Heritage Places
The heritage of Vincent is unique, vibrant, complex and rich in history, stories, people and places.
The Urban Design and Strategic Projects team provides assistance in areas of cultural heritage at the City. This includes maintaining the Municipal Heritage Inventory (Heritage List), advice for property owners, local history projects and project managing conservation works.
State Register of Heritage Places
The City of Vincent has over 20 places registered on the State Register of Heritage Places. Not only are these places important to the City’s heritage but their significance has also been recognised at the state level. The State Register is compiled and managed by the Heritage Council of Western Australia.
City of Vincent Municipal Heritage Inventory (Heritage List)
The Municipal Heritage Inventory: what is it?
The City of Vincent Heritage List (which also serves as its Municipal Heritage Inventory) exists pursuant to the Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015 and provides statutory protection for heritage places. Under State law every local government authority is required to complete and keep under review a Municipal Heritage Inventory (MHI). The MHI is a document that records places in our City that have cultural heritage value and explains why these places are special.
When a place is entered onto the MHI, a heritage assessment is undertaken to identify if the place has heritage significance. Factors to be considered include:
- the place may have historical significance;
- the place may have been associated with an important individual or group of people;
- the place may be architecturally or aesthetically significant;
- the place may be a rare, fine or an intact example of its type;
- the place may demonstrate an important technical achievement, or
- the place may be highly valued by a community for social or spiritual reasons; and
- how the place fits into the thematic framework
Council makes the final decision about whether a place is formally included in the MHI.
Municipal Heritage Inventory
To understand the cultural heritage significance of the heritage listed properties, please visit Heritage Council’s InHerit website.
InHerit
Central Perth Heritage Inventory
The Central Perth Heritage Inventory was prepared by the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority (known now as DevelopmentWA) as part of the Central Perth Redevelopment Area. The portions of the Central Perth Redevelopment Area within the City of have been transferred back to planning jurisdiction.
As part of this process, the City adopted the Central Perth Heritage Inventory. The Central Perth Heritage Inventory includes four categories of significance, ranging from places of state significance to historical sites. Properties listed under the Central Perth Inventory have the same protection as those listed in the City’s Municipal Heritage Inventory.
The Central Perth Heritage Inventory can be found here
Why are listed places important?
The places listed in the Municipal Heritage Inventory help to define our community. They are the tangible reminders of our past that provide a window into who we are as a community, and where we have come from. They are important places that future generations will use to understand us and our forebears.
What are the benefits of having my place on the Municipal Heritage Inventory?
By owning and maintaining a heritage place, you are actively contributing to the City of Vincent’s rich cultural environment. These places help to create the character that the City is well known for and which make the area a sought-after and desirable place to live.
How does inclusion in the Municipal Heritage Inventory affect my place?
Inclusion of a place in the Municipal Heritage Inventory DOES NOT prohibit development. It is a common belief that if a place is included in the MHI then that place cannot be altered in any way. This is not the case. The City of Vincent recognises that the best way to protect heritage places is to have them occupied and in use. This means that development of listed places to accommodate contemporary requirements and uses will be encouraged.
The inclusion of a place on the MHI does have implications for owners. Listed places are protected under the City of Vincent’s Local Planning Scheme No.2 and related policies. Once again, it is important to realise that the identification of heritage places is not about preventing change. Rather, it is about identifying and understanding what is important, and why, so that change can be managed appropriately.
Indigenous Sites
The area which now falls within the local government boundaries of the City of Vincent forms part of what was known at the time of European settlement to local Aboriginal people as Mooro, the tribal territory of Yellagonga and his band. Yellagonga’s tribe was one of several groups based around the Swan River that were collectively known as Wadjuk and which were in turn part of a greater group of tribes that formed the south-west socio-linguistic block known today as Nyungar or Bibbulman.
The area on which the City of Vincent sits incorporates twelve former wetlands and a stretch of Swan River frontage. These wetlands are known archaeologically, historically and ethnographically to have been of great importance to Aboriginal people in pre-European times, and continue to be of importance today.
The Nyungar people are recorded as using many of the lake resources including frogs, root tubers, freshwater turtles, fish, gilgies and waterfowl up until the 1940s. It appears that the main use of the wetlands in the City of Vincent area occurred during late spring, summer and early autumn and, due to the abundance of turtles, frogs and waterbirds at this time, large gatherings of up to 300 Nyungar people occurred around the wetlands.
These larger gatherings are recorded at Hyde Park in the 1850s or 1860s, at Lake Henderson in 1850, and at Lake Monger in 1833 and 1835, however the wetlands were also periodically used during the warmer months to carry out ceremonial activities as well as to undertake trade and gift exchanges and marriage proposals. The wetlands within the City of Vincent continue to hold special significance to the Aboriginal community. There are 15 registered Indigenous Sites falling on or within the boundary of the City. The register of sites is identified and managed by the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage.