Heritage in the Glenelg Shire will receive a $17,000 boost thanks to the Brumby Government’s Victoria’s Heritage Grants program, Member for Western Victoria, Gayle Tierney announced today.
Ms Tierney said the Glenelg Shire had received two grants in the 2008/2009 program, including $14,000 to employ a heritage advisor and $3,000 to digitise its heritage records.
“Both these grants will provide great benefits for heritage in the Glenelg Shire, which is an essential part of the fabric of our community,” Ms Tierney said.
“The heritage advisor funding will mean property owners and local businesses have free access to specialist advice on the repair, care and use of heritage places,” she said.
“The heritage advisor will be employed by the council to provide advice on a range of issues, such as colour schemes, restorations and researching the history of a property.”
This digitisation grant will see information from the Glenelg Shire heritage study stored electronically in an online database managed by the State Government agency Heritage Victoria.
Ms Tierney said the information will eventually be made available to the general public through the Victorian Heritage Database online at www.heritage.vic.gov.au.
“It’s basically taking important paper-based information about our heritage and saving it in a secure, accessible way, so that it can’t be damaged or lost over time,” she said.
“By making State and local government heritage information available on the one site, Heritage Victoria is building an invaluable resource for heritage professionals and the general public.
“For example, if you are considering buying a property, you could use the site to identify whether it has State or local heritage protection and find out more about its history and significant features.”
Planning Minister Justin Madden said the heritage advisors grants were matched by the local councils on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
“The Brumby Government is dedicated to supporting local councils in their important work caring for Victoria’s heritage,” Mr Madden said.
“More than 100,000 individual places and precincts are included on Heritage Overlays around the State. This service provides great assistance to the community custodians who work so hard to preserve and protect these places.”
Victoria was the first state to fund a heritage advisory service in 1977 in the historic town of Maldon. Since then the program has grown to support over 50 advisory services in regional and metropolitan councils across Victoria.