Feature Image: Hotham Public Housing Estate, North Melbourne, Melbourne City. Source: Heritage Victoria

The National Trust has serious concerns about the Minister for Planning’s decision to intervene in the heritage registration process for the Hotham Public Housing Estate in North Melbourne, which had been nominated to the Victorian Heritage Register.

The ministerial call‑in occurred in January, before the advertising period closed, allowing for public submissions on the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria’s recommendation not to include the place in the Victorian Heritage Register. This intervention pre‑empts the independent role of the Heritage Council of Victoria and limits the opportunity for affected communities and the wider public to be heard.

While the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria has recommended that the Hotham Estate not be included on the Victorian Heritage Register – a recommendation that may well be upheld after full consideration – the National Trust is concerned that the Minister’s decision to intervene before the consultation period has concluded risks setting a troubling precedent for other public housing sites with accepted nominations, including Park Towers in South Melbourne and Atherton Gardens in Fitzroy, which may demonstrate stronger heritage merit and integrity.

Decisions about which places are recognised as Victoria’s most important heritage sites must be transparent, evidence‑based and subject to proper public process. With intense public scrutiny on the future of the public housing towers and their demolition, it is in the Government’s own interest to allow the full heritage process to run its course and ensure that affected communities can participate meaningfully in decisions about places that shape their lives.

The National Trust supports the goal of providing modern, accessible, energy‑efficient and well‑connected homes, and acknowledges the Victorian Government’s ambition to significantly increase the number of residents living in inner‑city public housing. At the same time, these important housing outcomes must not come at the expense of a transparent, evidence‑based heritage process that allows proper community participation.

The Hotham Public Housing Estate in North Melbourne is representative of a significant phase in Victoria’s development through the Housing Commission’s post‑war public housing program and holds strong social value for generations of residents and migrant communities who have called the estate home. The Heritage Council has previously found that the adjoining Alfred Street tower has a reasonable prospect of meeting the threshold for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register, which paved the way for the current nomination of the broader Hotham Estate.