The City of Ballarat's manages the City's valuable heritage assets in balance with growth and development across the municipality. The City of Ballarat is required to protect, conserve and enhance places of local heritage significance under the Planning and Environment Act 1987.
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Heritage
Heritage Planning
Heritage Protection
Heritage Protection in Victoria is managed by three acts;
State Protection:
The Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 is managed by the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council and Registered Aboriginal Parties. It recognises First Nations people as the primary guardians of their cultural heritage. The Registered Aboriginal Party (RAP) for the area are the key decision makers regarding the management of cultural heritage places or objects.
The City of Ballarat is on the traditional country of the Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung people. The Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (WTOAC) is the Registered Aboriginal Party for Wadawurrung country, Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation are the Registered Aboriginal Party for Dja Dja Wurrung country.
The Heritage Act 2017 is jointly managed by Heritage Council Victoria and Heritage Victoria. Heritage Council Victoria determines what to include on the Victorian Heritage Register and Heritage Victoria is responsible for the management and conservation of the places and objects included on the Victorian Heritage Register
Local Protection:
Planning and Environment Act 1987
The Planning and Environment Act 1987 is managed by local councils. The City of Ballarat is responsible for proposing what to include in the local Heritage Overlay and making decisions about changes to places within a local Heritage Overlay. This includes heritage studies, Planning Scheme Amendments, permit applications and enforcing compliance.
What is the Heritage Overlay?
Heritage overlay refers to a planning control that is applied to land with heritage significance.
Its purpose is to:
- Conserve and enhance places of natural or cultural significance
- Conserve and enhance elements which contribute to the significance of heritage places
- Ensure development does not adversely affect the significance of heritage place
- Conserve specifically identified places by allowing a use that would otherwise be prohibited if this will demonstrably assist with the conservation of the significance of the place
Is my property heritage listed?
A free property report can be obtained on the Victorian Government Department of Transport and Planning website - Your place for Victorian land and property information. This report will provide information about the planning controls affecting a property in Victoria.
The City of Ballarat employs dedicated Heritage Advisors to help guide the decision-making process for places within the Heritage Overlay. Our Heritage Advisor is also able to assist property owners on technical, materials and conservation advice on a range of issues.
More information can be found on the Heritage planning permits page
Current Projects
Heritage Gaps Review Program
In 2023, the Heritage Planning team initiated the Heritage Gaps Review Program to review the Heritage Overlay and identify places of Heritage significance not currently under heritage protection. This is an ambitious and multi-year program of strategic heritage planning for the whole municipality. Key projects under the Heritage Gaps Review Program are:
- Preparation of new Local Heritage Policy and Heritage Design Guidelines – to be included in the Ballarat Planning Scheme to give a framework for good decision making regarding our heritage places and precincts, supported by Heritage Design Guidelines.
- Heritage Gaps Study – will add new places and precincts to the Ballarat Planning Scheme and will identify, document and protect new heritage places and precincts across the whole municipality through inclusion in the Heritage Overlay of the Ballarat Planning Scheme.
- Heritage Review Study – will undertake a thorough review of our existing heritage places and precincts (already included in the Heritage Overlay if the Ballarat Planning Scheme). The review will ensure that the significance of each place or precinct is adequately documented and well justified. In conjunction with robust local heritage policy, this will result in good decision making which achieve positive heritage outcomes where change is proposed.
For more information on this project go to the Heritage Gaps Review Program project page.
To nominate a heritage place go to the Heritage Gaps Review Program mySay page.
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Ballarat Heritage Festival
Join us 16-25 May. View the program of events, mixing old and new, retro vibes paired with innovative thinking, celebrating country and culture.
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Heritage unfolds, entertainment awaits at the Ballarat Heritage Festival
29 April 2025 12:30pm
Get ready for some high-flying entertainment as the Ballarat Heritage Festival prepares to take off once again.
The countdown is now on for Ballarat’s biggest celebration of all things heritage, with another bumper edition of the award-winning festival on the cards.
The festival annually transforms Ballarat into a living museum, inviting locals and visitors to step back in time and experience the stories, sounds, and traditions that have shaped the city.
The 10-day festival will be held from Friday 16 May to Sunday 25 May 2025, celebrating Ballarat’s rich heritage, unique stories and vibrant creative community.
The flagship event of the 2025 festival will be ‘Entertainment of the Air’ – a spectacular celebration of aviation that will thrill aviation enthusiasts and families alike.
The free event will be based at the Ballarat Airport and will include a suite of entertainment options including live music from the 1940's inspired singing trio Pacific Belles, vintage photographs, museums and exhibitions, plus the option to book a chartered vintage aircraft joy ride.
A classic Douglas DC-3 aircraft, built in 1945, will even make the journey, chartering passengers from Essendon Airport before allowing people to get up close and personal with the aircraft in Ballarat.
Free shuttle buses will also operate throughout both weekends to transport people between the airport, Ballarat Town Hall, Eureka Centre and Sovereign Hill.
The 2025 Heritage Festival will also see a return of familiar favourites you know and love that have made the festival unique.
From vintage car shows to the Beard and Stache Competition, steam train rides to Old Ballarat Goal Tours, Craft Lab to the Ballarat Antiques Fair, there will be no shortage of entertainment on this year’s program.
City of Ballarat Councillor, Cr Samantha McIntosh said the Ballarat Heritage Festival provided a great opportunity to showcase the city's complex and rich history.
“The Ballarat Heritage Festival is a true celebration of our city’s rich history and vibrant community spirit, bringing our past to life in an extraordinary way,” she said.
“The ‘Entertainment of the Air’ program looks especially exciting and I encourage people to head along to the Ballarat airport and experience something completely different in a place they might never have been in our city.”
With less than a month until the 2025 festival kicks off, you can now check out the full program online and begin creating your festival itinerary.
More than 15,000 people are expected to attend this year’s festival, which is expected to contribute $2 million to the Ballarat economy.
The Ballarat Heritage Festival falls in the middle of a busy period for the City of Ballarat events team.
The Heritage Festival comes hot on the heels of the Ballarat Begonia Festival, with preparations also in full swing for the three-week long Ballarat Winter Festival in July.
Events either owned or funded by the City of Ballarat injected an estimated $52 million into the Ballarat economy in the 2023/2024 financial year, from an investment of $3.1 million.
View the full event program and start planning your heritage escape by visiting the Ballarat Heritage Festival website.
Heritage Gaps Review Program
Project overview
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.
Why is a Heritage Gaps Review Program taking place?
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.
What areas of Ballarat does the Heritage Gaps Review Program cover?
The Heritage Gaps Review program will capture the entire City of Ballarat municipality. It will include rural areas, townships and urban areas.
How long will it take?
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.
Would you like to get involved?
- 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
Would you like to nominate heritage places?
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
