Preserving Victoria's Heritage Places

As our circumstances change and communities work to adapt, how we use and engage with our heritage places evolves to accommodate a variety of new challenges. Often, Owners of public buildings look for support to help preserve and adapt their space for future use and ongoing community benefit.

Programs such as the Living Heritage Grant in Victoria can provide invaluable opportunities for Owners to obtain funding, to help ensure the long-term care and conservation of their heritage place.

The Living Heritage Grant program specifically targets heritage places or objects which are included in the Victorian Heritage Register and accessible to the public. Grants can range between $20,000 and $200,000 for eligible works to assets that are considered to be ‘at-risk’. Round 7, for grants to support projects through FY2022-23, closes for applications at 5pm on 31 March 2022.

The focus of the Program is to assist funding physical conservation works, which may include: repairs to a place or object’s original material (such as stonework, timber joinery and windows); works that mitigate a significant risk to the place or object (such as roof replacement or repair, or structural works) and; works that will enable the re-use of a building or object that has been unoccupied or unused due to poor condition.

In order to submit a grant application, it is important to understand what works are needed to your heritage place, their priority and how they contribute its future use.

Often, Purcell assists Owners of heritage places by preparing conservation management plans, condition reports and schedules of prioritised conservation works. These preliminary reports form the basis for identifying what conservation works to implement and a pre-requisite for a Living Heritage Grant application.

For a Living Heritage Grant application, drawings or schedules of conservation works are accompanied by cost-estimates or quotations for the works. In addition, a completed application form identifies the community, economic, environmental, social and built heritage outcomes of the works. These drawings or schedules can also be used to obtain Heritage Victoria Approval to implement the works.

Utilising the preliminary reports, Purcell works with Owners, specialist consultants, cost-planners and tradespeople to develop documentation for building permit, tender and construction within the conditions of the grant funding.

At St Andrew’s Uniting Church in Echuca, Purcell are working with the Congregation to implement a grant of $200,000, received through Round 4 of the Program. The team are working to address the base-building deterioration of public spaces used for outreach programmes. Without the Grant Program to support the works, the condition of these spaces risked impacting the delivery of repair projects within the Church.

We continue to work closely with the Congregation to prepare and lodge the required Program reporting to Heritage Victoria.

At Crossroads Uniting Church in Werribee, Purcell in collaboration with GJM Heritage, worked with the Congregation to document, apply and implement a grant of $195,000 as part of the Round 3 Program.

A landmark in the centre of Werribee, the 1884 Church and Manse is a feature of the Werribee City Council Heritage Trail. Purcell prepared a condition report to assist the Congregation to prioritise a scope of repair needs. Upon instruction, our team documented the recommended conservation works and supported the Owner to seek the grant, obtain Heritage Victoria Approval and implement the works.

The grant was used to address urgent roof repairs to the Church and Manse which were deteriorating from extensive water ingress.

Purcell also prepared a maintenance and inspection plan to assist with the ongoing day-to-day management of these buildings. The Program has enabled the Congregation to expand its use of the Church and Manse for community outreach programs and activities for the Werribee community.

Many Local Governments or Councils across Victoria and other Australian jurisdictions or bodies administer a heritage grants program which recognise the value of heritage places to local communities. These may be appropriate to conservation projects which don’t fit the criteria, eligibility or priorities of the Living Heritage Grant Program.

Purcell have been working with the new Owner of Eynesbury Homestead, a pastoral property situated to the northwest of Melbourne and included on the Victorian Heritage Register. We prepared condition reports for all registered elements of the heritage place and are providing ongoing advice in support of various staged heritage projects.

Despite an unsuccessful application to the Living Heritage Grant Program, Purcell have continued to work with the Owner to seek out and apply for alternative grants. Following a successful application to the City of Melton, Purcell worked with the Owner and Contractor to implement stage 1 of the works in 2021 to the Front Garden and HaHa Wall. In 2022, we will shortly commence stage 2 of the works, following a further City of Melton heritage grant.

Globally, Purcell have successfully assisted Owners to document, apply and implement grant supported works to heritage places.

In Hong Kong, our team are currently working on a number of projects under the ‘Financial Assistance for Maintenance Scheme on Built Heritage’. The scheme aims to help preserve Hong Kong’s historic buildings from deterioration due to lack of maintenance. In addition, we have substantial expertise with the UK National Lottery Heritage Fund

We provide tailored support to help clients understand the condition of heritage items; prepare documentation to describe proposed works; work with or incorporate specialist work with or incorporate specialist consultant advice, including cost-planning; seek grant funding; seek heritage, planning and building approval; call tenders from short-list of suitable contractors and; implement quality conservation works.

To talk with our Melbourne Studio about your heritage place or conservation project in Victoria which could be eligible for the Round 7 of the Victorian Government’s Living Heritage Grants Program, please contact info@purcellap.com.