Transcript: Sydney Morning Herald Opinion –
This cottage is a snapshot of Sydney’s heritage dereliction

By Linda Bergin
Advocate for public parkland

9 February 2023

One might think Sydney’s oldest and most valuable historic sites are managed by the National Parks Service or the newMuseums of History, the two most appropriate state cultural heritage conservation agencies. But other agencies, even the private sector, may soon take control of important sites.

Cadman’s Cottage is a small two-storey white sandstone house on the west side of Circular Quay. You’ve probably walked past it. It can be seen from anywhere on Circular Quay, except when a cruise ship parks in front of it.

Built in 1816, it’s remarkably intact. It is Sydney’s third-oldest building, only slightly younger than Parliament House and the Mint. Like those places, it’s a rare surviving official colonial building – the Headquarters of the Government Boats.Cadman’s is the last visible link to an early Sydney Cove. New research says it may be where Arthur Phillip stepped ashore on January 26 to plant the British flag nearby.

Cadman’s Cottage Historic Site was created in 1972 under the first National Parks and Wildlife Act. The present act’s goals for “historic sites” are conservation and fostering public appreciation. National Parks has owned Cadman’s for over 50 years. From 1988 to 1996 it was its shop and information centre.

But National Parks wants to lease Cadman’s for 99 years to Place Management NSW, the agency that owns and managesThe Rocks. The lease would allow “any purpose that enables the adaptive re-use … as mutually agreed in writing”.National Parks’ relatively few existing leases in the Sydney Harbour area are only 10 to 20 years.

Cadman’s Cottage is a fragile relic of the past. National Parks’ proposed lease fails to see its importance as an artefact and significant place. Surely its future should be decided after the NSW election, not now, and with far more public involvement and debate. Rather than Place Management, wouldn’t Cadman’s seem to sit better with Museums of History?

In contrast to National Parks, Place Management’s functions are to “protect … cultural heritage” but also to “secure the orderly and economic development and use of the foreshore area … including the provision of infrastructure”.

Place Management is overseeing two large projects – the Circular Quay Redevelopment and the Rocks’ Atherden Street Redevelopment. Atherden Street “reinterprets ... the Rocks’ heritage… with a sharp, modern building”.

In 2022, Place Management sold off part of the Rocks. The entire 19th century heritage-listed Long’s Lane Precinct – 18buildings – was leased for 99 years. The buyers, NashCap and its partner Assembly Funds Management, paid $36.5million. NashCap now advertises a “residential fund”.

New development in the Rocks should be minimal and nothing sold off. Place Management needs to be transparent.Parliament needs to be able to veto development proposals.

National Parks is also proposing to change its Sydney Harbour National Park Plan of Management to allow new buildings on Middle Head. The Department of Education would lease the site and build an “environmental education centre”, a type of special-purpose school.

Middle and Georges Heads are of national significance as the site of the most diverse collection of fortifications and defence sites in Australia. The defence history of the area spans from 1801 to the Vietnam War. Middle Head also has exceptional Aboriginal archaeological heritage.

There have never been new buildings allowed in the fortifications. Developing Middle Head would be a tragedy, but it is also unnecessary because the adjacent federal Sydney Harbour Federation Trust has empty buildings away from the fortifications. Did Education investigate those vacant buildings? Significant heritage sites spanning multiple jurisdictions should be unified by joint state and federal law.

Then there is Parramatta – undergoing significant development pressure. It has a remarkable collection of historic sites, but under multiple different managers. Notable sites are the state, national and world-heritage-listed 1799 OldGovernment House, the state-heritage-listed 1793 Elizabeth Farm, and the state and national heritage-listed 1821Female Factory, soon to be nominated for World Heritage Listing thanks to a recent funding promise of $1 million announced by federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek. But the Female Factory sits within the Parramatta NorthPrecinct, managed by Property and Development NSW, an agency not usually associated with heritage conservation.

It’s clearly time state and federal governments started working together to rationalise Sydney’s colonial and Aboriginal heritage management. Managed well, these sites could provide plentiful heritage tourism opportunities. But most importantly, it’s the stories they reveal to present and future generations – stories that will be lost without the political will to save them.

Linda Bergin is founder of Headland Preservation Group and a long-time advocate for the protection of heritage sites on the SydneyHarbour foreshore.