Ballarat and Bendigo continue to lead the charge to have the Victorian Goldfields become the 21st Aussie Landmark added to the World Heritage ranking.
As part of the bid from a consortium of 15 local councils to get on the list, Coliban Water played host to Heritage Victoria last week. The tour – involving representatives from Heritage Victoria and its experts – took in a range of sites across the region, including the Coliban Main Channel, Brennans Tunnel, Crusoe Reservoir, the cistern, and Specimen Hill gold diggings.
Credit: Coliban Water
Work is underway by both councils and the state government to progress the bid onto the World Heritage Tentative List, where it can then be assessed by UNESCO in coming years.
The Victorian government committed $3.8 million in the 2023/24 budget to progress two World Heritage nomination projects, including the Goldfields bid.
General Manager Water and Climate Strategy, Adam Crameri, says that “the Coliban Main Channel was a key piece of infrastructure that brought water to the goldfields in the 1860s and is still a reliable drinking water source for Bendigo today.”
Crameri spoke with Robbo on The Wake Up Call about the bid and last week’s tour.
According to UNESCO, the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage recognises that certain places on Earth are of ‘outstanding universal value’ and should form part of the common heritage of humankind.
The agency seeks to encourage the identification, protection, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity.
Chief adviser for the Goldfields Bid, Barry Gamble, says if successful, the Goldfields would become protected by the list.
The tour group acknowledged the importance of the water infrastructure in supporting the growth of the Goldfields.
