Council & Business
6 March, 2026
Council vote in favour of heritage reno
Central Goldfields Shire Council voted to take a “logical” view that a Maryborough home under a heritage overlay can be renovated by its owner.
The owner of 10 Dundas Road will be allowed to renovate the property following council’s decision to approve the application during the February council meeting.
The 1940s residential three-bedroom home has a triple fronted stepped facade, weatherboard cladding, and a centrally positioned feature brick chimney at the front of the home.
The property contributes to the heritage value of the Palmerston Precinct, outlined in the Maryborough Heritage Review 2023, due to its post-war era construction.
According to the review, this precinct is “modest” and “slightly less intact” than others locally, however, council officers believed the proposed works would compromise the home’s heritage value and the value of the precinct as a whole.
“The dwelling would no longer maintain the integrity of its post-war architecture by the proposed alterations and extensions,” the recommendation read.
The applicant sought to extend the living room forward changing the building’s facade to double fronted, remove the porch over the front door and replace it with a verandah running the length of the secondary facade, and a new covered deck at the rear of the building.
While the council officer’s report recommended refusing the permit due to its detrimental impact on heritage values, councillor Geoff Bartlett put forward a successful alternative motion to approve the renovations.
His alternative motion largely endorsed the existing plans with an amendment that the style of windows be double hung rather than awning.
“The proposal is to renovate the existing dwelling so the owner’s farming parents can move off the farm and into town,” he said.
“The dwelling owner will move into the farm property to continue the farming enterprise — so this supports farm succession.”
Councillor Gerard Murphy supported the alternative motion, citing Dundas Road as the northern-most edge of the precinct and heritage overlay, a neighbouring home not contributing to the precinct, and a large colorbond garage on the applicant’s property.
“What’s important is you can call a whole zone heritage but you have to be logical of the zone and what is heritage,” he said.
Councillor Liesbeth Long stood alone voting against the proposal believing approval risked setting a precedent in Maryborough.
“Yes it is only ‘one house’ however if allowed to proceed this will set the precedent for other heritage listed dwellings in Maryborough,” she said.
Cr Long said that preserving Maryborough’s heritage value protected local history, community pride, cultural identity, architectural and artistic significance, while having educational and environmental benefits.
“Once destroyed heritage buildings cannot be truly replaced. Preserving them ensures that future generations can experience, study, and appreciate the historic and cultural significance,” she said.
“Make no mistake, once they are gone, they are gone forever. Because of this I can’t allow this to go through.”
Cr Bartlett, however, said the proposal was not to remove the building but “simply to renovate one corner” of the home.
The full council was asked to determine the planning application, instead of council officers, by Cr Bartlett on July 8, 2025.
A decision to defer the application to the February council meeting was made during the December meeting last year.