The ACT government is being disingenuous to suggest placing the city of Canberra on the national heritage list would limit the future development of the capital, one of the original nominators has said.
Dr Ed Wensing, a senior lecturer in the School of Built Environment at the University of NSW, said the recommendations of the Australian Heritage Council to the federal Environment Minister should also be made public, so the public had a better understanding of what the listing could include.
Dr Wensing made the nomination, along with a group of six other planners, historians and architects, including Romaldo Giurgola, who designed Parliament House, in 2009. Dr Wensing said the delay to the minister making a final decision had been inexplicable.
"As nominees, we are not privy to what the Australian Heritage Council recommended to the minister for entry in the listing in 2011," Dr Wensing said.
"Nor have any of the nominees been privy to any of the toing and froing between the ACT and Commonwealth governments about the listing.
"Until the public knows what values are going to be inscribed in the listing, it is a bit far-fetched to be making assertions about whether or not the ACT government will be prevented from upgrading infrastructure or making land use and development decisions which have not been assessed against those values."
The ACT government urged the Commonwealth government late last year to consider the risks to the growth and future development of Canberra if the city is placed on the national heritage list a decade after it was nominated, while also suggesting a narrower listing may reduce the impact of new protections.
Acting Chief Minister Yvette Berry wrote to the federal Environment Minister, Sussan Ley, to seek fresh assurances over the decade-old process to consider listing the city, including whether protections would be "onerous" and what scope they would cover.
"We are also keen to collaborate on the associated guidelines before any listing might be endorsed. As a dynamic and growing city, and one that must continue to adapt to climate change, the Commonwealth and ACT governments must have flexibility in the controls and requirements that protect and govern the evolution of the national capital," Ms Berry's December 20 letter said.
ACT Heritage Minister Rebecca Vassarotti, a member of the Greens, is more enthusiastic about the potential listing.
Dr Wensing said Ms Ley should release the full details of what was being considered for entry on the national heritage list, including the full description of values and the management plan that must accompany the listing.
"I also call on the Federal Minister for the Environment to release any draft management plans for the places to be listed, so the public can have some input to the values of the places to be listed, and how they will be managed," he said.
Dr Wensing said both the Commonwealth and ACT governments had overlooked the potential Canberra's heritage listing would have to attract tourism and greater interest to the national capital.
The Australian Heritage Council completed an assessment in 2011, however the Environment Minister's decision on whether to enter the city on the national heritage list has been repeatedly extended. The current extension is set to expire on June 30.
A spokesman for Ms Ley last week said the Canberra nomination was still being considered.
