Learning from the Past Dr James Kerr on the catwalk of 4 tower, Fremantle Prison. Photograph courtesy of Fremantle Herald, 1991. The Heritage Office recently ran a series of highly successful professional development workshops. One of the main topics was conservation management plans (CMPs) and the processes which are being established by the Heritage Council of NSW. Participants appreciated the opportunity to hear and learn from lead speaker, Dr James Kerr. He shared his advice on producing CMPs that are user-friendly and a practical tool in heritage management. The following is an edited extract from his talk. The concept of the conservation plan has been around a long time. In the 17th century Christopher Wren disliked the Gothic Style but chose to build in it where the context was Gothic because: "to deviate from the old Form would be to run into a disagreeable Mixture, which no Person of good Taste could relish." His criterion was aesthetic and associational homogeneity in the context of good manners. During the great York Minster Screen Squabble of 1829-1831, a fierce conservation debate raged over the appropriate weight to be given to the preservation of historic structures as an "authentic record" versus aesthetic criteria in removing later work to "restore" the sublime effect of the piers which supported the crossing tower. The major architects and the aristocracy were for the "restoration" but the educated county people and antiquarians were for "preservation". All of the arguments still debated today were used, including "significance of all periods," "associations" and "popular esteem". It is interesting that the York combatants in 1830 had more or less the same understanding of preservation, restoration and even conservation as is reflected in Australia's Burra Charter of the 1980s and 1990s. This was certainly not true of Australia during the 1970s when terminology varied from State to State and person to person - a veritable tower of Babel. It was a major reason why, in February 1979, Australia ICOMOS finally committed itself to drafting an Australian version of the Venice Charter - the Venice Charter being a Eurocentric document more applicable to ancient monuments than antipodean structures. The muddle also provided the impetus for a more structured and holistic approach to conservation planning for places and resulted in the many studies, reports, assessments, analyses and recommendations being drawn together and given a more coherent form. The quality of many of these early conservation plans was not good, but they have improved over the last two decades and can now be fairly described as variable. State and Commonwealth heritage agencies have worked to raise standards and the dual task now is to continue the improvement and to prevent the plans becoming monsters and an end in themselves. A problem has emerged with the appearance of clients who see conservation plans as the mere fulfilment of a statutory requirement rather than a guide to the future. Plans therefore need to seduce their readers with style, sense and brevity - an approach that will give the reader a chance to realise that this exceptional document is an extraordinarily useful planning and management aid. While there is nothing new in the concept of the conservation plan, its presentation in a competent and co-ordinated written document can be extraordinarily useful. As well as being a guide to management, care and change it has other less obvious attributes: it enables the assessments, policies, supporting arguments and evidence to be reviewed, tested and adjusted. It's surprising how quickly woolly thinking can be exposed when committed to paper; the document provides an efficient and economical basis for assessing the impact of proposals which may affect the place, i.e. heritage impact statements; the processes involved offer a most effective way of reducing or resolving conflicts; such a plan reassures funding bodies that a project is headed in the right direction and can thus become a vital document in application for funds; the plan can be formally adopted and widely distributed to give managers, advisers, technicians, maintenance workers and occupants an understanding and appreciation of the place and its care. This has been of particular value in places where management and staff turnover reduces collective memory - providing continuity of advice and direction; finally, it can prove extremely useful in a variety of legal contexts [such as section 57(2) exemptions under the NSW Heritage Act 1977].

The fifth edition of The Conservation Plan by James Semple Kerr was released this year. It is recommended as a useful and practical guide to the preparation of conservation plans for places of European cultural significance. Copies are available for $18 from the National Trust bookshop, ph: (02) 9258 0123