Simon Brewer

2014 candidate for Campbelltown City Council.
Heritage survey responses.

1. What do you think Council's role is in protecting and conserving heritage?
   Council has a pivotal role in this task. Councils probably come in ahead of the National Trust in terms of overall heritage ownership and protection, although generally of lesser specific importance.

2. What measures and incentives do you support to protect and conserve local heritage?
   The current local heritage listing mechanism is very voluntary and only provides limited protection. It is also limited in how and what is considered to be heritage - for example, Campbelltown is blessed in that it has several natural creeks in its area, yet it's not possible to heritage list them so that developments in the creek basin (for example, stormwater management) do not affect the character and nature of them, or housing developments along the creek are controlled etc. Private property owners probably need more incentives to allow their properties to be on the local heritage register, but Councils have very limited resources to do this - we can provide some limited rates rebates, but the State should also be a party and provide reduced water, stamp duty and/or other concessions.

3. What is the most important heritage protection issue in your local government area?
   Probably trees at present; they are all living on borrowed time since the changes a few years ago.

4. What policies and programs will you advocate to protect and conserve heritage in your local area?
   Personally I'm not promising anything in the way of heritage in this election. I would like to see better protections as outlined above, but the change areas I have outlined seem to be fairly unmovable.

5. Do you support local Councils retaining development approval powers for projects over $3m in value?
   Definitely.

6. Do you have any other thoughts about the protection of heritage in your Council area?
   Not really. Thanks for the opportunity to comment.