We should be doing everything that we can to save Tasmania’s heritage. Tourists actually come to Tasmania because it is so unique, with its native forests (that are dwindling at a steady rate) and also the old buildings and aboriginal sites with rock drawings etc. The Mainland cities have destroyed and redeveloped just about all of their heritage so we need to maintain ours. The current gov’ts (both federal and state) seem to be determined to make us the same as the mainland with unsustainable development (for greed). If we don’t remain unique, tourists will just go somewhere else and I wouldn’t blame them.

Yes its certainly an under recognised, under valued, under protected and under funded element that not only underpins the tourist industry but also the culture that makes place, in this case Tasmania with its Tasmanians.

The same failed approach was used to protect natural systems until it was replaced with a more whole of landscape process under the Comprehensive, Adequate and representative system of reserves underpinned by the retention of the forest estate as a functioning ecosystem rather than converting the whole to monocultures.

A similar process needs to be with the planing system that Tasmania adopts so that the modernization of cities and the economy does not see heritage isolated from context and thus almost without meaning.

Time for a change

Hmmmm… have heard nothing about the new laws. Why the silence from the Government and Heritage Council?

Gwenda’s essay points to significant omissions in current Tasmanian legislation, and past efforts to rectify the situation. Two prize winners in the poor legislation stakes are the Tasmanian Heritage Council [their website mission statement makes no reference to cultural landscapes] and the current Hobart Planning Scheme [which, as with all such schemes provides no real precinctual protection for Tasmania’s significant C19th and C20th heritage].