Heritage Speaker Series #1 – Who Owns Heritage?

As part of National Trust’s Heritage Festival, the Robin Boyd Foundation will host a panel on the topic of  Who Owns Heritage?  Hear from experts from a cross-section of design fields as they discuss heritage and its place in modern-day culture.

Topic:

Heritage is not solely the province of wealthy individuals and institutions with the means to commission the grandest buildings of their day. Heritage also belongs to ordinary people and the buildings in which they lived and worked.

Panelists:

• Fiona Austin: President Beaumaris Modern and founder Austin Design Associates
• Matt Gibson: Matt Gibson Architecture + Design and Boyd Circle member
• Dave Owens: home owner of a Robin Boyd designed home
• Emily McLean: Planning and Heritage, Heritage Victoria

Discussion will evolve along these queries:

• What are the roles of the home owner/developer and government to promote heritage values and encourage good policy that aligns with community expectations and integrates a range of social and economic objectives

• What is the economic viability of heritage overlays? who really benefits?

• Does placing heritage controls on private properties infringed on the rights of owners, and unfairly restrict them in what they can do to their houses or force them to undertake expensive repairs or renovations. To what extent should individual building level costs be a concern to regulators?

• How does the heritage overlay allow for modern living? does it stifle innovation and impede the ability to accommodate new development