Inhabiting Place: Social Significance in Practice in Australia

Author(s): CHRIS JOHNSTON

Source: APT Bulletin, Vol. 45, No. 2/3, SPECIAL ISSUE ON VALUES-BASED PRESERVATION
(2014), pp. 39-47
Published by: Association for Preservation Technology International (APT)
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Inhabiting Place: Social Significance in Practice in

Australia
CHRIS JOHNSTON

Engaging with communities to Introduction

appreciate their deep sense of

established approach to social-signifi

cance assessment, is examined later in

Heritage today is increasingly conceived

this paper.
connection to the places they inhabit
of as plural, dynamic, and connecting.
is the essence of understanding However, traditional approaches to de
fining heritage arising in the years after Setting the Scene in Australia
social significance today.
World War II emphasized architecture The notion that people have emotional
and aesthetics, monuments and sites, as and spiritual connections to their sur
outlined by the Venice Charter.
roundings is not new. As heritage
The emergence of the concept of so
emerged as a community concern in the
cial significance in the early 1990s and years after World War II and commu
its framing in Australian heritage prac nity organizations such as the National
tice did not happen instantly, nor with Trust were formed across Australia in
out debate.

the 1950s to advocate these concerns,

Understandings of social significance the approach they adopted was "objec
today are more nuanced than in the
tive." Heritage values were architectural
early years, and yet the early frame
and aesthetic, and heritage places were
works, including the Australian Heritage grand and old, representing what were
Commission's What is Social Value? A
seen as the highpoints of Australia's
Discussion Paper, remain relevant.1
history to date: many were the grand
Heritage today is a broader and more
city or country mansions of the gentry,
inclusive domain, strongly interdisci
dating from the nineteenth century and
plinary and increasingly attracting aca
reflecting a high level of architectural
demic attention and critical reflection.2
quality. Aboriginal heritage and its
Nevertheless, the incorporation of social
extraordinary cultural time depth were
significance into legislative and regula
absent.
tory frameworks and heritage-assess
For example in 1958, just two years
ment practice is still an ongoing process,
and social significance is still problem
atic for some heritage professionals and
decision-makers. The effort that needs

after its formation, the National Trust in

Victoria (Australia) listed Como House

in Melbourne on its new register of
historic buildings (Fig. 2). An "imposing
and essentially late Georgian style man

to go into understanding the relation

ships between people and place is seen
as a distraction from "real" conserva

one of the "finest monuments to the

tion, that of the fabric. Yet it is these

mid-Victorian era in Australia."4 The

relationships that are truly fragile and so

often at risk, especially from govern

community concerns that were the

founding essence of the National Trust
movement were not expressed in their
methodologies or their early listings, as
this example illustrates. Feelings of con

ment. Once gone, they may be hard to

recover.3

The threat of loss to a beloved place

is often a spur to action, requiring a
community to quickly mount a case and
articulate its social and other values. A
recent example is the threat to remove
Fig. 1. Shack at Wedge, Western Australia,
a informal settlements of shacks on
two
typical corrugated iron-clad structure, with a

the coast of Western Australia (Fig. 1);

"Save Wedge" campaign sticker on the front

this case study, which illustrates a well
door. Photograph by the author, 2011.

sion," Como House was described as

nection, both emotional and experien

tial, were not regarded as legitimate

heritage values, even though such feel

ings may have motivated action.

In Australia the 1973 Hope Com

mittee of Inquiry into the National
Estate promulgated many new ideas: a

39

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40 APT BULLETIN: JOURNAL OF PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGY / 45:2-3, 2014

Fig. 2. Como House, South Yarra, Melbourne, Australia. Photograph

Figby
3. Lake Condah Mission, Lake Condah, Victoria, Australia, showing
Mark Strizic, 1958, The Estate of the Artist.
mission houses overlooking the central common, 2011. The mission is a
place of great significance to Gunditjmara Aboriginal people, as the place
that has shaped their present day community. Photograph by the author.

