Heritage Alert
Sunset Hospital
Sunset and the Community
City of Nedlands - Council
resolution
Post
article
Information package
Sunset site
The current community interest and public consultation regarding
the future of the natural and built environment comprising the
Sunset Hospital site are not new. As early as September 1981
the Council of the National Trust of Australia (WA), speaking
for the community, recommended that :
It was only the previous year in May 1980 that the last of
"Tupennie Orderlies" had died, men who had originally
entered the Poorhouse as "old or incapable paupers"
and had assisted in running the establishment since its days
at the Mount Eliza Depot. Faced with changing standards and
expectations in aged care, the Health Department was rumoured
to be considering closure and sale.
The place was Classified by the National Trust in 1990 and
the National Trust Classification
was updated in 1993 in response to growing community concern.
The experience of Swanborne Hospital, the selling off of the
grounds for housing and the main buildings standing empty and
semi-derelict were behind community concern for Sunset. Lessons
had been learned and a repeat process was to be avoided.
The News Chronicle in December 1993 reported the Trust as:
The last residents departed in October 1995 and in some eight
months later in June 1996 the Premier, Richard Court, was quoted
in the Weekly Post:
Sunset was entered on the State Register
of Heritage Places in September 1996 based on documentation
drawn from the Conservation Plan, Sunset
Hospital prepared for the Building Management Authority
by Hocking Planning and Architecture Pty Ltd in September 1995.
The process for entry on the State Register is well documented
by the Heritage Council of Western Australia and this information
is available on their web site at www.heritage.wa.gov.au.
Both the National Trust of Australia (WA) and the Heritage Council
of Western Australia refer to the Burra
Charter as a source document for guidance in heritage conservation
matters.
In August 1999 a Sunset Redevelopment
Concept prepared by the Government Projects Office was released
as part of a public consultation process. This process envisaged
the "redeveloped" property as commencing activity
in December 2001. As part of this process, Nedlands
Council Resolutions endorsed redevelopment of the site subject
to an extensive range of qualifications/comments. The Redevelopment
Concept required legislative changes and this was blocked by
a disallowance motion in the Legislative Council on 10 January
2001.
In November 2000 an updated study entitled Conservation
Plan, Sunset Redevelopment Study 2000 by Palassis Architects
was released as a supplement to the Sunset Hospital Conservation
Plan (1995). Included within this study as an Appendix was the
Sunset Redevelopment: Landscape Report
produced by Blackwell and Associates Pty Ltd.. Another
Appendix provided details of the Government
Heritage Property Disposal Process.
Following the change of government and a further period inactivity,
there was a call in April 2002 by the Minister for Housing and
Works, Mr Tom Stephens for nominations to a Steering Committee
to decide what limits should be put on the development of the
site. The Post Newspaper
carried the story and reported that the Government wanted to
raise at least $15 million from the site to put into health
services.
The Sunset Steering Committee, as part of its public consultation
processes, coordinated a Community
Workshop on 3 August. This meeting was supported by a Background
Briefing document. The results of the workshop have been
made available on a web site www.sunsethospital.net
along with considerable supporting documentation and background
material. Further briefings and follow up are planned for the
participants as part of the ongoing process of consultation.
The National Trust of Australia (WA) has developed a model
to conceptualise the competing issues associated with Sustainable
Heritage Property Management. Often there are no easy solutions
only intelligent choices. The National Trust of Australia (WA)
position is that intelligent choices are best served by open
and transparent processes of consultation, access to relevant
information and frank discussion of issues
As a community and membership based heritage organisation,
the National Trust of Australia (WA) has been working to achieve
positive heritage outcomes for the Sunset site for over twenty
years. The information supplied on this web site is the Trust's
contribution to assisting an informed public debate on the processes
and issues involved.
In addition to the extracts on the web site, the full version
of cited documents and other background material is available
to Trust members and interested members of the community at
National Trust of Australia (WA) Headquarters, 4 Havelock Street
West Perth during normal business hours or by appointment.
Text of Nedlands Council resolution
on Sunset Hospital (Adobe PDF)
Part of the Sunset Hospital site on the Dalkeith riverfront
will be sold to raise cash for the health service.
The government wants to raise at least $15 million from the
site to put into health services, according to Tom Stephens,
the Minister for Housing and Works.
Members of the public will get the chance to help decide the
fate of the 8.2ha site through a committee being set up by the
minister.
Mr Stephens said the committee would consider what limits should
be put on development of the site.
The amount of new building that would be allowed, public access,
open space and the use of buildings for community purposes would
all be considered by the committee.
Places will be set aside on the committee for seniors, young
people, businesses, Nedlands council, local MPs and the public.
Willing volunteers have less than two weeks, until May 2, to
put their names forward.
"This will be a thorough process and could take up to
six months to complete, but it is the best way to ensure the
preferences and concerns of the wider community are explored,"
said Mr Stephens.
"It is a great opportunity to make
much better use of a government asset that has been empty for
many years.
"The Sunset Hospital site has a prime position, important
heritage aspects that need to be preserved and excellent potential
for sustainable development."
Nomination forms are available from the Department of Housing
and Works, 108 Adelaide Terrace, Perth; by phoning 9222 4980;
or via the web at http://www.dhw.wa.gov.au.
- Linda Callahgan
Information package for community
workshop (Adobe PDF)
http://www.sunsethospital.net
