Stephanie Johnston

2018 candidate for Adelaide City Council.
Heritage survey responses.

1. Do you agree that the identification and protection of local heritage places is best done by local councils rather than DPTI (Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure)?
   Yes. Or by a body independent of DPTI, such as the State Heritage Council.

2. In your opinion, has the current system of local heritage protection served your community well?
   It did until the state government stopped accepting the proposed listed buildings in the City of Adelaide.

3. Should councils reject proposals to list local places of historic merit simply because an owner objects?
   No. Owner approval renders the process meaningless.

4. Should neighbours of local heritage listed buildings have a right of appeal on development applications that propose demolition?
   Yes.

5. Should buildings listed as Contributory Items in your council area receive better protection?
   Yes, contributory items should be formally documented for their heritage values and value of contribution and perhaps formally listed. The current contributory status is somewhat meaningless with values not properly documented. Many of the local heritage list items are also not properly documented for their values.

6. Do you agree that places proposed for listing by your council as Local Heritage or Contributory Items should be subject to review by DPTI? Or would reviews be more appropriately conducted by an independent source of expert advice?
   Definitely by an independent expert panel independent of DPTI.

7. Would you like to see your council work more closely with the National Trust of SA in protecting heritage, for example, by signing up as one of the Trust's Civic Partners?
   That is one option. It is my understanding that the heritage legislation is going to be reviewed separately to the implementation of the new PDI Act. This review will need close attention from all bodies involved in heriatge protection.

8. What are your personal suggestions for improving the way your council handles policy and planning?
   I understand that there is already an enormous amount of documentation of issues around heritage at Adelaide Council, and if elected I would refer to those official and unofficial files to work out the way forward.

9. Should councils actively encourage individuals to nominate places for consideration as local heritage?
   Yes of course. However the ongoing issue seems to be allocation of resources to heritage listing and heritage assessment and acceptance of those nominations by the minister.