"National Estate" that was the shared oped the first Charter for the Conserva
inheritance of Australians, for example,
tion of Places of Cultural Significance,
and included natural environments, better known as the Burra Charter, an

landscapes, Aboriginal heritage, and antipodean

a
response to the Venice Char
ter of 1966.8 The Burra Charter defined
whole range of historic place types, not
just the grand and monumental. The place broadly, taking it well beyond
National Estate aimed to represent what
what is conveyed by the "monuments
Australians valued and to encompassand sites" described by the Venice Char
what being Australian meant.
ter. It described cultural significance as
The Hope Committee recommended
comprising "aesthetic, historic, scientific
that the National Estate include compo
or social value for past, present or future
nents of the natural and cultural envi
generations" but did not define these
values further until 1988.9
ronment that were of "such aesthetic,

Australia ICOMOS defined social

significance for the first time in its 1988

guidelines to the Burra Charter as em

bracing "the qualities for which a place
has become a focus of spiritual, politi
cal, national or other cultural sentiment
to a majority or minority group."11 The
AHC's first definition for social value

included the word "associations," a

term that has become one of the defining
hallmarks of social-value assessment,

but proposed a narrower range of "sen

timents" than Australia ICOMOS:

historical, scientific, social, cultural,

"Places which have importance for cul

ecological or other special value to the
tural or social associations, or as a focus
What is Social Value?
nation, or any part of it, including a
of strong cultural or social sentiment for
region or locality that they should beThis section describes some of the keya community."12
moments in the development of social The exclusion of political and na
conserved, managed and presented for
significance concepts and methodolotional sentiments from the AHC's defini
the benefit of the community as a
gies. The development of national her
whole."5
tion reflected their concern that social
Coming 20 years or more after theitage criteria through the Australian value might be used to give recognition

formation of National Trusts in most Heritage Commission (AHC), the body

to a "transitory revival of emotion or an
created out of the recommendations of
Australian states, the Hope Committee
upsurge of political aspirations." A

a
expressed this broader agenda, notingthe Hope Committee of Inquiry, was further
concern was that social signifi
significant
step.
The
AHC
recognized
and responding to an "upwelling of
cance may fade with time, although
that "social significance rests with thetoday all heritage values would be rec
community concern that had been per
community and its values, and by its ognized as mutable. Further challenges
ceptible for two decades."6 This period
very nature does not lend itself to 'exincluded defining community, develop
was also a time of great social change,
with environmental concerns and thepert' analysis in the ways that the as ing a robust methodology, and establish
sessments of historic or architectural
traditional rights and interests of Abo
ing thresholds on the nature, strength,
riginal people in land beginning to bevalues have been approached." Few and duration of the bond between a

places
recognized. Community activism was
on had been nominated to the Aus
particular community and place. On the

the rise, too, with the growth in the tralian Register of the National Estateother hand, the AHC recognized some
number and strength of conservation(RNE) on social significance alone, and
of the key ideas that are now embedded
there were a number of unresolved
groups and resident action groups out
in practice: first, that the "strong senti
issues confronting those trying to assess
stripping population growth.7
ment" is felt by the present generation,

Australia ICOMOS was formed in

nominations.10

not a past nor a future community, and

1976 and within three years had devel

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SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE IN PRACTICE IN AUSTRALIA 41

Fig 4. Buchan General Store, Buchan, Victoria, Australia, a Fig

place
5. recognized
Shack, Wedge, Western Australia, 2011. The shacks at both the
locally as the focal point of the town's activities by the community
of this
Wedge and
Grey shack settlements are homemade, often from found
small, remote township, 2012. Photograph by Helen Martin.
materials. Photograph by the author.

