees and avenues, or manipulation of landscapes for water, travel, agriculture, and industry.
Evidence of the shire’s past is present in objects and collections, records and stories, passed on to us from the First Peoples who have lived here for thousands of years, and those who have migrated here in colonial settlement and since.
The Macedon Ranges is fortunate to have a community who champion the heritage we love and who advocate and work to preserve and protect it.
The Heritage Strategy focuses on leading by example as the largest owner / manager of heritage assets, on building the Council’s capacity around nature, Aboriginal, and historic heritage alongside Council’s ongoing role in identifying and protecting sites of heritage significance in the shire.
The Heritage Strategy recommends 28 actions to be completed over a ten-year timeframe.
It has been organised under the four themes recommended by the Heritage Victoria toolkit and a fifth theme has been added for climate change.
Action Tracker
We are committed to sharing progress for the actions listed in the Heritage Strategy. Below is the progress report for Year 1.
Knowing
| Action |
Description |
Progress |
| Heritage Control Themes (K1) |
Complete an analysis of the heritage controls in the Macedon Ranges Planning Scheme against the themes listed in the Macedon Ranges Thematic Environmental History. |
Commenced |
| Heritage studies (K2) |
Commence the heritage studies in order of priority from the Macedon Ranges Thematic Environmental History review and protect through an amendment. |
Scheduled |
| Council's Asset Management System (K3) |
Integrate compliance, conservation considerations, and period / type of heritage into the asset management system for Council owned / managed assets. |
As opportunity arises |
Protecting
| Action |
Description |
Progress |
| Local Heritage Policy (P1) |
Strengthen the local policy for heritage in the Macedon Ranges Planning Scheme. |
Commenced |
| Heritage Overlay corrections (P2) |
Commence a planning scheme amendment to correct Heritage Overlay errors and anomalies. |
Scheduled |
| Aboriginal heritage places in the Heritage Overlay (P3) |
Engage with relevant Aboriginal parties and First Peoples - State Relations to clarify the appropriate mechanism for the protection of Aboriginal heritage places in the Macedon Ranges Planning Scheme. |
Commenced |
| Council's Historic records (P4) |
Engage with Public Records Office of Victoria to develop a project for dealing with the records held by Macedon Ranges Shire Council. |
As opportunity arises |
| Dilapidated buildings in Local Laws (P5) |
Develop a Local Laws process for responding to reports of dilapidated heritage buildings. |
As opportunity arises |
| Compliance in Council's capital works (P6) |
Facilitate heritage compliance in the capital works project management process. |
Ongoing |
Supporting
| Action |
Description |
Progress |
| Training and professional development (S1) |
Develop training and professional development for the organisation on Aboriginal, local and state heritage legislation. |
Commenced |
| Heritage Design Guidelines (S2) |
Develop heritage guidelines for applicants and owners on sympathetic design for heritage places. |
As opportunity arises |
| Grants and funding programs (S3) |
Review external and internal grants and funding assistance schemes, to identify where improvements can be made in accessing, supporting, or distributing funding for Council, community, and privately owned heritage assets. |
As opportunity arises |
| Heritage advisory service (S4) |
Provide a heritage advisory service to assist with Aboriginal, state and local heritage legislation. |
Ongoing |
| Key projects (S5) |
Support national and state heritage key projects: World Heritage Listing of the Victorian Goldfields, master planning for Kyneton Mineral Springs and implementing the strategic plan for Hanging Rock. |
Ongoing |
Communication and Promoting
| Action |
Description |
Progress |
| Aboriginal heritage information for visitors (CP1) |
Review Aboriginal heritage material produced by Macedon Ranges Shire Council for tourism and visitor information centres, and engage with relevant Aboriginal parties for consent, support, and review to update and promote. |
As opportunity arises |
| Naming Protocol (CP2) |
Update the Naming Protocol for Roads and Places to include recent measures regarding Aboriginal and gender naming, in consultation with the Registered Aboriginal Database. |
Ongoing |
| Victorian Heritage Database (CP3) |
Review and update online transformation for heritage places in the Macedon Ranges and publish these on Victorian Heritage Database. |
Scheduled |
| Collections information online (CP4) |
Publish online collections information for Council-owned / managed botanic and object collections. |
As opportunity arises |
| Reconciliation Action Plan (CP5) |
Support the implementation of the Macedon Ranges Shire Council Reconciliation Action Plan. |
Ongoing |
| Macedon Ranges Heritage Council (CP6) |
Support the Macedon Ranges Heritage Council in their advocacy, promotion, and celebration activities. |
Ongoing |
| Webpage information (CP7) |
Improve the heritage information made available to residents, owners, and community on Council's web pages. |
Ongoing |
| Naming in subdivisions (CP8) |
Strengthen the process for historic naming in subdivisions and large developments. |
Complete |
Preparing
| Action |
Description |
Progress |
| Long term planning for Council heritage assets (Prep1) |
Establish long-term planning and future-proofing for Council-owned / managed heritage assets. |
Commenced |
| Climate proofing Avenues of Honour (Prep2) |
Engage with VicRoads and Heritage Victoria (Department of Transport and Planning) to develop a project for preparing state heritage Avenues of Honour for climate change. |
As opportunity arises |
| Heritage Victoria and Heritage Council climate change guides (Prep3) |
Promote Heritage Victoria and Heritage Council of Victoria climate change guides through Council's website and events to assist the community with disaster preparedness for heritage. |
Commenced |
| Emergency officer heritage training (Prep4) |
Engage with relevant stakeholders to develop a training program for emergency officers to plan for and protect Aboriginal, local and state heritage assets. |
Scheduled
|
| Municipal Emergency Management Plan (Prep5) |
Advocate for better protection and processes for Aboriginal, local and state heritage in the Municipal Emergency Management Plan. |
Scheduled |
| Counting Down to ZERO (Prep6) |
Support Macedon Ranges Shire Council 'Counting Down to ZERO: Our plan to reach ZERO net emissions by 2030'. |
Ongoing |
Download the Heritage Strategy 2024-2034(PDF, 4MB), which was adopted at the 28 August 2024 Council Meeting.
For more information, call our Strategic Planning team on (03) 5422 0333 or email strategicplanning@mrsc.vic.gov.au