New era of SA houses win tough heritage protection
Do you own one of the homes across Adelaide covered by tough new protection against bulldozers? See pictures of some of the houses.
State Planning Minister Nick Champion has adopted the Inter-War Housing Heritage code amendment giving heritage protections to 20 rare homes and an area in Heathpool that reflects the zone’s history from the 1920s to the 1940s.
His decision means homes in distinctive architectural styles from the inter-war period that could have been demolished would now be protected within the suburbs of St Peters, College Park, Hackney, Marden, Marryatville and Maylands.
Plus, one part of Healthpool was now covered by an ‘historic area overlay’, meaning strict protections for 32 properties were in place, ensuring the overall look and feel of the streets remains historic.
“It is important that we preserve these beautiful homes and neighbourhoods,” Champion said.
The amendment was brought to the Planning Minister by the City of Norwood, Payneham and St Peters as it moved to preserve the houses ranging in style from Tudor to Spanish Mission, and Art Deco to Californian Bungalow.
Before the code amendment, only very old buildings in the city from the 1800s to the early 1900s were protected under heritage rules.
The heritage area overlay extends through an area that was once the front paddock of Heathpool Farm. That subdivision of land created 40 allotments, forming a new residential estate known as Toorak East.
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The farm was once owned by William Speakman Hanson, who was a previous Mayor of Norwood.
Heritage expert and director of heritage and design firm Alexander Wilkinson Design, Sandy Wilkinson, said the protected dwellings – typically gentlemen’s bungalows – form part of the history of the area.
“It’s about capturing the different eras of development in the area. This is a very good representation of a former farm that’s dated to the 1860s, gradually being sold off,” Wilkinson, who is currently running for the Norwood, Payneham & St Peters council supplementary election, said.
“Most of what people think of as heritage in Adelaide is the Victorian-era bluestone, which everyone knows and loves.
“It’s important to not just protect the oldest houses, but actually to protect the other buildings which represent different eras of development.”
Wilkinson said the rest of Norwood was “largely unprotected” – “about 20 to 25 per cent of Norwood is protected but 60 to 70 per cent of it should be”.
“Two-thirds of it is historic, original housing stock.”
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Champion said the protected homes from the 20th century shaped local history and identity.
“Homes built during the inter-war period tell the story of South Australia’s evolution during a transformative period in our history,” Champion said.
“As time goes on, our understanding of what is historically important evolves. Heritage protection shouldn’t just be limited to homes from the 1800s.”
According to the City’s code amendment consultation papers, the prior Historic Area Overlay was “dominated by buildings dating from the mid-1800s through to early 1900s, representing mainly Colonial, Victorian and Federation periods of Australian housing architecture”.
The consultation papers said Healthpool was “the only suburb in the city… that contains a highly intact precinct with its built-form character dominated by high-quality, medium-sized to large prestigious inter-war dwellings”. This includes the part of Stannington Avenue that received the new heritage overlay.
“There has been growing interest nationally and internationally in formally recognising and protecting the heritage values of remaining Twentieth Century buildings and architecture, including the range of distinctive Inter-War housing styles constructed between 1915 and 1945,” the consultation papers read.
City of Norwood, Payneham and St Peters Mayor Robert Bria said the inclusion of the 20 properties “represents an important step of the council’s ongoing commitment to heritage protection”.
“These dwellings represent an often forgotten period of architecture between the World Wars, so to have these beautiful and unique properties listed meets and important objective of Council’s Built Heritage Strategy,” he said.
“The council thanks Minister Champion and the Malinauskas Government for supporting the council’s vision to provide appropriate heritage status for these dwellings, as well as providing increased protection for older homes in Healthpool to help the historic built form in that suburb stay intact.”
Local MP Cressida O’Hanlon said the new protections were a “direct response” to a community passion for protecting local heritage in the area.
“It is fantastic that the homes and streets that tell the story of the history of our community will now be protected for future generations,” she said.
“I thank the Council for their collaboration with the state government and for continuing to advocate for preserving the beauty and history of our local historic buildings.”
