Australian Capital Territory
Heritage (Decision about Provisional Registration of Gold Creek Homestead, Ngunnawal) Notice 2009 (No 1)
Notifiable Instrument NI2009—305
made under the
Heritage Act 2004 s34 Notice of decision about Provisional Registration

1.	Name of instrument
This instrument is the Heritage (Decision about Provisional Registration of Gold Creek Homestead, Ngunnawal) Notice 2009 (No 1).

2.	Commencement
This instrument commences on the day after notification.

3.	Notice of Decision
Pursuant to Section 34 of the Heritage Act 2004 the ACT Heritage Council has decided not to provisionally register Gold Creek Homestead, Ngunnawal.

…………………………….
Mr Gerhard Zatschler
Secretary
ACT Heritage Council
GPO Box 158, Canberra ACT 2602
        
26 June 2009

STATEMENT OF REASONS

DECISION REGARDING THE INCLUSION OF GOLD CREEK HOMESTEAD (BLOCK 1&2, SECTION 23, NGUNNAWAL) IN THE ACT HERITAGE REGISTER

Chapter 1	Background
Gold Creek Homestead a range of built structures and landscape elements occupying Block 1&2, Section 23, Ngunnawal was nominated to the interim ACT Heritage Places Register in September 2005 by Mr Chris Newman.  At their meeting # 6 in February 2006 the ACT Heritage Council accepted the nomination.

Previously Gold Creek Homestead had been nominated to and rejected from inclusion in the ACT Heritage Register.  The Heritage Council decision that the place, while having some heritage values, did not warrant inclusion in the Register was made in September 1999.

The new nomination for Gold Creek Homestead  made claims under two of the ACT Heritage Register criteria, criterion d) social value and criterion h) strong or special historical associations.

Detailed reasoning of why the Gold Creek Homestead does not meet the threshold for listing under the heritage criteria at Section 10 of the Heritage Act 2004 is included under Assessment.

Assessment
The Council’s assessment against the criteria specified in s.10 of the Heritage Act 2004 is as follows.

In assessing the nomination for the Gold Creek Homestead the Council considered:

•	The original nomination form provided by the nominator.   
•	Background material held on Heritage Unit files 97/12680 and 06/1770 including documents relating to the development, history and function of the place.
•	The physical evidence and surrounding context as ascertained from an onsite assessments on 24/11/2005 and 2/2/2006 and February 2009.
•	The heritage firm Phillip Leeson of the Heritage Advisory Service was commissioned by ACT Heritage to conduct an archival recording of Gold Creek homestead identifying remnant heritage features.

In relation to the place:
Assessment
The Council’s assessment against the criteria specified in s.10 of the Heritage Act 2004 is as follows.

Criterion (a) it demonstrates a high degree of technical or creative achievement (or both), by showing qualities of innovation, discovery, invention or an exceptionally fine level of application of existing techniques or approaches
The nominator made no claim against this criterion.  

Criterion (b) it exhibits outstanding design or aesthetic qualities valued by the community or a cultural group
The nominator made no claim against this criterion.  

Criterion (c) it is important as evidence of a distinctive way of life, taste, tradition, religion, land use, custom, process, design or function that is no longer practised, is in danger of being lost or is of exceptional interest
The nominator made no claim against this criterion.  

Criterion (d) it is highly valued by the community or a cultural group for reasons of strong or special religious, spiritual, cultural, educational or social associations
The nominator has indicated this criterion as ‘high’.

Heritage Council assessment:  
The claims in the 2006 nomination for the community placing high value in the place for strong or special reasons is not supported by a body of evidence which either identifies the community in question, or the nature of the strong and special attachment.  The fact that the Gold Creek Homestead has been used as a heavily used social venue and amenity over many years, while of historic interest, does not imbue the place with heritage value.  The claimed community attachment through the association of other venues and businesses in the Gungahlin district using the ‘Gold Creek’ name as a brand indicates commercial opportunism rather than the possession of heritage value or attachment to the place by a community.

Criterion (e) it is significant to the ACT because of its importance as part of local Aboriginal tradition
The nominator made no claim against this criterion.  

Criterion (f) it is a rare or unique example of its kind, or is rare or unique in its comparative intactness
The nominator made no claim against this criterion.  

Criterion (g) it is a notable example of a kind of place or object and demonstrates the main characteristics of that kind
The nominator made no claim against this criterion.  

Criterion (h) it has strong or special associations with a person, group, event, development or cultural phase in local or national history
The nominator has indicated this criterion as ‘high. 

Heritage Council assessment:  
The claims for strong or special associations were previously rejected in the Heritage Council’s 1999 decision not to list the Gold Creek Homestead.  The association of the Rolfe family with the Gold Creek Homestead is a historical fact which the existing fabric of the place does not display to a sufficiently high degree due to loss of integrity and condition.  The fact that the homestead is not heritage listed will not detract from the historic fact of contributions made by the Rolfe family to the development of the locality.  

Criterion (i) it is significant for understanding the evolution of natural landscapes, including significant geological features, landforms, biota or natural processes
The nominator made no claim against this criterion.  

Criterion (j) it has provided, or is likely to provide, information that will contribute significantly to a wider understanding of the natural or cultural history of the ACT because of its use or potential use as a research site or object, teaching site or object, type locality or benchmark site
The nominator made no claim against this criterion.  

Criterion (k) for a place—it exhibits unusual richness, diversity or significant transitions of flora, fauna or natural landscapes and their elements
The nominator made no claim against this criterion.  

Criterion (l) for a place—it is a significant ecological community, habitat or locality for any of the following:
(i) the life cycle of native species;
(ii) rare, threatened or uncommon species;
(iii) species at the limits of their natural range;
(iv) distinct occurrences of species
The nominator made no claim against this criterion.  

Conclusion
The ACT Heritage Council finds that Gold Creek Homestead is of insufficient heritage value to warrant provisional registration in the ACT Heritage Register.

Dr Michael Pearson (Chair)
ACT Heritage Council
25 June 2009