World Heritage

• New draft World Heritage Management Plan
  

Royal Exhibition Building & Carlton Gardens World Heritage site

On 1 July 2004 the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, becoming the first built heritage site in Australia to be declared World Heritage.

The Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens are included in the World Heritage List because they are the last remnant Palace of Industry from a nineteenth-century world fair on its original site. Its significance is increased, in its uniqueness through still being used as an exhibition venue.

The Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens site is also included in the National Heritage List and the Victorian Heritage Register.

Museum Victoria, in collaboration with a number of partners, has undertaken a major project to restore the 1880 garden layout.

The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts has developed an interactive education program featuring Australia's World Heritage Places has been developed for students in years 5 - 10 which focuses on World Heritage values and Australia's 17 World Heritage places

World Heritage Management Plan

A draft World Heritage Management Plan has been prepared and prior to submitting the draft plan to the Minister, the Steering Committee is considering submissions from the public on the draft plan.

World Heritage Environs Area Strategy Plan

Under the Heritage Act 1995, a World Heritage Environs Area Strategy Plan (‘Strategy Plan’) is required for the area surrounding the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens.

The World Heritage Environs Area acts as a “buffer zone” for the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens and assists in protecting and transmitting the World Heritage values of the site.

The Strategy Plan details the strategies to be employed to achieve the protection and transmission of the World Heritage values.

After an extensive public consultation and hearing process, the Minister for Planning approved a Strategy Plan for the World Heritage Environs Area on 21 October 2009.

The Strategy Plan was gazetted in the Government Gazette on 5 November 2009 and came in to operation on that date.

The approved Strategy Plan can be viewed here:

Please note: The Strategy Plan is a large document. If you have difficulty downloading the document, please contact us on 03 8644 8800 or heritage.victoria@dpcd.vic.gov.au.

In summary, the Strategy Plan proposes:

1. Including the properties fronting the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens in a new precinct-based Heritage Overlay in the Melbourne and Yarra Planning Schemes. Properties fronting the western part of Gertrude Street and the eastern part of Queensberry Street are also to be included in this precinct. Land in this precinct is considered to be the “area of greatest sensitivity”.
2. Introducing a new local Heritage Policy in the Melbourne and Yarra Planning Schemes to provide specific guidance for development of land within the “area of greatest sensitivity”.
3. Including properties on the northern side of Gertrude and Queensberry streets and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons building within a Design and Development Overlay to protect views to the Royal Exhibition Building dome.
4. Consequential changes to the Municipal Strategic Statements and the Local Planning Policies of the Melbourne and Yarra Planning Schemes.