Heritage Gaps Review Program

The Heritage Gaps Review Program is an ambitious and proactive work program to identify and protect places of heritage significance missing from the Ballarat Planning Scheme and to enhance the conservation and management of existing heritage places and precincts.

The City of Ballarat is growing, by 2041 the municipality's population is predicted to increase by 55,000 people. To support this growth, the City of Ballarat will need to facilitate the development of thousands of new dwellings and help drive business and industry growth to support local employment opportunities.

This growth may put pressure on the city's valued heritage assets. The City of Ballarat is undertaking the Heritage Gaps Review Program to help prepare for this challenge now.

This ambitious, multi-year program of strategic heritage work will span the whole municipality, reviewing places and precincts already in the Heritage Overlay, as well as assessing new heritage places for inclusion.

The information collected through the Heritage Gaps Review Program will help identify and address current gaps in the Heritage Overlay, to ensure our heritage assets are managed and conserved into the future. 

This program delivers on the City of Ballarat Council Plan 2021-2025, which identifies Ballarat as ‘Victoria’s heritage city: leading the way as a sustainable, innovative and inclusive community’.

The City of Ballarat recognises that there are many places of heritage significance across the municipality that do not have adequate heritage protection. The study will identify, document and assess these places to consider whether they should be added to the Heritage Overlay in the Ballarat Planning Scheme. 

The Heritage Gaps Review Program will ensure heritage places and precincts clearly demonstrate how and why they are significant.

The City of Ballarat will review the existing Ballarat Planning Scheme, the key statutory tool used to make decisions about Ballarat’s heritage places and precincts. 

This will provide the community, the City of Ballarat and property owners/occupiers with clear guidance for decision making in relation to the conservation and future management and development of heritage places.

The Heritage Gaps Review program will capture the entire City of Ballarat municipality. It will include rural areas, townships and urban areas.

The Heritage Gaps Review Program is a substantial undertaking which will involve numerous consultancy firms, community engagement programs and a significant input from City of Ballarat Officers.  It will take several years to complete the full set of proposed projects within the Program, but we hope to complete it fully by 2030.

• Contact the Heritage Team at City of Ballarat via Customer Service on 5320 5500
• Send an email to heritageteam@ballarat.vic.gov.au
• Visit MySay and keep an eye out for any open consultations

Online: Visit MySay to mark places on the interactive map

Download the nomination form: on MySay, complete the form and email to heritageteam@ballarat.vic.gov.au

Collect a nomination form in person: at libraries (Doveton, Sebastopol, Wendouree, Xin Jin Shan), City of Ballarat Phoenix building, Eureka Centre, Mechanics Institute), you can then return the nomination form to the drop in the ballot box at these locations or email to heritageteam@ballarat.vic.gov.au