second, that the sentiment or feeling

expert-based, with values assessedof
byrecognizing that community's very
should exist over a period of time.13
discipline experts. Community values
existence, just as denying it expresses
Funding for a number of exploratory
should therefore be assessed by experts
annihilation. Recognizing social value

social significance projects was proposed

who can interpret the results gained
may encourage greater value to be
by the AHC; one resulted in What
from
is
a study of community views

placed
on continuing traditions by that
Social Value f A Discussion Paper.14
opinion
The pollsters. Because places community
are
and the wider community,
Victorian National Trust took up concrete,
the
knowable, and objective,and
they
these traditional uses, or types of
idea, sought funding, and appointed
were
a suggested to be an entity about
uses, may be essential for the future
team that proposed a collaborative
which
ap people can form an opinion.17
management of places of social value.
proach, engaging with selected profes
These two perspectives remain present
Acknowledging that people deeply know
and
understand their environment is
sionals and heritage organizations
across
today,
the first having become the
most
influential in the social-value domain,
Australia to identify differing view
also profoundly empowering.
At Lake Condah, in southwestern
points. Two distinct discourses emerged.
and the second often the primary oppo
One was the concept that the essence
sitional
of argument to social value and
its
Victoria,
Australia, for example, the

Aboriginal traditional owners, Gunditj

discourse, place is external, knowable,
The final discussion paper, What
is
mara,
express a continuing connection
their traditional lands and also to the
exis
definable, bounded, and tangible.Social
The Value?, advocated for the to
tence of social significance. It wasmission
not
other was the idea of place as experi
site where so many of the com
neutral,
academic, or theoretical. munity's
It
enced through relationship place
and
elders grew up (Fig. 3). Life on
its meanings are therefore internal,
suggested
felt,
that the domain of heritage
the mission was constrained by the
and affective. Thus, "the idea ofpractice
connec had been captured by a desire
policies of the time, resulting in signifi
tion is always embedded in the notion
for rigor
of and rationality to gain political
cant impacts on aspects of culture such
place," because places are experiential,
and community acceptance, but this
as language. Nevertheless, it is highly
centers of meaning created through
approach neglected the foundational
significant and today is at the heart of
a heritage place is in its fabric. Inassessment.
this

process and relationships.15 A growing

"love of place" that triggered thecommunity
forma
identity.18
tion
of the National Trust movement
in
literature from the geography and
land
In seeking to understand social value we are
at the essence of ourselves our cul
the post-war years, the flowering looking
of
scape disciplines had explored similar
tural
environmental
awareness, and the
extraditions (past), our cultural identity
ideas over the previous decade: in
1974
(present) and our cultural aspirations (future)

Y. F. Tuan for example famously defined

pansion of community advocacy and
groups
how we create and give meaning to our
the 1970s.
environment.19
"place as space with meanings inmean

ings imbued through lived experience,"

What is Social Value? recognized
the of place, the spirit of place, and
A sense
and in 1976 Edward Relph defined
processes
the
of attributing meaningsthe
andembedding of meanings in place all
essence of place as the "concentration
making
of personal and collective identities
pointed to a particular kind of defini
through our relationships to placetion
as of social significance best suited to
our intentions, our purposes, attitudes
and experiences."16 These ideas res
cultural, social, and political processes.
heritage practice. Immediate experience
onated strongly with the ideas ofHeritage
social
offers a way that community
of place may trigger an emotional re
value being explored in Australia.
identity
The
can be recognized, articulated,
sponse but it may not lead to a relation
alternative discourse proposed that
and reinforced, and acknowledging
a with that place, the imbuing of the
ship
heritage assessments are necessarily
community's heritage is a powerful
way
place with meanings, or the linking of

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42 APT BULLETIN: JOURNAL OF PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGY / 45:2-3, 2014

Table 1. Social values: significance indicators and likely place characteristics

Significance Indicator

Specific Indicator

Likely Place Characteristics

Important to a community Landmarks

Named landscape or built features
as a landmark, marker or Signature places and icons: places used to symbolically
Entry or centre points of a locality
signature
represent a locality or community
Place used as community signature
Locational markers: places that mark where you are in a
landscape/locality and places that figure as landmarks in
daily life

