Neville Borger, Bill Perry, Peter Reade, Campaspe Shire Council economic development manager Astrid O’Farrell and Cr Luke Sharrock, strategic advisor to Heritage Victoria Trevor Budge, and City of Ballarat World Heritage and regional development lead Susan Fayad.
Photo by
Ryan Bellingham
Rushworth residents were panning for tourism gold at a recent Victorian Goldfields World Heritage bid information session.
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Around 20 community members went to the Rushworth Service Centre on Tuesday, September 23, to learn more about the monumental bid.
The session provided an open forum for attendees to ask questions or express concerns, while project representatives gave an update on the ongoing bid.
Strategic adviser to Heritage Victoria Trevor Budge and City of Ballarat World Heritage and regional development lead Susan Fayad guided the session.
Campaspe Shire Council staff and Crs Luke Sharrock and Adrian Weston were also in attendance to field community feedback.
Mr Budge, who has been involved in the bid since its earliest iteration in the 1980s, said the project had made major headway since 2019.
Currently, the bid is classified as a tentative Australian World Heritage listing, meaning the Federal Government has endorsed it to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“We can now see the end of the journey,” Mr Budge said.
“Getting that tentative listing was a game changer because that really says the Victorian and Australian governments and UNESCO think you’ve got a case that will go through.”
As the Federal Government has never had an unsuccessful World Heritage nomination, confidence is high that the bid will be accepted, although an outcome won’t be finalised until 2030.
A breakthrough was made after the bid was proposed as a serial listing, garnering interest from UK-based independent World Heritage consultant Barry Gamble.
“Barry came out to the goldfields, and he saw what we were talking about. He said, ‘this is phenomenal. I think you’ve got a case, but on a serial listing basis’,” Mr Budge said.
“He came to the conclusion, that ‘yours is the best preserved. It’s got the most variety of things. It tells the story better than anywhere else’.”
Across the bid’s proposed area, six sites have been recognised in the tentative listing, and nine more are under investigation.
The bid team started with a list of around 2500 sites, but Mr Budge said they had been narrowed down to the highest quality historical examples.
Sites in Rushworth and Whroo are among those tentatively listed, and the area was pitched as an “entry point” for the goldfields by Mr Budge and Ms Fayad.
Significant Aboriginal sites in the area that share history with Victoria’s gold rush may also join the bid, with Yorta Yorta and Taungurung representatives being consulted.
A successful bid is expected to bring major economic benefits to the region and generate significant international tourism interest, particularly from China and India.
Attendees in discussions during the information session.
Photo by
Ryan Bellingham
Locals attending the session were cautiously optimistic, but raised concerns about commercial and hobbyist gold prospecting rights.
Mr Budge and Ms Fayad assured those concerned that prospecting would be allowed to continue as it was part of the living cultural heritage of the area.
Rushworth residents questioned whether the town had enough accommodation to support increased tourism, and worried there weren’t enough hospitality options.
Some queries were raised about preserving the town’s appearance, and worries about non-local commercial property ownership were also brought up.
The next step in the bid involves submitting a preliminary assessment to UNESCO by September next year, which will be responded to with requested changes by mid-2027.
“The idea of a preliminary assessment is to get rid of the rubbish applications,” Mr Budge said.
“If we get a glowing report from the assessor, it’ll be smooth sailing.”
If all goes to plan, a formal nomination will be put forward in early 2029, prompting a visit to the area from an independent assessor.
As the World Heritage committee only meets once per year, Mr Budge was hopeful the bid’s application would appear at its meeting in 2030 to be assessed.
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