Wondering why the City of Greater Bendigo, City of Ballarat and 11 other councils are keen on nominating Central Victorian Goldfields sites for UNESCO World Heritage Listing?
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What does it mean for a property to be world heritage listed?
Sites recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation for their world heritage are of 'outstanding universal value'.
Properties added to the list since 2004 meet at least one of 10 selection criteria.
For example, the site might be 'a masterpiece of human creative genius,' or an exceptional example of major stages of the planet's history.
Sites added to the list before 2004 were subject to six cultural and four natural criteria.
Only countries that have committed to protect their heritage by signing the World Heritage Convention can nominate their sites for listing.
The criteria for selection is available here.
How many Australian sites are on the list?
Australia is home to 19 world heritage listed sites, only one of which is in Victoria.
The Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens is the sole Victorian site on the list, and one of seven recognised for their cultural value.
Most of the Australian sites are recognised for their natural value. Among them are the Great Barrier Reef, Fraser Island, Kakadu National Park, Uluru, and the Tasmanian Wilderness.
The UNESCO World Heritage List consists of more than 1000 properties, worldwide.
An interactive map of the list is available here.
Why is our council interested?
The potential tourism benefits associated with having a site on the World Heritage List are attractive to our city and the other 12 municipalities involved in the bid.
"When they are successful there's a huge amount of tourism that comes with them," Bendigo mayor Margaret O'Rourke said.
"People travel the world to see UNESCO World Heritage Listed sites."
A listing would also recognise the historical significance of some of the sites remaining from our gold rush history.
"Most of the sites around the world to do with the great gold rushes, they're gone because they were built out of timber," Cr O'Rourke said.
The 13 councils involved in the bid believe the regions they represent consist of a number of sites that could be considered significant.
"This is a way to formalise the importance of the goldfields," Bendigo councillor Matt Emond, of the city's Heritage Advisory Committee, said.
He said the bid could also recognise the impact the gold rush had on the region and its traditional owners.
How does a site get world heritage listed?
There are several stages to the process.
The first step is for the nominee to make a tentative list of the sites for which it seeks recognition. The second involves the preparation of a nomination file. Advisory bodies evaluate the nominations. The World Heritage Committee then decides whether sites will be inscribed on the World Heritage List.
When preparing their tentative list, nominees are flagging sites they are interested in submitting for inscription in the next five to 10 years.
More on the World Heritage Listing process available here.
Where are we at in this process?
Cr O'Rourke said the 13 involved councils were seeking state government funding for mapping to identify sites of historical significance.
The councils are seeking $400,000 from the state for that work.
Cr Emond said the 13 councils would collectively pitch in $100,000 to support the work.
Up to 10 sites of significance would be included in the region's bid.
Cr Emond said the councils were aspiring to have the nomination process ready for mid-2021.
Preparation of a business case, a management plan, and community and stakeholder consultations would also be involved.
Cr Emond said sites of significance would be put on the national register and put to the federal government for submission to UNESCO.
The involved councils have met several times to discuss the bid, particularly over the past 12 months.
Cr Emond said the councils had also raised the idea with local state MPs and government departments.
"We'd like to see this idea move forward," Cr Emond said.
More on the councils' most recent meeting about the bid, here.
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