Alienation of the World Heritage Carlton Gardens By Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show Presentation by Carlton Residents Association and Carlton Gardens Group - 3 April 2008 World Heritage Values Described in ICOMOS documents • The International Council on Monuments and Sites • ICOMOS advises UNESCO on cultural heritage values re WH listings. Justification for World Heritage citation for Carlton Gardens and RE B • ICOMOS statement, March 2004. World Heritage qualities • REB: rare surviving example of international exhibitions including Great Hall, shop front for industrial revolution, • REB and Gardens: representative of type and retaining authenticity of form and function. Gardens description during exhibitions • Southern Gardens: pleasure, gardenesque, avenues of trees, shrubs, linking paths, cast iron fences, fountains esp Hochgurtel o Joseph Reed architect, William Sangster, horticulturalist • Northern Gardens: partly used for temporary buildings, now museum, o Clement Hodgkinson, designer. ICOMOS evaluation – risk analysis • Pressures from development, environment, natural and visitor/tourism, • Greatest pressure from annual flower show, o Government stated damage repaired immediately. 1
Alienation of World Heritage Gardens for private development Development is temporary but cumulative , • Annual cycle repeated for 10 years, • Alienation is substantial, o southern gardens totally enclosed for 14 days. o additional 6 weeks public access and amenity reduced during construction and demolition and repair, and o further periods, sometimes months, for extended restoration, Alienation from cultural, heritage and historical values , • intended as statement of 19 th century Marvellous Melbourne, • purpose was as a public botanic leisure garden, • additional MIFGS event pressures degrades gardens, diminishes standard Alienation from public good , • 2 million people visit gardens each year (COM master plan, 2004), o public loses access and amenity because of MIFGS, o can directly affect gardens for 6 months of the year, and o additional periods when repairs not successful • event also uses the REB & environs, o REB closed to visitors, o this year part of the museum fore-court also appropriated by event. Detrimental to Melbourne’s reputation , • when gardens not open to public or overtaken by construction, demolition or under repairs, • when gardens and whole world heritage site is in a degraded state, o government disregard for World Heritage values is obvious to all users. Alienation contrary to Melbourne 2030 Policy intended to encourage increased population in activity centres • particularly affects city and inner city suburbs, o Melbourne CBD, Carlton and Fitzroy collectively have increased population • 2030 intended to maximize public use of facilities, services and assets, o including use of public gardens and parks Carlton Gardens is public leisure gardens for city workers, Carlton and Fitzroy residents, students from universities, residents of adjacent high rise housing, visitors to Museum including school groups from around the State, and tourists, • this is extraordinarily heavy normal use, • pressure exacerbated by loss of southern gardens’ from MIFGS, • puts further pressure on northern gardens, o most of the open grassed area in north gardens cordoned off from public for past 6 months, o degraded from normal overuse and drought. Public alienation of southern gardens is unfair • private commercial enterprise benefits at public expense, and • contrary to 2030 policy. Public alienation is cumulative across the entire CoM • the appropriation of the gardens should been seen in the context of the loss of Goschs Paddock, the excisions from Royal Park, the loss of parklands for the tennis centre, • there is shrinking public space for a growing public 2
Private development of the World Heritage Carlton Gardens Is not appropriate Is unsuitable, and Is not sustainable Affects programs to improve world heritage gardens Private development not appropriate Historically • ignores cultural and heritage values, o stated in government policies, o prescribed in national and state heritage registers. • recognised as having World Heritage significance • also site of first sitting of federation and of Victorian parliament, 1901-1926. Legislation and regulations • Commonwealth and State Acts and City of Melbourne regulations all intended to protect, preserve and conserve heritage as a public asset, o HeritageAct (1994), Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act (1999), Crown Lands Reserve Act 1978, o Melbourne Parks and Gardens (joint Trustee Reserve) Regs1994. UNESCO obligations • UNESCO Convention and World Heritage citation agreements, • in accepting WH citation government committed to protecting heritage values o this means retaining integrity of Gardens’ use as defined in citation. 3
Private Development not suitable World Heritage Gardens appropriated for exclusive use and benefit of commercial business enterprise , • Victoria’s only World Heritage site should be open to public every day. Large commercial event should be in purpose built event venue • gardens not suited for MIFGS, o needs facilities, infrastructure, vehicular access that supports event, o event increasingly variety and retail with huge, heavy installations • inadequate vehicular capacity both within gardens, REB and adjacent roads, o heavy congestion within Gardens and surrounding roads. • public health and safety issues in gardens, o high risk mix of pedestrians, heavy vehicular traffic and construction works, and o gardens with construction materials not secure except for 14 days • space too small and site inefficient, o impacts on health of significant tree and gardens, o damages lawns and trees – repair costs greater than $50,000 each year. Alternative MIFGS venues COM has repeatedly encouraged MIFGS/IMG to change exhibitions’ siting, • to remove landscape and hard buildings from the Gardens to open areas around the REB, o MIFGS refused, • COM has recommended to MIFGS that other venues be investigated, o renovated show grounds, Flemington and Caulfield race courses, Melbourne Convention Centre and Yarra banks, Birrarung Marr and Federation Square, • COM undertook to continue to sponsor MIFGS at another site. MIFGS lack of accountability MIFGS withdrew from COM consultation and accountability mechanisms, o did not attend Events Advisory Committee or COM committee meetings. COM decision to not renew licence was a last resort, o the increasing pressures of maintaining the gardens and trees were onerous, o COM had to put the long term preservation of the Gardens and the public good ahead of the short term commercial interests Private Development not sustainable Increased risk to gardens from natural pressures , • accumulative affect of prolonged drought and water restrictions on aged and diseased trees and degraded lawns, • difficulties in maintaining Gardens and trees as drought takes toll, o increases in costs of maintaining minimal conditions, and o increases in budgets for capital improvements, • increased risks to gardens and trees led COM to unanimously decide not to renew the MIFGS licence. Use of public gardens for events not sustainable • even normal use is sometimes restricted to protect degraded areas, • events in public gardens have increased in numbers and size, o difficult to deduce expectation of event managers, MIFGS event is highest impact of any of Melbourne’s events Carlton Gardens are classified by COM as only suitable for low impact events, • MIFGS use the southern gardens as a construction site, • exhibits cover most of the gardens, • 100,000 plus people walk over the lawns and tree root canopies over 5 day period Problems of post event gardens’ recovery in drought conditions � increase in recovery time and repair costs, and � ongoing maintenance because repairs not effective in drought conditions. Council policy of restricting public access and even normal use on areas that are degraded, worn and prone to damage, • events involving heavy constructions and large numbers of people in confined spaces no longer sustainable, • grossly hypocritical of COM if it were to approve high impact event while reducing or excluding public from normal use, • bad public policy alienates government and council from electorate. 4
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