Cargill's Cottage, all that remains of a once thriving dairy farm from Canberra's early years, would be transformed into a hub for heritage organisations under the ACT Greens' plan to support the sector.
Greens deputy leader Rebecca Vassarotti said a heritage hub would be an opportunity to reflect and celebrate the cottage and revisit its use in the 21st century.
"What myself and I think heritage stakeholders would love to do is actually have a focal point where people can come and actually understand a little bit more about heritage," Ms Vassarotti said.
Ms Vassarotti, who has been the ACT's Heritage Minister since being elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2020, will on Monday unveil the Greens heritage policy for the 2024 election.
"I think so often when we talk about heritage, it really is seen as a barrier," she said.
"And that's why we're really committed to developing an initiative around it to really look at what some of the positive opportunities are."
The party wants to complete the long-awaited heritage strategy for Canberra, establish a legislated cultural heritage body and boost funding for the ACT Heritage Council and the heritage branch within the public service.
Ms Vassarotti said she believed that traditional custodians should be making decisions about the heritage that belongs to them, and this would be an important transfer of power that would take some time.
"Certainly some groups have talked about the fact that they are looking at a native title claim and the work around who speaks for country is work that is continuing," she said.
"It is unfinished business. ... I think the long-term goal is it is something that sits within the control of our traditional custodians. But I think we need to be honest that this is something that will take time."
The Greens also want to finish work on an upgrade to the heritage register and database.
Ms Vassarotti has overseen a review of the ACT's heritage system and was forced in late 2022 to stand down all members of the heritage council after a review found evidence of unprofessional behaviour and imminent risk to heritage places.
The Heritage Council and the heritage branch within the Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate still need more resources, like an upgraded database, and more staff, she said.
"I think that if we get a good system and a good interface, that will actually decrease some of the workload and some of the administrative workload," Ms Vassarotti said.
"Right now, we're actually already spending a lot of time up front, really understanding what we need in terms of a heritage register and the database to support the business processes behind it.
"My view is that that is really important that we put that work up front. I think we've had enough examples here in the territory, particularly around IT projects where we jump too quickly to what we think is the end point and then don't get what we need."
The Greens said the cost of additional funding for the ACT's heritage system would be $9.9 million over four years, with an additional $100,000 to be invested in the completion of the heritage strategy.
The cost of establishing a heritage hub at Cargill's Cottage, which is owned by the ACT government and is currently used as artist's accommodation, would be offset by the sale of land in the East Lake urban renewal precinct, the party said.
Ms Vassarotti said the redevelopment of the East Lake precinct offered an opportunity to reflect the area's heritage.
"We've got the Causeway Hall that is not far from that area as well. We've got the railway museum. It's a particular precinct where there's a real opportunity to really reflect the heritage and celebrate it," she said.
