Council scraps heritage plans

By Sarah Schwager
PLANS to place a heritage overlay on certain Doveton homes have been scrapped by Casey council.
The move could have restricted residents and property owners from renovating and making changes to the home which were visible from the street.
The proposal sparked outrage among Doveton residents in December, with some claiming the regulation would create a ‘ghetto’ and an isolated pocket of residents who could not develop and change their homes.
A vacant retirement home was also left off the listing on the grounds of poor structural condition and little heritage value.
River Gum Ward councillor Janet Halsall said the Mossgiel Park Retirement Home in Endeavour Hills had had too many changes over the years and the original fabric of the home was very different.
Cr Halsall said she was pleased to see many of the houses in Doveton which had been proposed for heritage overlay had been taken off the list.
“It is important that we are listening to residents and their concerns,” she said.
Casey mayor Kevin Bradford said irrespective of other councillors’ opinions on the importance of heritage overlays, different types of architecture was the way history was made.
He sited the Old Shire buildings in Cranbourne, which had been recently renovated, as an example.
“We need to have different types of architecture. That is how we get history,” Cr Bradford said.
Some residents were concerned that if a heritage overlay was placed on some of the houses in Doveton they would be abandoned, as many of the houses in the area were rented and poorly maintained and were deteriorating to the extent that they required demolition.