A Celebration with the Indian Community In October over 12,000 people attended the festival of Deepavali which was celebrated by the Hindu Council of Australia at Fairfield Showground. The Heritage Office attended this day of enormous cultural significance to talk to Australians of Indian origin about their cultural heritage and its contribution to the heritage of NSW. The festival of Deepavali has its origins in the coming home of Lord Rama after 14 years away from home and victory over evil king Ravana. On that day the citizens of Ayodhya celebrated his homecoming with dance, music, food, decorations and the whole town was lit with earthen lamps.

Mr Rajeev Maini with his daughter Prugya, Ms Rosalind Strong, Mr Vince Sicari at the festival of Deepavali in Fairfield. Photograph by Vijay Badhwar.

A recent study based on the relative positions of various stars and planets described in the epic Ramayana estimated this event to have happened on the 6th December 7272 B.C. Since then all Hindus have celebrated the festival of lights in commemoration of that historic event. At the Fairfield Showground the Heritage Office spoke to festival-goers about the concept of heritage significance and the State Heritage Inventory. An article in the festival souvenir gave a brief history of the Indian community in Australia and information on how their heritage in NSW can be conserved. The write-up was received with great interest by the community. Heritage Officers, Rajeev Maini, Sarala Chalsani and Vince Sicari, were present at the festival, along with Director of the Heritage Office, Rosalind Strong. "We are looking forward to working with the Indian community in NSW to identify those places that have heritage significance for them," said Ms Strong. "This is an important step in recognizing their contribution to the history and culture of NSW."

now available The Model LEP

A new initiative from the Heritage Office will help local councils to produce high quality planning documents. The model local environment plan provides a framework for the management of heritage places at the local level. This comprehensive document will improve the certainty of the development process by clarifying and simplifying parameters for the assessment of applications. The plan: permits minor works to be undertaken without consent providing that the heritage significance is not affected; provides updated incentives to encourage conservation works; provides improved notification procedures for applications, particularly for work affecting places of Aboriginal cultural heritage significance.* One of the most innovative features of the plan is the potential for the interim protection of items of local heritage significance. With councils able to provide short-term protection, this will allow time for a proper assessment to be made of the heritage significance of a potential heritage item. The Heritage Office is currently in the process of drafting guidelines for local councils to use in the preparation of local environmental plans. The model LEP has been approved by both the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning and the Parliamentary Counsel. For further information contact Cathy Coleville at the NSW Heritage Office on (02) 9849 9588. *For further information about Aboriginal heritage, go to Aboriginal housing for a survey of Aboriginal housing in NSW.