Finding the gaps in our heritage places

The City of Ballarat’s Heritage Gaps Review Program has reached a milestone step as it embarks on a year-long consultation process, with the community being called upon to help identify important places in Ballarat’s history that should be protected.  

Consultation has now opened and will run throughout 2025, asking locals to share information about the most valued heritage places in their area and across the municipality.  

The Heritage Gaps Review Program is ambitious and made up of several individual projects, including a staged assessment of the existing Heritage Overlay and new heritage places and precincts, until at least 2030.

By sharing what you know and love about the city’s heritage assets, community members can help shape the direction of the program.

Community participation will also support the City of Ballarat to review existing local heritage policy to ensure that it provides frameworks to protect the cultural heritage of Ballarat’s municipality for future generations.  

The heritage policy will be supported and explained by Heritage Design Guidelines with helpful diagrams, guidance and case studies to help residents understand the new policy, what good design is within a heritage context, and how heritage places can be changed without compromising their significance.  

City of Ballarat Director of Development and Growth, Natalie Robertson, said the year-long consultation is an important early step in the Heritage Gaps Review Program.  

“Ballarat is growing, with our population predicted to increase by 55,000 people by 2041. To support this growth, we need to facilitate development, but also ensure that pressure on our valued heritage assets is managed,” she said.  

“The City of Ballarat will be continually reviewing community feedback from this consultation, to help shape the program of work and prepare for this anticipated growth in our municipality.”

The consultation page is now live on the MySay website and the community is encouraged to visit this page until December 2025 to provide their feedback, identify the city’s heritage gaps and share stories.  

Hard copies of the online materials for the consultation will be available at the City of Ballarat Customer Service Centre, all of the city’s libraries and the Visitor Information Centre.

In person engagement opportunities will run throughout the consultation, and the community is encouraged to stay informed via the MySay page, by registering to receive regular email updates.