Understanding history and environment ("our place in

the world"): special and unusual features that help
explain the local environment in all its diversity
Important as a reference
point in a community's
identity or sense of itself

Strong symbolic qualities which define a community

Mythological sites

Spiritual or traditional connection between past and

Places where continuing tradition/ceremony is practiced or

where tradition is passed on

present

Represents (embodies) important collective (community)

meaning/s

Association with events having a profound effect on a

community
Symbolically represents the past in the present (connects
the past and the present)

Places where the continuity/survival of a community is

celebrated

Places where a community's identity has be forged such as

disaster sites, foundation places, seminal events in a
community's life

Represents attitudes, beliefs, behaviors fundamental to

community identity

Strong or special community

attachment developed from
use and/or association

Essential community function leading to special attach Places providing essential community functions such as
ment
schools, halls, churches
Longevity of use or association including continuity
to
Community
meeting places (of all types)
the present

Places defended at times of threat (to the place) for reasons

of attachment not just function
Places with a long tradition and continuity of community
use or access

factors that could be employed

to
personal and group identity to place, all
forest heritage
values and related re
and opportunities across
of which have come to be recognized asdefine a community, geographic
gional economic
indicators of social significance. Such
social (e.g. ethnicity, shared
teninterests
regions. New tools were needed,
external
relationships are real but invisible to theand values), and internal or
especially
in relation to social and aes
outsider, requiring research processes torecognition as a community
thetic values, where community input
reveal what is often hard to articulate.
was essential.20 The scale of the work
available approaches, focusing on the
The definition that has come to be
required
was vast, with millions of
anthropological techniques
of "ask
adopted nationally across Australia usesing, listening and observing"
hectares
of
and forested landscapes investi
the word "association" to encompass
to varying
considering the potential gated
to use
com levels of detail across
these complex connections.
five Australian states during the period
munity-directed versus externally
1993 to 1999. This was the first time a
Another key question was whether
directed methods.
social value is inevitably transitory. It is
social-values-identification
approach
The discussion paper has been
re
true that the nature of social values as
had been attempted in Australia at the
markably influential, contributing to a

an expression of the connections be

regional level. Previous assessments, of
practice-based discourse and creating a
tween people and places means that
which there were relatively few, had
foundation for a range of approaches.
change is possible; these relationships
been of specific places.
But as the discussion paper acknowl
are active and alive. The disappearance
To enable social significance to be
edged, the real test would be when
of social value can relate to the loss or
assessed, three key methodological
the time came to apply this new
displacement of the community associ
elements were developed: a definition of
methodology.
ated with the place or to the loss of the
community; the community-heritage
place to the community (for example,
workshop model; and significance indi
Taking up Social Value in Practice
where a community no longer has access
cators, place characteristics, and thresh
to the place or where the place itself has
olds. Each
is briefly
examined below.
An opportunity to test out the
ideas
in
been destroyed). On the other hand, What is Social Value? came almost im
Defining community. There are many
social value can also grow over time. mediately. Growing conflict over forest
potential definitions of "community"
The discussion paper concluded that all
use, particularly timber harvesting, saw
and "cultural group"; the defining
values are to some extent transitory and
five state governments and the com
factors proposed included shared local
that this was not an issue that should monwealth government commit to a
ity, culture, ethnicity, belief, activity,
prevent the assessment of social value.
National Forest Policy Statement and a
and/or experience. The assessments
Finally, What is Social Valuef proposed
comprehensive regional-assessment
were to be evidence-based, preferably
a simple step-by-step approach to under
process that was designed to understand
through direct engagement with that
standing social value, defining:

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SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE IN PRACTICE IN AUSTRALIA 43

Table 2. Social value: relationship between significance indicators and threshold indicators
Significance

