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Above: Stanton & Sons promotional brochure of Haberfield in 1911. This year's winner of the $5,000 Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority Conservation Prize was Ms Robyn Conroy, a Heritage Officer at the NSW Heritage Office. Robyn works in the Local Government Section helping councils with the preparation of local environmental plans. The prize is awarded annually by the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority for the most outstanding conservation thesis or research report by a tertiary or post-graduate student. The award was adjudicated by Stephen Davies, the Director of Conservation for the National Trust of Australia (NSW) and a Woollahra Councillor. "The document provides a useful methodology for local government, particularly in such significant areas as Haberfield where future quality is dependent on local government," said Mr Davies. Robyns report Queen Anne in Front and Fergie Behind: Do Conservation Controls Work?, completed for her Master of the Built Environment (Building Conservation), featured the Haberfield conservation area in Sydney's inner west, a garden suburb of national significance. A post-graduate student of the University of New South Wales, Robyn analysed development controls in the suburb to see whether they responded adequately to its heritage significance. The report examined how development applications were evaluated by Ashfield Council in the 10-year period from 1988. "I found that the controls were amongst the strongest in the whole State," said Robyn, "but they had been applied with varying degrees of enthusiasm by council". "What is of real concern is the threat from the increasing demand for large extensions which is changing the scale of the suburb. Also, ancillary development such as double garages, formal gardens and swimming pools is destroying the significance of the gardens in Haberfield." |
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