Advocacy NSW

Since the 1940s, the Trust has initiated campaigns to protect significant built, natural and cultural heritage at risk from unsympathetic development.

In the early years, before widespread community awareness of the value of heritage, campaigns were often taken to the streets to protect built and natural heritage alike from the ravages of development. We saved much, but grand houses were felled to become car parks, whole suburbs were razed to build roads, and many colonial and Victorian period buildings were demolished.

Destruction of significant heritage still occurs and the Trust is prepared to act quickly when we are alerted to threats. Our role today is also to lobby and negotiate to ensure that developers and governments cannot sweep away irreplaceable heritage in the name of progress. At the same time, we seek to raise community awareness of what is at stake.

With the support of professionals concerned with all aspects of heritage conservation, architecture and planning, we support sympathetic reuse which recognises and integrates valued heritage. As an example, the National Trust’s Alternative Concepts for the proposed redevelopment of the 22 hectare Barangaroo site on Sydney’s Harbour, had suggested ways of enhancing the development by incorporating, rather than ignoring, the rich maritime, indigenous and environmental heritage of the site.

At a local level we work with communities to protect places that are important to their neighbourhoods. We examine and comment on the heritage impacts of inner city motorways and the impacts of coal mining on cultural landscapes, historic buildings and critical ecological systems.

Longstanding issues include the proposal to “move” the Ultimo Powerhouse Museum to Parramatta, and the protection of fragile ecosystems such as the World Heritage listed Warragamba Dam Catchment which is threatened by a proposal to raise the dam wall.