HISTORIC PHOTOS ONLINE

CLICK HERE Launceston and Northern Tasmania, Historical Photos

A collections of historical photos of Northern Tasmania from various sources. Please feel free to post your own but also give credit for their origins. The photos and memories of the past are the history of our future. By combining them into one place, we are ensuring that the memories linger and  our grandchildren will know and understand us. Please share your memories

DELISTING LAUNCESTON HERITAGE .... WHY?

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JAMES BRADY'S TEXT: THE proposed de-listing of 44 Balfour Street properties from the Tasmanian Heritage Register has been questioned by a Launceston architect. ......... Lionel Morrell said he was a member of the National Trust classification and building advisory committee when the street, including the advertised properties, were listed on the register. ......... Mr Morrell said, at the time, the process was considered to be the most extensive classification process ever undertaken by the committee for the National Trust. ......... A letter detailing the study was sent to Tasmanian Heritage Council chairwoman Brett Torossi, Heritage Minister Matthew Groom and Treasurer Peter Gutwein. ......... "The process included research of valuation rolls and other archive material to establish a detailed history of each place, builders, architects and inhabitants," Mr Morrell wrote. ......... "From surveys of the street, and photographs, architectural descriptions were prepared, formulating a statement of significance. ......... "All owners and occupants were contacted formally by letter prior to the conclusion of the research, and none of the owners objected to the entry of their property on the National Trust's Register and nomination to the Launceston City Council's Heritage List." ......... Ms Torossi said she had access to the reports. ......... "A wide range of relevant records available to the Heritage Council were considered as part of the recent assessments of entries on the Tasmanian Heritage Register," Ms Torossi said. ......... "The 'intention to remove' process is designed to provide affected property owners and the public with the opportunity to furnish any additional information that they think will assist the Heritage Council to make informed decisions. ......... "The Tasmanian Heritage Council is completing its consultation with the Launceston community and at the same time has begun the process with affected property owners in Hobart." ......... 

FURTHER COMMENT FROM LIONELL MORRELL ......... All Launceston properties that have been entered on the statutory Planning Scheme heritage list were subject to a public advertising and objection process. When the Tasmanian Parliament created the legislation for the Tasmanian Heritage Council and hence the Tasmanian Heritage Register, it was Parliament who made it law to automatically move over all listings in Launceston and Hobart, as well as places listed on the National Trust Register, to the Tasmanian Heritage Register. This was a very public process. In the case of Balfour St, additional work was done, so why is the THC now trying to undo this thorough process?......... The issue of house insurance is a matter for the Australian Insurance Council, and you may be surprised to learn that another of their whacky conditions applied to housing insurance, voids cover on all buildings over 100 years old unless noted and agreed. Who has ticked that box on their application/renewal form? This has nothing to do with heritage listings and in Launceston, of the 30,000 buildings in the city, only a small percentage are heritage listed, but a large number are over 100 years old. With Launceston founded over 200 years ago, it is obviously an old city, but why is it potentially denied insurance cover. Just because you have paid an insurance premium doesn't mean your building is covered.

HPS Editor's Note: Mr Smithies speaks here from the position of the National Trust's Managing Director operating under the auspices of the  National Trust Act and is curiously silent in regard to the Trust's Board of Directors, its membership and their role in determining policy and undertaking strategic planning. Unless the National Trust's Board  of Directors has functionally abdicated its governance role and thus has delegated policy determination to the Managing Director, if so, this seems to be at odds with best practice in corporate governance and management. Moreover, if this is excused under the banner of 'modernity' it is unfortunate with many risks attached.

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Modern approach to preserving history

By COREY MARTIN       May 23, 2015, 5:44 p.m.

MATTHEW Smithies wants to see National Trust Tasmania become a contemporary heritage management organisation.

He  moved here from Sydney   six years ago, after two decades in senior heritage management with several institutions.Mr Smithies, who replaced Chris Tassel as the trust’s managing director in December, said the organisation had not always excelled in good governance and financial responsibility.

