Heritage Consultant Sydney | SoHI Report

---

If the DA site relates to a Heritage Item, or is in the vicinity of a Heritage Item (nearby and/or next to a Heritage property), moving or excavating an Aboriginal relic or object, or is located within a Heritage Conservation Area (HCA), our Northern Beaches Heritage Consultant must prepare a Statement of Heritage Impact or SoHI Report (also known as Heritage Impact Statement or HIS Report) to provide a comprehensive and expert heritage assessment of the proposed development against the relevant heritage conservation development standard (usually Clause 5.10 and Schedule 5 of the relevant Council LEP).

For example, if the DA Heritage property is located within Northern Beaches Council LGA – the applicable LEP would be one of the following 3 existing/current Northern Beaches LEPs, depending on which former LGA (Manly, Pittwater or Warringah) your property belongs to:

• Warringah Local Environmental Plan 2011 
• Manly Local Environmental Plan 2013 
• Pittwater Local Environmental Plan 2014 

Note:  The Northern Beaches Local Planning Panel and Northern Beaches Council has formally submitted a new comprehensive Northern Beaches Local Environment Plan (tentatively to be known as Northern Beaches LEP 2024 that covers the whole of the Northern Beaches region). This new NBLEP Planning Proposal was submitted for Gateway Determination in June 2024, and is currently under assessment by the NSW Government’s Department of Planning. 

See below for more details of what must be included in the Statement of Heritage Impact (SoHI) / Heritage Impact Statement (HIS) such as the Heritage Statement of Significance (SOS), and other Heritage services that our Northern Beaches Heritage Specialist will be able to assist with, for your Northern Beaches Heritage-affected property.

Statement of Significance – Heritage Item and/or Heritage Conservation Area

A Statement of Heritage Impact Assessment will always be based on a Statement of Significance (SOS) for the Heritage Item and/or Heritage Conservation Area (HCA), which clearly indicate the identified heritage values.

The SOS will need to be researched from the NSW State Heritage Register (SHR) entry, or your Local Council’s Local Heritage Inventory. Furthermore, a State Heritage Item – or a local Heritage Item of great significance to the local area – may also have a site-specific Conservation Management Plan (CMP) or Conservation Management Strategy (CMS).

Therefore, it is critical to thoroughly research all available historical sources and heritage information available requiring expertise in heritage conservation and planning regulations. Any mistakes or missing heritage information could delay your application or lead to costly re-design of Plans as well as missed-deadlines for the construction project.

See below for more details of what must be included in the Statement of Heritage Impact (SoHI) / Heritage Impact Statement (HIS) such as the identified Heritage Significance (also known as Heritage status/Heritage listing), and other Heritage services that our Sydney Heritage Consultant will be able to assist with, for your Heritage-affected property.

Status of Heritage Significance – State or Local Heritage listing

A Heritage Impact Statement will need to clearly indicate whether the Heritage Item is of State significance (State Heritage Item) or Local significance (local Heritage Item).

• A State-significant Heritage Item requires assessment pursuant to Section 57(1) and Section 58 of the NSW Heritage Act 1977, including referral to the NSW Heritage Council for assessment and concurrence (approval), which is Integrated Development pursuant to Section 4.46 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. 
• A local Heritage Item requires assessment of the relevant heritage conservation development standard (usually Clause 5.10 and Schedule 5 of the relevant Council LEP). For example, if a Heritage building is located within Strathfield Council LGA – the applicable LEP would be Strathfield Local Environmental Plan 2012.

See below for other details that must be included in the Statement of Heritage Impact (SoHI) / Heritage Impact Statement (HIS) such as the Heritage description, and other Heritage services that our Strathfield Heritage Consultant will be able to assist with, for your Strathfield Heritage property.

The Statement of Heritage Impact (SoHI Report / HIS Report) must provide a detailed description of the site and surrounding locality to provide an understanding of development area and demonstrate to the Planning Consent Authority (e.g. Council) that the heritage-affected site is suitable for the proposed development. Relevant heritage matters of considerations include:

• site constraints such as easements, bushfire, contamination, easements, slope, flooding, trees etc. For example, if a site is identified to have a Heritage-listed tree (usually a significant tree due to its age, size and/or its association to the past e.g. it was planted by a historically-significant person and/or it forms a cohesive part of the overall heritage landscape setting of the original Heritage building and Heritage garden on the site);
• compatibility with adjoining development (existing and emerging);
• compatibility with visual setting (other Heritage significant buildings, streetscape);
• size and shape of the property allotment and whether the development – if Subdivision is included as part of the DA – remains consistent with the subdivision pattern of the area 
• age and condition of buildings e.g. whether the condition of the Heritage property will make its salvation and and restoration feasible.

