A draft management plan for a heritage-listed reserve in Ironbark has been released to the public.
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Victoria Hill Diggings Reserve, located on Marong Road, contained open cuts and mine shafts that operated for almost a century, producing $8 billion worth of gold in today's value.
Located on Crown Land and listed on the Victorian Heritage Register due to its historical, archaeological and scientific heritage significance, the area is managed by the City of Greater Bendigo.
The heritage listing covers the entire reserve including all above-ground structures, granite and brick mining machinery foundations, mullock heaps, open cut and surface workings and all archaeological deposits and artefacts.
Council has developed a draft Victoria Hill Management Plan to help understand built and non-built assets, define current service levels for the reserve and identify gaps and improvement in activities.
The draft plan helps set out the reserve's day-to-day operation and maintenance and examines opportunities for improvement at the site relating to poor profile/visibility, accessibility, vandalism, erosion and safety to increase usage and reduce risks.
City of Greater Bendigo Presentation and Assets director Brian Westley said it was important to have a plan to maintain such a significant historical reserve.
"Due to the reserve's historic usage there can be movement in the mine shafts causing collapses or sink holes and bollard and rail fencing has been installed in some areas to limit access to steep areas and obvious mine shafts for public safety," Mr Westley said.
"Fencing could also be extended to improve safety and make the site more secure. While better entrance signage is another way of raising the reserve's profile.
"Due to the steep grade of the site there are erosion issues due to overland water.
"However, this is something that could be improved with better drainage and re-profiling."
Mr Westley said council's ability to address erosion issues may be limited due to resources and the fact that permits are required for any significant works at the site as a consequence of its heritage listing.
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