A voice from the sewers

Graham Quint, National Trust (NSW) Director, Conservation speaks out on the heritage values of sewers - and other structures - as seen in the Sydney Morning Herald. Find out why.

In the last week, Sydney Morning Herald reporter, Andrew Taylor, wrote a feature that essentially called into question the value of heritage and decisions to list specific places, landscapes or items as being of heritage significance.

The National Trust (NSW) Director, Conservation, Graham Quint was interviewed for the feature and said the following regarding the
Chatswood-Willoughby storm water system in Willoughby:

“The condition of an item should never be confused with its heritage significance, which is based on a place’s history as well as cultural, aesthetic or scientific values.

He said the Trust supported the heritage listing of the shops, storm water system and the transmission tower.

“I was quite surprised to hear that anyone would have had concerns about some of these items being heritage-listed and thought them to be ‘bizarre’,” Mr Quint said. “I wondered whether that person had any real understanding of the nature and importance of heritage.”

The article has prompted the National Trust to set out the work of its Industrial Heritage Committee, established in 1968 and, in particular, the vital role played by sewerage infrastructure in the development of our modern cities.

Read the full statementIndustrial Heritage: The Historical Importance of Sewerage Infrastructure.

 

(Read the Sydney Morning Herald article: “Sydney has a heritage-listed sewer. It has set off a storm with developers”)

 

 

 

For additional comment, please contact:

Lyndal Stuart
Director, Marketing and Communications
(02) 9258 0113
lstuart@nationaltrust.com.au