Thursday, January 13, 2011

Listing of the James Fletcher Hospital Site and curtilage on the State Heritage Register

Important Message - the National Trust needs your support with a submission to the Heritage Council: Re: Listing of the James Fletcher Hospital Site and curtilage on the State Heritage Register Newcastle Government House and Domain (Draft)State Heritage Nomination

The Trust needs your support with a submission to the Heritage Council Re: Listing of the James Fletcher Hospital Site and curtilage on the State Heritage Register. I hope you can give a few moments of your valuable time to read the following points and copy them into an Email or letter to be sent in support of this important nomination. I have taken the liberty of suggesting an outline for the letter that you may find helpful:

This nomination is of exceptional significance to Newcastle.
• The area has been in continuous Government ownership and use since 1804.
• Together, the James Fletcher Hospital site and Fletcher Park make up the Domain of the original Government House, established in 1804.
• It played an important role as part of the convict system in NSW.
• The integrity of the landscape is largely undisturbed.
• The quarried wall of the parade ground, the military barracks, gatehouse and former military hospital are intact and provide tangible evidence of convict labour under military supervision.
• The two vertical mine shafts on the site are Australia's first.
• The hospital area has played an important role in the evolution of mental health care in NSW as the first regional Government 'asylum'.
• Heritage listing is important because it sends a clear message about the value of historical heritage for the benefit of future generations.
• Fletcher Hospital site was placed on ‘Australia’s Heritage at Risk’ list in 2008.
• Kirkwood House (the old Parsonage 1819) on the site was demolished without warning in 2009.
• It is imperative that the ‘Newcastle Government House and Domain’ is officially identified and protected by listing on the State Heritage Register.
• The James Fletcher Hospital has provided mental health services to the region for 140 years and can continue delivering health services while also recognising the historical significance of the site.
• The Trust acknowledges the support of the University of Newcastle Coal River Working Party and the Hunter Regional Committee for the research and nomination of the precinct.

Please make a short submission using the points above or for further information see http://www.heritage.nsw.gov.au/07_subnav_02_2.cfm?itemid=5060998

On exhibition until 7th February 2011

SEND TO: The Heritage Council of New South Wales
Locked Bag 5020
Parramatta NSW 2124


Thanking you in anticipation of your support.

Yours truly,

Ann Hardy, Secretary, Hunter Regional Committee of the National Trust (NSW)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is such a joke. While some of the individual building should certainly listed, the site itself has no heritage value. The sandstone quarry wall for example is covered in bitou bush and subject to erosion. You are nothing more than pawns for Keith Stronach and Jodi Mackay, some of the most invidious, heritage hating people in Newcastle. Keith's hideous new development of the bowling club site needs to be stopped so the hospital site can be tastefully outifitted with nice residential victorian or georgianesque type buildings without the visual filth of stronach looming above it all.