Castlemaine Railway Precinct Conservation Management Plan

Mount Alexander Shire Council has secured grant funding from the State Government’s Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning’s Living Heritage Grants Program to undertake a Conservation Management Plan for the Castlemaine Railway Precinct. The funding for the project comes from the Living Heritage Competitive Community Grants Round 7, 2022-2023. The total funding for the project is $39,000.

A Conservation Management Plan is the principal guiding document for the conservation and management of a heritage place. It is a tool that allows owners, managers and approval authorities to make sound decisions about heritage places. A Conservation Management Plan identifies the heritage values – or significance – of a place, the conservation policies to be applied to protect that significance in the face of change, and a strategy through which the policies will be put into action. This guide focuses on historic places. Some places may also have natural and Indigenous heritage values. All values can be addressed within a single Conservation Management Plan.

For more detailed information on Conservation Management Plans, here is Heritage Council of Victoria's comprehensive guide to Conservation Management Plans.

Separately leased areas within the Precinct have been developing in an uncoordinated way, without the benefit of a precinct-scale Conservation Management Plan. Tenants within the Precinct, for example the Victoria Goldfields Railway and Castlemaine State Festival, are thriving and have strategic growth plans in place. This will see buildings and sites within the Precinct visited by tourists and community members year round, in ever increasing numbers. It is integral that their expansion activities benefit from a Conservation Management Plan, to ensure they expand whilst conserving heritage values of their tenancies.

The Precinct's significant sites and buildings have a very positive influence on many aspects of the way the community interacts with the Precinct. Through the preparation of the Conservation Management Plan, the ongoing conservation and maintenance of the Precinct's significant features will make a very positive contribution to community life given that the historic environment of the Precinct is a proven source of benefit to the local economy, particularly through tourism.

The Conservation Management Plan will also complement the work being undertaken by Council regarding its master planning of the Castlemaine Railway Precinct, a project currently underway. The master plan project will make sure that the Castlemaine Railway Precinct will connect people and places and foster a sense of community for many years to come. For the latest news on the master plan project, please visit the webpage here.

The objectives of the project are to:

Prepare a Conservation Management Plan for Castlemaine Railway Precinct (H1664), including a prioritised schedule of costed works and a cyclical maintenance schedule, to ensure its future is managed in a coordinated manner.

Prepare the Conservation Management Plan in accordance with the principles and processes defined in The Burra Charter (1999) and associated guidelines, including procedures for undertaking studies and reports (1988).

Via Council's Request For Quotation procurement process, Council has invited a number of heritage consultants to quote for the project. Quotations will be assessed mid-December 2022, and it is anticipated the successful consultant will commence the project early in the New Year.

Have questions or want to learn more about the Conservation Management Plan project? Contact us below:
Name: Nathan Lord, Strategic Planner
Phone: (03) 5471 1815
Email: n.lord@mountalexander.vic.gov.au