FAQs

A Heritage Standard is an assessment tool, linked to the State Heritage Area Overlay within the Planning and Design Code. The Heritage Standard provides principles and acceptable minimum standards for development proposals. The Heritage Standard forms a key part of how the architects within Heritage South Australia assess development proposals within a State Heritage Area.  

The Heritage Standards for Burra, Mintaro and Moonta Mines all include:

1. Background – the historical development of Burra, Mintaro and Moonta Mines and the principles that underpin each State Heritage Area.
2. Statement of Significance – the South Australian Heritage Register listing and the context and description of the heritage values.
3. Heritage Standards for Development – Principles and Acceptable Standards for development – for property owners considering repairs, alterations and additions and new development.

A State Heritage Area is a clearly defined region with outstanding natural or cultural elements significant to South Australia's development and identity.

A State Heritage Area may include early or important settlements, significant towns or suburbs of heritage value, or natural landscapes, and are notable for their distinct heritage character or 'sense of place', formed by:

• buildings and structures
• spaces and allotments
• patterns of streets
• natural features or the developed landscape.

Below are maps that illustrate the boundaries of each of the State Heritage Areas:

• Burra State Heritage Area
• Moonta Mines State Heritage Area
• Mintaro State Heritage Area

Burra was declared a State Heritage Area on 28 January 1993. The town retains many mid-nineteenth century buildings and structures from the years when the Burra mine was one of the world’s great copper producers. It also displays later Victorian buildings reflecting Burra’s secondary role as a regional centre for agriculture, pastoralism and local government. 

Mintaro was declared a State Heritage Area on 20 September 1984. Mintaro’s character is that of a small mid 19^th century town rural town. The Mintaro State Heritage Area provides a highly intact representation of early colonial-Victorian character. 

Moonta Mines was declared a State Heritage Area on 10 May 1984. Moonta Mines was one of Australia’s largest and most profitable mining operations for much of the late 19^th century and remains one of South Australia’s most important collections of 19^th century mining structures and relics. 

See Department for Environment and Water - State Heritage Areas for more details.

The relevant (planning) authority must approve any development within a State Heritage Area in accordance with the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 (PDI Act). 

Development is defined by the PDI Act, and the Planning Development Infrastructure (general) Regulations 2017 and includes:

• Building work
• The demolition, removal, conversion, alteration or painting of, or addition to a State Heritage Place*
• Any work that could materially affect the heritage value of the place. 

*To note: Legally, any property within a State Heritage Area is also considered a State Heritage Place. 

Although State Heritage Areas are protected under legislation, places within the area can be altered or developed as long as the work is sympathetic to the character of the area.

Applications for development approval in a State Heritage Area are required to be referred, by the relevant authority (for example the local council), to the Minister responsible for the Heritage Places Act 1993. The Minister delegates assessment and decisions to Heritage South Australia in the Department for Environment and Water.

The inclusion of a Place or Area in the South Australian Heritage Register does not prevent change to the Place or Area. In fact, an objective of the Heritage Places Act 1993 is:

to encourage sustainable use and adaptation of heritage places in a manner consistent with high standards of conversation practice, the retention of their heritage significance, and relevant development policies. 

Compatible development is one of the best ways to ensure State Heritage Places or Areas are maintained, used and enjoyed in the future.

Where changes to a State Heritage Place or Area involve actions that constitute ‘development’ as defined by the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016, an application for development approval is lodged with the relevant planning authority, the local council or the State Planning Commission.

The Heritage Standards will not freeze the Burra, Moonta Mines or Mintaro Mines State Heritage Areas in time. Rather, it will ensure any referred development reflects the heritage values of the State Heritage Areas.

For any small administrative changes, Heritage Standards can be updated following normal internal policy guidelines but any major changes will require another round of public consultation. Likewise, any changes to the Statement of Significance require approval from the South Australian Heritage Council.

The standards will be used by Heritage South Australia, as delegates of the Minister for Climate, Environment and Water, in assessing development applications that may impact on state heritage values.

They will also be used to provide advice to property owners planning to restore, alter or develop their property within the State Heritage Areas.