The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection has established an advisory panel to strengthen Queensland’s heritage register and provide expert advice on heritage places and spaces.
Speaking on World Heritage Day, Minister for the Environment, Meaghan Scanlon said the new panel of specialists would consist of representatives from the Australian Institute of Architects, the National Trust of Australia (Queensland) and Local Government.
Ms Scanlon said the panel would sit under the Queensland Heritage Council and look at ways to bolster existing legislation and frameworks around protecting heritage places.
“Importantly, the panel will be tasked with coming up with ways that our communities can be encouraged to apply more often to have places of historical significance protected on the Queensland Heritage Register,” Ms Scanlon said.
She said those recommendations were expected to be handed down by the end of 2021.
“We’ve already seen a number of locations just this past year placed on the Heritage Register like the Beaudesert saleyard, Charters Towers City Hall and ‘The Fort’ at Oxley,” she said.
“I hope by establishing the panel we can encourage more Queenslanders to consider places of historical significance and how they can be protected through the register.”
Ms Scanlon said World Heritage Day was about celebrating places that had significant cultural heritage and preserving those spaces for generations to come, which was what would be achieved with the panel.
