Heritage Gaps Study enters next stage

The City of Ballarat is moving into the next stage of the Heritage Gaps Study, following a year-long consultation that attracted more than 150 nominations from the community.

We are inviting the community to nominate important places across the municipality that may warrant heritage protection. We are in particular looking for underrepresented places associated with women's history, LGBTQIA+, migrants, First Nations history (for more information on this type of place, see the FAQ sheet) and the less celebrated elements such as places associated with pastoral activities, industrial places, ghost signs, horse troughs, mileposts, bridges and drystone walls.

Public consultation remains open until 1 April 2026. This input will help ensure the study reflects local priorities, what matters most to residents and to assist fieldwork planned for later in the year.

Examples of underrepresented historical narratives

What is the Heritage Gaps Study?

The Heritage Gaps Study is about finding important places in Ballarat that may have been overlooked in previous heritage assessments. Our goal is to ensure that all places of heritage significance are properly identified, valued, and considered for protection. This project is part of our broader Heritage Gaps Review Program.

The Gaps Study has two stages; The first stage focusses on finding places of heritage significance that should be further assessed. The second stage will undertake the heritage assessments and work out what should be included in the Heritage Overlay.

This study has now commenced. You can still get involved – nominations are open for heritage places you believe should be protected. See below for how to submit yours.

Ballarat’s heritage is a key part of what makes our municipality special, but not all significant places have been formally identified or protected. This study is being undertaken to find these places and ensure our city’s heritage is protected now and into the future.

By identifying and assessing new places which represent typological, thematic or geographic gaps, the study helps protect the unique character and heritage of our city - now and into the future. It aims to safeguard Ballarat's heritage assets by identifying important places that may not yet be protected under the Ballarat Planning Scheme.

Incorporating these places into the Planning Scheme ensures that as Ballarat continues to grow and evolve, its heritage is properly recognised and considered in planning decisions.

This helps future generations understand, enjoy and connect with Ballarat’s rich heritage.

We’re reviewing Ballarat’s history, gathering local knowledge, and identifying places that may have heritage value. This includes research, windscreen surveys, community engagement, site visits, and looking at community nominations to help build a more complete picture of our city’s heritage. In the later part of the study we will be undertaking in depth heritage assessments using our City of Ballarat Heritage Study and Assessment Model Methodology.

Nominate a Heritage Place

Know a place with local heritage value? Tell us! Nominations for places that you think should be considered for heritage protection are now open!

A map showing the study area

FAQs

The below FAQs section aims to address common questions about the project. If you still have questions, please contact the project lead directly.

The Heritage Gaps Study is about identifying places in Ballarat that may have been missed in past heritage work. In Stage 1, we’re looking at different types of places to see if they might be locally significant.

In Stage 2, we’ll take a closer look at those with strong potential to confirm their heritage value.

If a place is found to be significant, it may be recommended for heritage protection, which can include:

  • Local protection through the Heritage Overlay in the planning scheme.
  • State-level protection via the Victorian Heritage Register.

These protections help ensure Ballarat’s important places are conserved now and in the future.

The Gaps Study will deliver:

  • Heritage Place Citations for each place which is recommended for inclusion in the Heritage Overlay of the Ballarat Planning Scheme.

  • The Heritage Place Citation will include full history of the place, including its thematic context, a description of the place, comparative analysis which demonstrates how the place compares to other similar examples already included in the Heritage Overlay, a Statement of Significance which identifies what, how and why the place is significant and a recommended area of land to which the Heritage Overlay should apply.

  • Any additional controls that should be included in the Schedule to the Heritage Overlay to protect important trees, fences, gates, outbuildings or other elements of the place.
  • The Statement of Significance is the key document used to guide decision making where change to a place is proposed. It provides clarity to property owners, statutory planners and others about exactly what is important about the place and why it should be protected.

We have identified thematic gaps in the Ballarat heritage register in a previous study 'Thematic Environmental History'. Places associated with women's history, immigrants' narratives, industrial sites, post-war places are some of these gaps.

There are also geographic gaps where some locations across the municipality are underrepresented. While the central areas in Ballarat have been investigated, the further localities have not been thoroughly studied.

We may also need to prioritise a place due to immediate threat of demolition.

The Heritage Overlay is part of the Ballarat Planning Scheme. It helps protect places of historical, cultural, or architectural significance. It ensures any changes to those places are carefully considered through the planning process.

A Heritage Assessment is a process used to determine the cultural, historical and social significance of a place or object.

The significance of places is evaluated based on established criteria as per Planning Practice Note 1 (Applying the Heritage Overlay), including:

  • Historical
  • Aesthetic
  • Representative
  • Rarity
  • Research potential
  • Technical
  • Associative
  • Architectural
  • Social value of a site

Heritage assessments are usually done by independent heritage experts and play an important role in identifying and documenting places of value. They help decide if a place should be included in the Heritage Overlay, which means it needs to be considered in planning decisions.


If you own or live near a heritage place or precinct, there may be updates to how it is listed or described in the planning scheme. No changes have been made yet, and there is no immediate impact to planning controls at this stage.

Once the study is complete, recommendations will be considered by Council. If changes to the planning scheme are proposed, they will go through a formal Planning Scheme Amendment process, including a public consultation where you will have the chance to put a submission in support of the assessment or object to the assessment. All submissions need to be resolved before a change is made to the Planning Scheme.

We encourage you to nominate places that may be of significance to Aboriginal people. The relevant RAPs could elect to have places put forward as part of a stage 2 heritage study. Through self-determination, Traditional Owners choose whether or not they want identified Aboriginal places included in the Ballarat Planning Scheme.

For more information, please see Aboriginal places and objects | firstpeoplesrelations.vic.gov.au

Definitions

The following definitions explain key ideas and tools used to identify, assess, and manage places that hold cultural or historical importance. These concepts are part of a heritage framework that helps us understand why certain places matter, and how we can protect them.
  • Place: A site, building, structure, tree, landscape or other element with cultural heritage value.
  • Precinct: A group of heritage places that together have heritage significance.
  • Curtilage: The defined area of land around a heritage place or precinct that the Heritage Overlay is applied to.
  • Heritage Criteria: The criteria used for the assessment of the heritage value of a place ( historical significance, rarity, aesthetic significance, research potential, technical significance, social significance, representative significance, associative significance).
  • Citation: A document that explains why a place is considered to have heritage value, including its history and description. The citation also includes a comparative analysis that evaluates a place's significance against other similar places to determine its relative importance.
  • Statement of Significance: A summary that explains why a place or precinct is important and what aspects are significant and how these aspects meet the criteria.
  • Individually Significant: A place that is important on its own, regardless of whether it is located in a precinct or not.
  • Contributory: A place within a heritage precinct that contributes to the heritage value of a precinct but is not individually significant.
  • Non-contributory: A place within a heritage precinct that does not make any contribution to the heritage value of the precinct.
  • Heritage Controls: Planning tools that protect heritage places by managing alteration, additions, demolitions, and new developments. This is usually referred to as the Heritage Overlay.
  • Group, thematic and serial (GTS) listings: two or more places that share the same heritage values but are geographically separate so do not form a geographically cohesive heritage precinct.