The National Trust’s conservation director David Burdon said the state government’s education planning policies had “no credibility” when it came to heritage protections,which were “increasingly thin”.
He said the apparent preference for rebuilds not only meant heritage listed buildings were at risk,but made less environmental and economic sense than upgrading existing facilities.
“I think it’s a systemic problem across all areas because there’s always going to be a preference for people to attend a ribbon-cutting on a new building rather than to invest the funds in a perfectly good existing building,whether it’s heritage listed or not,” he said.
In a submission to a NSW parliamentary inquiry into school infrastructure,the trust cited the 2019 demolition of the heritage-listed Penshurst Public School as a recent example of an unnecessary demolition of a significant public property.
The new $47 million Penshurst Public School redevelopment.Flavio Brancaleone
The trust said that the education department could have instead redeveloped the school,originally built in 1925,with the original school building remaining in good condition.
“As a result of demolishing every building on the site,however,it was required to establish a separate ‘pop up’ Penshurst Public School within the grounds of Peakhurst West Public School – nearly 5 kilometres away,” Burdon said.
“Previously,keeping a school community on-site was always the standard practice and consideration when designing a school in NSW.”
He said there were hundreds of similar school buildings across the state,which could one day face a similar fate without a change in priorities.
The trust pointed to further examples of redevelopments at schools including Ultimo and Fort Street Schools which resulted in the displacement of the students during construction.
A 2018 heritage report commissioned by the education department found that it was preferable to keep the 1925 Penshurst Public School building. It said the building was in good and sound condition with “generous-sized rooms,high ceilings and reasonable amenity which provides opportunities for reuse”.
But the report concluded that the department could not achieve its plans for the school upgrade without demolishing the building,which was listed on both the local council’s and Education Department’s heritage register.
The $45 million redevelopment of Penshurst Public School delivered 47 new classrooms,a new library,hall,and open play spaces.
Associate Professor Cameron Logan,director of the Master of Heritage Conservation at the University of Sydney,said he generally agreed that there should be a preference for upgrading existing buildings rather than complete rebuilds.
“I broadly support something the French architects Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal have been promoting,which is the philosophy,‘never demolish,always add,transform and reuse’,” he said.
Logan said part of the problem was that the building industry was not geared up as efficiently for upgrades as it was for new builds.
He said there was always going to be the need for some rebuilds,but government agencies should start from a position of not assuming demolition.
“Education has been known to be less conscientious in fulfilling its obligations than other government agencies like transport and Sydney Water,” Logan said.
“Even though they almost certainly have the most assets that people would think of as having heritage value.”
In his submission,Burdon said the education planning rules had “no credibility” when it came to heritage and said the department should establish a dedicated heritage conservation group.
“The National Trust is greatly concerned that where other government agencies (such Sydney Trains) are able to provide this genuine heritage input into a variety of projects,School Infrastructure has no effective heritage group – despite having a far larger portfolio,” it said.
The Department of Education was contacted for comment,but did not respond by deadline.
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