Andrew Baltensperger

2014 candidate for Rural City of Murray Bridge.
Heritage survey responses.

1. What do you think Council's role is in protecting and conserving heritage?
   To me, Council needs to be mindful that once Original , Old Buildings are gone - they are gone for good and I believe that potential development and developers must be made aware that Heritage is critical to all Communities and their citizens. i fully support (and Council should as well) the preservation of existing buildings and assets that have served the Community for many,many years previous.....

2. What measures and incentives do you support to protect and conserve local heritage?
   Firstly, I feel it is critical that a database of existing original structures is created and maintained as a reference to be consulted in any Town Planning and/or Development Issue. Secondly, I believe that Public Consultation and Transparency is paramount in maintaining public confidence in Councils ability and desire to protect Local Heritage.

3. What is the most important heritage protection issue in your local government area?
   We have already lost too many beautiful old buildings here that i remember as a child, and replaced them with Aluminium and Glass replacements that lack any sort of charm - and this troubles me still.. Obviously it is now essential that the remaining vintage structures are maintained and protected to the very best of our abilities, Im not confident this has been done previously.

4. What policies and programs will you advocate to protect and conserve heritage in your local area?
   Regular assessments and reports on any existing heritage structures would be paramount in order to advise on the Status of our Historical buildings.

5. Do you support local Councils retaining development approval powers for projects over $3m in value?
   As citizens in our area we should all have a serious interest in our History and I feel that Council must have the capacity to approve or deny on a projects merits and its impact and/or benefits on our Local Heritage.

6. Do you have any other thoughts about the protection of heritage in your Council area?
   I have many fond memories of our old State Bank building in Bridge Street that was replaced in the late 70s/early80s by a big square Glass and Aluminium' Box' - and this worries me because a beautiful , attractive feature in our Main Street has been lost forever.......... Thus I feel it is essential that we maintain to the best of our abilities any existing reminders of a bygone era