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Heritage is whatever we as a community consider important to save for
future generations. However, in the past it has sometimes been left to
experts to decide what this should be, without sufficient opportunities for
community views to be part of the process. Now, a new kind of heritage
study is making sure that decisions about heritage items begin with the
very people who will benefit from them: the community. A heritage study is the first step in conserving the heritage of a local area. It looks at the history of a local government area and identifies significant places and items which tell the story of the area's past. It uses historical information to decide what is significant and what is important to keep. The idea behind the community-based heritage study is that the community is not just consulted, but is actively involved in researching and nominating heritage items and in suggesting how they should be looked after. The plan has already been successfully applied in Western Australia where a number of regional communities have enthusiastically taken up the DIY heritage study. Results have been positive, with communities getting involved in caring for and celebrating their own heritage. In the Riverina township of Junee local residents are becoming involved in conserving their heritage. The Junee Heritage Study started last year and a community committee has been established. Community representative, David Walster, is co-chairman of the committee with James Davis from the Planning & Building Department of Junee Shire Council. James Davis believes that community acceptance will be the strength of Junee's heritage study.
 The bottling room in Mould's Cordial Factory, 1900-1909. Mr Mould is operating a bottle cap machine while Mr Metcalfe fills bottles with pineapple cordial. The factory was situated at the corner of Edgar and George Streets in Junee. Photograph courtesy of Junee Shire Council. "The community has ownership of the process right from the beginning. They're involved on the ground. They can tell their stories and histories which we can authenticate via research through the thematic study. You get the best of both worlds: the professional input from the heritage advisor and the historian and the depth of knowledge from the community." There are 12 members on the committee, coming from a variety of backgrounds but sharing an interest in the history of the local area. They meet once a month. In an innovative step, Junee has divided the shire into portions for the purposes of the study. The committee members helped to design the areas so they made sense in a cultural sense as well as a physical sense. Two people from the committee have been assigned to each area. They are currently in the process of collecting information and getting to know the people of their area. The area assigned to the community co-chairman, Mr David Walster, is the town of Junee. "My greatest area of knowledge is the township. Facts and stories have been passed down through my family - who built the houses, what different buildings were used for," says Mr Walster. "If anyone wants to know anything, I seem to get drawn into the conversation, as I have been a part of the town for so long." In fact, David Walster has a special connection to Junee. In 1892 Walster's grandfather and his partner came to the area and established a foundry and engineering works. For 101 years the company of Coho and Walster served the town, supplying, in particular, decorative cast iron to Junee and the surrounding towns. "Local knowledge is so important. Sometimes things that to an outsider appear totally uninteresting, to a local can be very important," says Mr Walster. The role of the heritage advisor is also a key element in a successful community-based heritage study. Heritage Advisor, David Scobie, has been working with the Junee committee to provide them with the skills they will need. Training has included sessions on heritage assessment and an oral history workshop to give pointers on how to interview and collect information. The committee has also participated in a trial run for field assessment. Working with David Scobie and using the Heritage Office publication, Assessing Significance, they looked at one rural place and one urban place and went through the process of assessment. This helped alert them to what to look for and how to identify different features.
 Junee Hotel shows the scale and size of country pubs in Junee which have retained their architectural character over the years. They form an important part of the social significance in the locality. Photograph courtesy of Junee Shire Council.
Armed with enthusiasm and the right training, Junee's committee members are now in the field collecting information on their local area. The results will be pooled and fed into a database so that ultimately they will have an extensive list of heritage places in the shire. Already, the heritage study has turned up some interesting discoveries. Many people do not know that in the early days of Australia's wool industry, it was common practice to wash the sheep before they were shorn. A wash pool from one of the large properties near Junee has been identified. "To anyone who didn't know what it was, it would simply look like a creek bank," says Mr Walster. "But when you know what it was used for and when it was used, it brings history and observable places together. The wash pool was specially located there because it was the closest point to the railhead in Junee." Junee has an important connection to Australia's railway heritage. In the 1880s the town became one of the most important railway centres in NSW and it prospered with the demand for accommodation and railway repairer facilities. An important find for the area is the site of a very early railway workcamp near the small village of Illabo. "It dates back to 1877-78 when they were building the main southern railway line. It includes the remains of a quarry from which they took stones to use for ballast for the railway. This is a very significant site given our links to transport," says Mr Walster. The evidence of historical events that the team is cataloguing in Junee is guided by a professionally produced history of the area. A thematic history is a crucial part of a heritage study as it provides a context into which to place sites. Historian, Sherry Morris, worked on the history of the Junee Shire and identified the historical themes that are important for the area. With council, the community and the heritage advisor working together, Junee's Heritage Study is a good example of the advantages of a community-based heritage study. Over the next few months, the committee will be telling the broader community about the study. "We're going out to local shows with a display showing what a community-based heritage study is and why it is so important," says town planner, James Davis. "There are photos of significant rural buildings or properties that we have discovered. People also have the opportunity to nominate their favourite historical place. We will also be going out to localities across the Shire and putting displays in general stores." "Everyone in the Junee Shire will have the opportunity to be involved in saving their heritage."
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| For a free copy of the new guide to community-based heritage studies, call the Heritage Office on (02) 9849 9552 |