Threshold Indicators

Indicator

Threshold

Relative Strength
of Association

Length of Association

Relative Importance to the

Identified Community

Important

Above

Key marker or signature used by a

Longevity and continuity of recogni

Singular defining landmark,

to the

threshold

community as
a landmark,
marker or

regional or district community to

define itself and/or the locality
A well-known feature within a

tion from past to present

feature, or icon for a community

Long association, but some disconti

nuity

Well-known landmark, marker, or

signature

defined or local community

Longevity and continuity of recogni
tion from past to present

signature
Below
threshold

Key marker not widely known

beyond the bounds of a small com

Recent association

One of many landmarks; not

outstanding to the associated

munity
Little known feature within defined

community

community

Important as aAbove

reference

threshold

point in a
community's

Represents fundamental community

meanings widely recognized through

Longevity and continuity of associa

Singular or outstanding place

out a regional or district community

Long association, but some disconti

Seminal in shaping community

Represents important community

meanings widely recognized through
out a defined or local community

identity or
sense of itself

Below
threshold

Represents other meanings of

tion

nuity

Profound meanings
identity

Important
Recent association

Minor importance

lesser/minor importance or less

widely recognized
Little known feature within defined

One of many places providing

same connection to identity

community
Strong or

special com

Above

threshold

munity attach
ment devel
oped from use

Places representing fundamental

community attachments developed
from long use or association widely
recognized throughout a regional or
district community

and/or associ

Longevity and continuity of commu

nity use and/or access

Strong attachment shared across

community

Long association, but some disconti

nuity

Places representing important com

ation

munity attachments developed from

long use or association for a defined
or local community
Below
threshold

As above but not widely known

beyond the bounds of a small com
munity
Functional association without
demonstrated attachment

Recent association

Places representing attachment of

minor importance to community
Lack of any continuity to the present
One of many similar places with
equal and minor attachment

Little known or used

community; where only oral and docu

tional view of heritage as historic build
mentary sources were available, socialings and to give them the authority to
value was to be considered "potential define their heritage. Because fieldwork
social value" until community-based was to follow each workshop, it was
testing could occur.
vital that each place was well-described
and mapped. Finally, it was important
Community-heritage workshop
that each workshop consider which
model. The community-heritage work
places had shared community values.
shop methodology was developed and
trialled in East Gippsland in 1993, an Significance indicators, place charac

area that had witnessed heated anti

teristics, and thresholds. Having estab

logging protests. A community-heritage lished a method for collecting informa

workshop was designed as a gathering
tion on community-held values, the
of local people, invited through a wide
next step was to develop significance
variety of local organizations, with the
indicators to expand the social-signifi
target audience being people with long cance concept embedded in the Register
standing local connections and interests of the National Estate criterion. Three
broad indicators were identified:
in or knowledge of the heritage values
of forest areas.
important to a community as a land
The workshop design was critical;
mark, marker, or signature
heritage needed to be defined broadly so
important as a reference point in a
as to free participants from the tradi
community's identity of sense of itself

strong or special community attach

ment developed from use and/or
association.

Table 1 presents these indicators and

likely place characteristics.21 Threshold
indicators were developed to provide a
basis for decisions on the relative signifi
cance of a place. Table 2 shows the
relationship between significance indica
tors and three threshold indicators:

relative strength of association

length of association
relative importance to the identified
community.
In this table, a regional community
represented a larger area than a district
community, and a local community was
the community of a town or rural area.
Defined community meant a community
defined by its shared culture, beliefs,

