Established suburbs across the city have precincts which have been designated heritage conservation areas (HCAs) by local councils in recognition of the historic value of the streetscapes.
But within these conservation areas are buildings which are not structurally flawed but have been deemed by council planners to be uncharacteristic of the rest of the precinct or failing to contribute to the ambience of their surrounding area.
A Newtown op shop’s building is deemed to be out of character with the rest of the heritage buildings on this stretch of King Street.Steven Siewert
While there are variations between councils in the way their ‘ugly’ building registers are classified and maintained,a listing acts as a signal that they could be improved or replaced if the relevant council receives a development application.
The heritage value of parts of Sydney have been in the spotlight as the Minns government attempts to bed down its plans to increase housing density to address the housing crisis.
The strategy will see more low to mid-rise apartment blocks allowed close to public transport hubs and a greater diversity of dwellings,such as townhouses and one-storey to two-storey buildings,in suburbs where they are currently not permitted.
The concept of classifying buildings in the HCAs has its critics. It divides architecture experts who point out building styles such as Brutalism fall in and out of favour and worry about the environmental impact of knocking down buildings. Property lobby groups have accused councils of weaponising heritage to stymie development.
The City of Sydney council has 75 HCAs which cover almost 40 per cent of the council area,and properties defined as ‘contributory’,‘neutral’ or ‘detracting’ from surrounding historic architecture. There are more than 1200 properties considered to detract under planning rules implemented a decade ago.
A City of Sydney spokeswoman said detracting buildings are not in keeping with the heritage significance of their surrounds but did not necessarily need to be knocked down.
The OMNIA building in Kings Cross is an example of considered redevelopment.Steven Siewert
She cited the example of the hourglass-shaped OMNIA apartment building in Kings Cross,which that it replaced,as an example of how developers can transform detracting buildings without tearing them down.
Mosman Council has 51 detracting buildings out of 1369 properties in heritage areas. The council’s planning rules encourage the ultimate replacement of a detracting building with one deemed to be “less assertive” or for sympathetic alterations during redevelopment.
A council spokeswoman said detracting buildings are no longer built in Mosman’s heritage areas,but this could change under the state government’s housing reforms which will allow higher density housing near railway stations and town centres.
North Sydney Council has 243 uncharacteristic buildings - compared with 1816 contributory properties - which a council spokeswoman said were mostly built before the creation of conservation areas and included large 1960s-era apartment blocks.
Councils such as Hunters Hill,Inner West,Parramatta,Strathfield and Woollahra councils also classify buildings in their heritage areas,but do not list properties lacking in heritage values.
Bayside Council has identified 40 buildings in the Botany Township - one of its two HCAs - as “uncharacteristic”,which includes new housing,residential flats and large multi-storey commercial buildings. The council plans to identify “uncharacteristic” buildings in four new heritage areas,a spokeswoman said.
Burwood Council is also planning to classify each building in its 21 HCAs as contributory,neutral and intrusive or detracting.
Georges River Council will consider the demolition of more than 100 “intrusive” buildings in its three heritage conservation areas if a building proposal contributes,improves and is sympathetic to the character and significance of an HCA.
Northern Beaches Council has 22 heritage conservation areas governed by different rules according to the former local government area it fell into before amalgamation.
There are no heritage conservation areas in councils such as Blacktown,Fairfield and the Sutherland Shire. Hornsby,Ku-ring-gai,Waverley and Willoughby councils do not classify buildings in heritage areas.
Hunters Hill mayor Zac Miles said concerns about the impact of the proposed housing reforms on local heritage and the harbour foreshore were shared by other councils in Sydney such as Inner West,North Sydney and Canada Bay.
“The move away from place-based planning to a ‘blanket approach’ is a huge deviation from how planning has always been done in NSW and could result in the wanton destruction of the heritage,character,streetscape and tree canopy of swathes of greater Sydney,” he said.
Planning Minister Paul Scully said local councils will retain the capacity to approve,modify or reject a development under the state government’s reforms to boost housing supply.
“Heritage and new housing can coexist,” he said. “However,new heritage listings must not be used to avoid delivering new homes.”
Scully said Mosman and Hunters Hill councils should not be afraid of considering terraces,townhouses and small apartments blocks in their suburbs.
“These housing types are part of Sydney’s past and should be allowed to be part of Sydney’s future,” he said. “We’re in a housing crisis,and we have a shared responsibility to address it. No one benefits if individual councils are trying to sit this issue out.”
University of NSW architectural history and theory senior lecturer Cristina Garduño Freeman said classifying buildings as contributory,neutral,or detracting is “an easy-to-understand framework for a complicated problem – not perfect – but workable”.
But she said the significance of buildings and heritage areas could change with time.
“What we value now is not what our grandchildren will value in 50 years time,” she said. “Adaptively reusing buildings that are classified as detracting is not enough.”
Gerard Reinmuth,founding director of architectural practice TERROIR,said the council’s classification of buildings came out of a tradition of heritage assessment “we now need to challenge” and that buildings should be inventively re-used where possible – not bulldozed.
Architect Gerard Reinmuth in front of a residential property which has been sympathetically redeveloped.Steven Siewert
“The cities that we value for their beauty and where we take overseas holidays are the result of the accrual of different buildings over time,the result of which is a rich and picturesque townscape,” he said.
Reinmuth,who is also an architecture professor at the University of Technology Sydney said,changing views of history also influences opinions on what types of buildings should be preserved.
“For example,a building that we might consider an exemplar of early English architecture might be considered by indigenous Australians as representing repression of or violence against them,” he said.
Associate Professor Cameron Logan,an architectural and urban historian at the University of Sydney,supports the council’s approach of identifying detracting buildings at odds with heritage values of a neighbourhood.
“The point of the designation is that in planning terms demolition of such a place will not harm the established heritage values,and so change is easier to justify for those properties than for the properties recognised as contributory or neutral,” he said.
However,Logan said heritage assessments for conservation areas in the past focused too much on a particular period or style of architecture.
“We should be focused on expanding our understanding and appreciation for the existing environment rather than putting ugly buildings in front of the firing squad,” he said.
“Demolition is sometimes necessary and almost every adaptive reuse project,for example,is a mix of demolition and conservation. But we don’t need to create special hit lists.”
As,Logan said there was a risk of undermining good urban design.
“When done well,urban design recognises the value of existing places and enables urban intensification,” he said.
Meanwhile,property industry figures such as Tom Forrest,the head of developers’ lobby group Urban Taskforce,have reservations about heritage classification systems for different reasons.
“The fact that entire suburbs in the Inner West are heritage listed,or that 10 per cent of all properties in Ku-ring-gai are subject to a[heritage conservation area],shows the extent that heritage listings continue to be use as barriers to housing,” he said.
Urban Development Institute of Australia NSW acting chief executive Gavin Melvin said heritage conservation areas were being used to restrict change and,in turn,restrict any new housing.
“Buildings of genuine heritage value can be listed on a national,state or local heritage register and protected accordingly,” he said.
Melvin said it was too easy to restrict a new development on the basis it will change the character of an area.
“If you take that argument to the extreme,as we often see,any modern apartments building can be labelled as out of character with the homes around it,” he said.