Among them were the Australian Maritime Museum and the Queen Victoria Building,  with  partnership programs with the Australian War Memorial, Sydney Opera House and Art Gallery of New South Wales .

He was  also  a New South Wales government cultural heritage adviser and established Sydney After Dark.

In his five years with the state’s National Trust, he has overseen numerous projects including the Tasmanian Heritage Festival.

‘‘The last museum I was at was the Sydney Jewish Museum, which was an absolute eye-opener for me,’’ he said. ‘‘They represented the Holocaust, it was a commemorative site, and it turned my view on heritage site management on its head.

‘‘I had been trained fairly traditionally, and when I went there it was all about impact.

‘‘It wasn’t about trying to get huge numbers to the site: success was measured by what impact the experience had on the visitor.

‘‘I found that a fascinating way to measure success in a cultural institution.

Mr Smithies, who lives just outside   Lilydale, has established a hazelnut plantation and runs a rare breed of Irish Dexter cattle.‘‘That’s the philosophy I’m trying to overlay with the National Trust in Tasmania.’’

He works out of Youngtown’s historic Franklin House and said that Tasmania had a tremendous heritage product.

However, he said more needed to be done than just present the buildings, collections and objects. ‘‘It’s presenting it in a way that has direct links with community,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s all about impact and pulling together heritage activities that have relevance to our community, otherwise heritage is actually at arm’s length and it’s not obtainable or accessible.

‘‘Heritage doesn’t need to be tired, boring and mausoleum-y: it can be actually really interesting and dynamic.

‘‘We are also taking every opportunity at the National Trust to engage with younger generations to get involved with heritage in management – they’re our future and have a huge amount to offer.’’

In December 2006, following a period of administration and restructure, a new National Trust Act was proclaimed by the Tasmanian government.

National Trust Tasmania operates 10 sites including  Franklin House, Clarendon homestead at Nile, the Old Umbrella Shop, Oak Lodge, Runnymede, the Penitentiary Chapel Historic Site, Penghana and Mount Lyell mine offices.

Mr Smithies said it was his responsibility to oversee all aspects of the operation and future development of the National Trust.

‘‘I’m also a people trafficker – I see my role as actually pulling together the right people to create dynamic, interesting, innovative teams – that’s 80 per cent of my role,’’ he said.

‘‘And making sure that all fits within the strategic plan of the National Trust.’’

Mr Smithies said heritage had a key role to play in the state government’s target of attracting 1.5 million annual visitors by 2020 and beyond.

Tourism Tasmania research showed that heritage was a main driver and reason why people came to the state.

National Trust Tasmania last week presented to the Legislative Council Government Administration Committee ‘B’ Sub-Committee Built Heritage Tourism in Tasmania Inquiry.

‘‘Has heritage always got the attention that I think it should have got? I think you could only answer that as no, it hasn’t,’’ he said.

‘‘We have in the past and still do to a certain extent pay attention to food and wine –  that is one area of what Tasmania has to offer.

‘‘Every year I try and get out of Tasmania to broaden my horizons and see heritage management somewhere else in the world.

‘‘I think the National Trust in Tassie can set some fantastic new benchmarks and develop some new and interesting heritage management capabilities, which is really exciting.’’

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Moving Launceston's Cenotaph

"MOVING the Launceston Cenotaph to the soon-to-be-developed North Bank park would be a fitting, symbolic location. This is according to Lionel Morrell, a heritage consultant and grandson of a World War I soldier, who raised the idea last week before Saturday's Anzac Day record attendance of 10,000 at Royal Park"  .... click here to read more

Lionel Morrell, speaking personally, said today "another special feature of the Town Point site on the river edge, is the unobstructed view of the rising sun over Ben Lomond at the Dawn Service."

"The natural amphitheatre created by the levee embankment is an ideal opportunity for elevated viewing of the Cenotaph and the rising sun, all in all a very special moment, not possible in the tree enclosed City Park or the present site next to the TAFE buildings" he said. 

