An inquiry into the ACT's heritage arrangements has heard a Canberra man was blocked from installing more solar panels on his home, built in 2001, due to concerns they would be partially visible from the street.
Earlier this month, the ACT government announced an inquiry would be held into the effectiveness and operation of heritage issues in the territory, and called for public submissions.
"Now is a critical time to examine the ACT heritage protection arrangements and to see how they can be improved in order to ensure they achieve their intended functions under the Heritage Act," ACT Legislative Assembly MLA Marisa Paterson said.
Submissions already made to the inquiry have now thrown up a variety of issues, including the use of solar panels, the preservation of historic huts, and the overall development of the city.
Extra solar panels rejected due to partial view from street
Among those to make a submission to the inquiry was Graham Mannall, who had previously applied to the ACT Heritage Council to ask if he could install additional solar panels on the roof of his house in an older suburb of Canberra.
Mr Mannall already has 36 panels on his roof, which he said was very large, and had been built at a pitch that met the heritage requirements of the area about 20 years ago.
While the house itself is not heritage-listed, his neighbourhood is.
In their response to Mr Mannall's request to install more solar panels, the council denied his request for some, because they would be partially visible from the street and therefore in violation of the ACT Heritage Act.
Of the 15 panels he wanted to install, only six were permitted.
He said that was in spite of the fact he had gone to the effort of ensuring no panels would be on the side of the building closest to the street.
"Part of their reasoning is that we already have a large system and that this is the most visible and provided suggestions like putting it on the garage or in the yard somewhere, which are completely impractical," Mr Mannall said in a submission to the inquiry.
"There is no point for us to install a [six] panel system as we require a new inverter for the additional panels and the costs far outweigh the benefits."
Mr Mannall said he understood why heritage needed to be considered, but he questioned whether the right balance was being struck between that objective and the goal of greater sustainability.
"I would like to raise the issue about how we are able to become a more sustainable city by having solar systems on roofs within areas designated as having heritage value," he said.
Mr Mannall also said the guidelines were confusing and he knew some residents in his suburb who had become so frustrated that they had gone ahead and installed solar panels anyway.
"The heritage guidelines recommend putting [the panels] on sheds and garages in backyards, which is not possible — we're in a very narrow, thin block," he told ABC Radio Canberra.
"We could have free-standing ones in the backyard, but that just doesn't seem very practical to me, when you've got a roof that's sitting there facing the sun all day long not being used."
In a separate submission to the inquiry, the ACT's Commissioner for Sustainability and Environment also highlighted her concerns that heritage policies were not working adequately alongside of environmental policies.
"The Heritage Act 2004, does not mention climate change," Sophie Lewis said in her submission.
"Heritage and climate change policies in the ACT do not interact, and legislation in the ACT fails to identify and address climate change impacts on heritage and how preservation of heritage values might impact climate change mitigation and adaptation measures."
Dr Lewis also said that while owners of heritage buildings could apply to modify the facade and install solar panels, more detailed consideration should be given to the "future needs and impacts of heritage sites in a changing climate".
Call for old huts to be restored
Other submissions to the inquiry raised concerns about the preservation or restoration of historic buildings.
Two submissions were made on behalf of huts located in national parks and reserves that had been destroyed by fire, including the Black Summer bushfires and the Canberra firestorm of 2003.
Pauline Downing, who volunteers to help maintain the historic huts, said she was "disheartened" to learn that authorities did not intend to replace them.
"One Namadgi hut was described by an employee of the Park Service as a 'sacrificial hut' when asked if it was to be replaced," she wrote in her submission.
"I didn't realise that in this day and age the history of the working classes of this country was sacrificial."
In her submission, Ms Downing referenced Gregory's Homestead, which had been taken down, leaving only the brick foundations.
"Although not as old as some of the homesteads in Namadgi it would be approaching 80+ years and showed the progression from Orroral Homestead," she said.
"Unfortunately, the ability to restore huts to as built is not possible, but their replacement will commemorate them."
Fears for loss of 'streetscapes' in older suburbs
The inquiry has also raised the issue of the development of Canberra as a whole.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr used his annual State of the Territory address this week to reiterate how fast the territory is growing, saying the city's population was expected to rise to half a million by 2027.
"Our population is expected to grow by the equivalent of three to four new suburbs each year," Mr Barr said.
Mr Barr said the only way to house all of those new ACT residents was by increasing density in certain suburbs, particularly close to the city and town centres and along public transport corridors.
But in a submission to the inquiry a community group has vehemently disagreed with the government's plans, objecting to changes that would deviate from the original plan for Canberra set out by Walter Burley Griffin and other early town planners.
The Griffith Narrabundah Community Association said in its submission that it was "alarmed" that the two inner-south suburbs had been designated areas of "future investigation" by the ACT government.
"In these areas, new three-storey buildings can be constructed, and the old streetscapes planned by Griffin, Sulman and Weston will be destroyed," they said.
"This threatened developmental vandalism is unconscionable."
The group said the heritage of the suburbs needed to be protected because of their "high-value characteristics" and economic and social benefits, including that the heritage of the suburbs provided "positive health outcomes" and "enculturation, personal and cultural identity, intergenerational continuity and civic engagement".
In their submission, the association said their concern was that plans for the growth of the city included an emphasis on protecting heritage sites, but not on protecting the heritage "character and streetscape" of the inner south.
Submissions to the inquiry into the ACT's heritage arrangements are open until March 31.