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44 APT BULLETIN: JOURNAL OF PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGY / 45:2-3, 2014

most extensive application of a commu

what of communities defined by a
nity-based method applied to the identi
shared experience, or ethnicity, or a
fication of heritage places in Australia,
workplace? Heritage places may be
with social significance emerging as valued
a
by a number of associated com
value that could be confidently assessed.
munities or cultural groups, and re
The definitions, indicators, and thresh
search is needed to identify them and to
olds proved robust, and the willingness
consider how to examine the values they
of communities to engage with and hold.
trust researchers was apparent every Heritage-management plans, espe
where, despite the fact that many had
cially for public- and government-owned
witnessed places they cared about de
places, usually address social signifi
stroyed by the same government agen
cance more fully, as do well-funded and
cies.
in-depth heritage assessments of single
Importantly, this work shaped theplaces, for a government heritage regis
foundations of practice today, and the
ter, for example. While such heritage

Fig 6. Location of the Wedge and Grey shack

settlements on the Western Australian coast,
north of Perth. Map by Context Pty Ltd, 2014.

ethnicity, activity, experience, and/or

locality.

Reaching the threshold for the Regis

ter of the National Estate required that

the place was identified by a commu

nity which is in continued existence
today as a definable entity.

there was a demonstrated continuity

of use or association, meanings, or
symbolic importance over a period of
25 years or more (representing the
transition of values beyond one
generation).
there was evidence of the existence of
an attachment or association with a

place by a defined community, in

cluding evidence of use developing
into deeper attachment that goes

indicators and methods are now con

registers still rarely list a place solely or

tained in many Australian guidelines on

primarily for its social significance, more

best practice in heritage assessment.23

register listings recognize social signifi

cance as one of a suite of values.

The leadership provided by Australia's

national government and, in particular,
the Australian Heritage Commission
during this period cannot be overstated.
Equally, Australia ICOMOS, through
the revisions to the Burra Charter in

1999 and 2013, encompassed and pro

moted these wider appreciations of
heritage and the important roles for
communities in defining heritage val

ues.24 Australia ICOMOS also adopted

the Code on the Ethics of Co-existence
in Conserving Significant Places in 1998,
which seeks co-existence of values, in
cluding those in conflict, and offers
guidance on recognizing and respecting

the diversity of cultural values in a

pluralist society and the rights of cul

tural groups to identify and take some
custodial responsibility for places of
cultural significance to them.25
Heritage and our understanding of it
have been transformed since the 1970s.

The development of concepts and meth

ods designed to understand social signif
icance have been influential, opening the
What Did These Studies Achieve?
way for more expansive understanding
of heritage values and a more inclusive
In East Gippsland, the pilot region for
approach. No longer is heritage assess
this methodology, 293 places were
ment simply expert-driven. And yet, so
identified, adding significantly to what
cial significance is still the poor cousin,
had been previously recorded through
beyond utility value.

with project budgets still directed to

expert heritage studies. The breadth and
fabric and history-based assessments,
diversity of places and the depth of
while the community engagement that is
knowledge offered by participants was

fundamental to social-significance as
extraordinary, demonstrating the value
sessment is often left underfunded. As a
of people working together in a work
result, many heritage studies offer
shop-based process (Fig. 4). The results
generic assessments, assuming that all
recommended a program of commu
churches or schools or post offices will
nity-heritage workshops across all ten
be of social significance to the local
Australian regions.22 These ten compre
community, and this may be true. But
hensive regional assessments remain the

Methods for assessing social value

are continuing to develop, with group

processes (such as workshops, round

tables, and focus groups) and online
technologies (such as surveys, blogs, and
discussion forums) both widely applied,
as the following case study illustrates.

A Case Study
On the western edge of Australia, look
ing out over the Indian Ocean, are two
small shack settlements, a collection of
rudimentary buildings clinging to the
edge of this wild coast (Fig. 5). The first
shacks were built by commercial fisher
men in the 1950s as a base from which
to harvest these seas. Later discovered

by adventurous holiday-makers seeking

isolation and beauty, each shack settle
ment grew, progressively integrating
new people into each community.
Today the settlements of Wedge and
Grey are two of the largest shack settle
ments remaining in Western Australia,
with 450 of the state's 1,280 surviving
shacks. Both settlements are located to
the north of Perth, the state capital, and

are about 20 kilometres apart (Fig. 6).