Mr. Morrell went on to say "the potential special poignancy and ceremony of the Town Point siting is something that truly sets that location apart from all others that I can think of, and it can never be built out or obscured in the future. The creation of a new park there and the facilities proposed are already budgeted and funded."

It is possible that the whole concept could easily be achieved within the next year and a new place available by 25th November 2016. Furthermore, the entire Town Point site offers additional opportunities to celebrate and acknowledge Launceston's layered histories.

A revision of the landscaping plans, already funded, could entail an impressive approach avenue, traditionally the setting for war memorials. Likewise, the Memorial, as the illuminated centrepiece of site visible from the surrounding hills, importantly at the precise junction of Launceston's three rivers, might well provide Launceston with a focal point that celebrates its histories.

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MEDIA RELEASE: TASMANIA'S CULTURAL ESTATE AT RISK

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Tasmania’s cultural estate is at risk given the outmoded governance structures plus inadequate legislation and regulation that come together to place it at risk.

Ray Norman, independent researcher and cultural geographer, said today “while some protective legislation and regulation does exist, generally it is somewhat haphazard in its application and its inconsistent in the ways that it is applied”.

Tasmania has some of Australia’s most important, oftentimes unique, public collections and heritage sites, collectively understandable as ‘musingplaces’. These collections tell important stories relevant to Tasmanian and Australian social histories and cultural identities.

Public musingplaces, including art galleries, are responsible for the care of much of a nation’s, a region’s and ultimately, a community’s tangible and intangible cultural assets plus natural and cultural heritage. 

The governing bodies of these cultural institutions, and the people concerned with the strategic direction and oversight of musingplaces, have a primary responsibility to protect communities’ cultural assets and to facilitate the development of new understandings via the public’s access to our musingplaces and the research work they do.

Likewise, musingplaces’ governing bodies play a key role in promoting heritage and cultural values as well as putting in place the human, physical and financial resources made available for that purpose.

Ray Norman said today, “there are international standards in place to provide guidance on best practice but all too often, at a local level, they are seen as being discretionary advice and sometimes ignored out of convenience or for some other reason.”

“However, and more importantly, many of Tasmania’s public musingplaces and heritage properties, despite having a kind of ‘charity status’,  operate without standalone constitutions or appropriate governance structures that represent best practice in protecting the cultural property they hold under their stewardship” he said.

Some small local museums and art galleries operate as incorporated bodies and somewhat strangely they are more accountable ‘as museums’ than those operating under the aegis of Local Government or even a university.

Without transparency, and appropriate checks and balances, people donating to public collections cannot be assured that their donation will be directed to the purpose intended.

Likewise, when governments grant public money to public musingplaces they need the assurance of accountability and compliance with appropriate standards. 

Functionally that may not be there in the ways expected as demonstrated by the Auditor General’s recent comments in the press relevant to the States premier musingplaces, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.

Today, Ray Norman released a discussion paper entitled “The Tasmanian Cultural Estate: A case for change”.

Ray Norman says “the paper explores ways to reimagine museum and art galleries' and our built heritage estate's  governance and management in a 21st C context .”

Ray went on on to say that ”it is clear that there are compelling reasons to look at fundamental change in regard to the governance of Tasmania's musingplaces and heritage properties."

"Indeed, in a 21st C context, it appear that it would be timely to undertake a root and branch investigation of what our cultural estate consists of and the best ways to govern and manage the institutions and organisations holding this enormously valuable cultural heritage” he said.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT 

Ray Norman: Independent Researcher and Cultural Geographer

.     eMAIL raynorman@eftel.net.au – [PH] 03 6334 2176

Lionel Morrell: President Tasmanian Heritage Protection Society (Tasmania) Inc

.     eMAIL li82303@bigpond.net.au – [PH] 03 6331 6144

Greg Parkinson: Convener: Tamar Institute Steering Committee

.     eMAIL greg@7250.net –  [PH]  03 6331 9178

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE DISCUSSION PAPER