Heather Merritt

2014 candidate for City of Onkaparinga.
Heritage survey responses.

1. What do you think Council's role is in protecting and conserving heritage?
   The council's role is to promote and protect local cultural heritage; encourage communities to embrace and celebrate local heritage; collect, maintain and make accessible documentation about history and heritage; provide incentives for preservation of cultural and built heritage; promote heritage as a tourism attraction.

2. What measures and incentives do you support to protect and conserve local heritage?
   Heritage grants and awards for cultural and built heritage including events, heritage advice and resources for maintenance of documents. It is part of the Community Plan 3035 which I support.

3. What is the most important heritage protection issue in your local government area?
   Make available adequate resources in a useful manner so that residents can maintain and rehabilitate their heritage properties properly.

4. What policies and programs will you advocate to protect and conserve heritage in your local area?
   I will continue to support the council's current policies as per the Community Plan 2035, including advocating for World Heritage listing of the agrarian landscape.

5. Do you support local Councils retaining development approval powers for projects over $3m in value?
   Yes Councils know their own areas.

6. Do you have any other thoughts about the protection of heritage in your Council area?
   Even with the best of intentions maintaining a heritage property can be a burden and council needs to lessen this burden as much as possible without transferring large costs to other ratepayers.