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BIC Reserve disappointment over heritage listing

Kristie LimEastern Reporter

A SUCCESS Hill resident says he is “disappointed” about the Heritage Council of WA rejecting a nomination to place Bas-sendean’s BIC Reserve on the State Register of Heritage Places for a second time.

At a committee meeting held on August 26, the council met to consider the re-nomination of BIC Reserve on Guildford Road to the State Register after Don Yates approached it to re-evaluate the location.

Mr Yates said the BIC was on “life support”.

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“Cutting away a bit more here and there for this and that does nothing to honour the original intent of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Bassendean Improvement Committee, raising the funds for a perpetual recreational reserve in the heart of Bassendean,” he said.

“As a newcomer 18-year resident, (I) followed up on a previous 2007 review of the original 2003 evaluation of the BIC Reserve, reflecting on the importance of the BIC as a unique piece of local heritage that needed protection.”

The Heritage Council first assessed BIC Reserve in 2003 and concluded that its cultural heritage significance did not meet the threshold for entry in the State Register of Heritage Places.

In a document from 2003, BIC Reserve was described as a place that demonstrated the commitment of the Bassendean Improvement Committee, which achieved the goal of creating a sporting venue in 1935 during an economic depression.

The reserve was placed on the Town of Bassendean’s Municipal Heritage Inventory, which is similar to the State Register and offered some level of protection.

State Heritage Office executive director Graeme Gammie said the reserve was referred again in 2016, with additional supporting information.

“The council’s register committee considered the new information at its August meeting and reaffirmed its previous decision that the place did not meet threshold for inclusion in the State Register,” he said.

Mr Gammie said if the reserve was added to the register, the Town of Bassendean would need to seek advice from the Heritage Council.

“Where an owner proposes to develop a State Registered place, the Heritage of Western Australia Act 1990 requires the relevant decision-making authority, usually the responsible local government, to refer the proposal to the Heritage Council for advice,” he said.