The Heritage Impact Statement (HIS) Report must provide a detailed account of the site development history, this is particularly important for development applications (DA) proposing a change of land-use (known in Heritage terms as "adaptive reuse") such as change of use from a former residential use to a commercial use, or from a civic use to a business use. For example: 

• See TRANPLAN Projects for such an example where our Heritage Planners successfully obtain Council approval for the change of use DA, including signage and alterations & additions of the former Glebe Post Office, and "adaptive reuse" as a business premises (Physiotherapy Centre).

The HIS Report need to provide details about:

• original / historical use of the site
• original and successive owners of the site
• detailed research of Local Archives, National Archives, Council records, library catalogues, review of historic property files to document previous uses/owners of the property
• all building and development applications relevant to the site e.g. DA approvals and/or refusals

The Statement of Heritage Impact (SoHI) must provide a comprehensive assessment of the proposed development and how the development application complies with all heritage planning legislations and the relevant statutory core development standards, such as:

• the NSW Heritage Act 1977, for State-listed Heritage Item  
  NSW Government's Department of Environment and Heritage (DEH) Heritage Guidelines
• the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) Heritage Guidelines 
• The Burra Charter: the Australia ICOMOS Charter for Places of Cultural Significance
• Clause 5.10 Heritage Conservation of the relevant NSW Environmental Planning Instruments (EPI), usually a relevant Council LGA's Local Environmental Plan (LEP).  

For example, if the DA property is located within Waverley Council LGA, our Waverley Heritage Consultant must research the Waverley Local Environmental Plan 2012, and addressed the Waverley LEP 2012 in the SoHI Report.

The Heritage Impact Statement (HIS) must provide a comprehensive assessment of the proposed development and how the DA satisfies all other non-statutory heritage design guidelines and heritage protection planning controls. Relevant considerations include (but not limited to) the following:

• streetscape
• topography
• setbacks
• building form
• landscape setting
• local context and building character, including massing, roof design, window location and proportions, materials and decorative detailing. 

For example, if the DA property is located within Randwick Council LGA – the applicable non-statutory planning controls that must be thoroughly reviewed and addressed by our Randwick Heritage Consultant in the HIS Report is the Randwick Development Control Plan 2012 (September 2023 Amendment) – which may include some or all of the following Randwick DCP 2012 Chapters:

• Randwick Comprehensive Development Control Plan (June 2023) – Part C1 Low Density Residential
• Randwick Comprehensive DCP (June 2023) – Part B2 Heritage 

Heritage Demolition

For minor partial demolition of Heritage Item or demolition of a building in a Heritage Conservation Area, some important criteria must be addressed in a Statement of Heritage Impact include:

• Is the demolition essential for the heritage place to function?
• Are important features of the heritage place affected by the demolition (e.g. fireplaces or staircases)?
• How will the proposed building/construction and Heritage demolition works affect the significance of the place or area?
• What measures are proposed to mitigate or minimise any adverse heritage impacts?
• Will the proposal result in any heritage conservation benefits that might offset any adverse impacts?
• Has the expert advice of a qualified and experienced Heritage Consultant been taken? If not, why not? 

Conservation and Management of Heritage Item Fabric

How a Heritage Item or place is to be conserved or "managed" must be addressed in a Statement of Heritage Impact. The management of a Heritage Item depends on its significance and significant elements (or significant fabric). "Significant fabric" is the material of the Heritage Item which contributes to its significance. For example, it includes building interiors and exteriors, sub-surface remains, excavated material and natural elements.

A Statement of Heritage Impact must include information about a Heritage Item’s significant fabric, which can be done by visual assessment during the site inspection and researched from:

• a Statement of Significance
• a Conservation Management Plan or Conservation Management Strategy
• a existing/previous Heritage Impact Statement
• a Heritage Collection Plan
• an Archaeological Management Plan
• an Aboriginal Place Management Plan.