Progressively, other shack settlements
have been removed across Western

Australia as local shires and the state

government have sought to consolidate
development into townships and thereby
gain the benefit of the associated prop
erty-based rate income. These shack
settlements are all on public land and
collectively represent an important
phase in the history of Western Aus
tralia."

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SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE IN PRACTICE IN AUSTRALIA 45

At the Wedge and Grey shack settle

ments, cultural heritage and government

policy collided. The Heritage Council

agreed that
Australia has a long history of informal/illegal

occupation of vacant Crown land and, from a

cultural heritage perspective, coastal shack
settlements represent a distinctive Australian
outdoor way of life characterised by simple, low
scale informal development where the design
and construction of the shacks demonstrate the
resourcefulness, versatility and creativity of
builders and their occupants.27

However, since 1989 the Western Aus

tralian government had sought to pre
vent the construction of new shacks and
to progressively remove existing shacks

on public land. This "squatter policy"

was resisted by many shack communi
ties, and while some local government
authorities have actively removed
shacks, others have taken a hands-off
approach, even including some shacks
in their local heritage inventory. At the

2010 Western Australian government

parliamentary inquiry into shack settle
ments, the Heritage Council declared
that despite its recognition of the poten
tial heritage value of shacks and shack
settlements, its hands were tied by the
squatter policy.
The National Trust, however, argued
that the government's squatter policy
had failed because it did not consider
cultural heritage values of existing settlements
and establish processes by which these values

can be considered alongside other important

issues, such as building compliance, demand for
services, environmental impact and other issues
of health, equity and access.28

The parliamentary inquiry accepted that

the shacks had a "social heritage" value

and determined that this "social heri

tage arises from spending time with

family and enjoying and sharing the

simple pleasures of nature-based vaca

tions at a particular site with family
and/or friends as well as the bonds and
friendships that may be formed with
others at the site at that time."29 But in

noting the "desire to experience cheap

affordable nature-based holidays," the

parliamentary inquiry conflated a prac

tical need a usefulness with deeper
connections.30

Fig 7. Inside a shack at Grey, Western Australia, 2011. Group discussions helped the researchers gain
an understanding of the meanings of these settlements. Photograph by Geoff Ashley.

"heritage considerations did not out

weigh equity considerations," the com
munities of Wedge and Grey joined with
the National Trust to seek heritage
recognition.31 The local Dandaragan
Shire advocated the removal of both
shack settlements. It had already re
moved more than 670 shacks elsewhere
and did not consider these shack settle
ments heritage places.32
Given these circumstances, the her

itage assessment needed to accord with

best-practice standards and to address
all aspects of the place and all values.
Under the Heritage of Western Australia
Act of 1990, cultural-heritage signifi
cance means the "value which that place
has in terms of its aesthetic, historic,
scientific, or social significance, for the

present community and future genera

tions."33 The Western Australia Heritage
Council's social-significance criterion is:
It is significant through association with a com
munity or cultural group in Western Australia
for social, cultural, educational or spiritual
reasons.

Given the unwillingness of the West

ern Australian government and its Heri

A particular emphasis was given to

understanding social significance in the
Wedge and Grey heritage assessment;
adopting an evidence-based approach;
examining documentary sources; and
engaging with both communities to
understand people's associations with
either place, the meanings that arose
from those associations, and the aspects
of the place, both tangible and intangi
ble, that embodied these meanings. Our
analysis examined the culture and tra
ditions of each community, looking for
markers that would indicate cultural

continuity, traditions, and feelings of

shared identity. Using an ethnographic

approach, we reviewed previous re

search; examined expressions of con
nection in poems, stories, and photo
graphs; held group discussions and
individual interviews; and conducted an
online survey (Fig. 7). There was a high
participation level, with 319 responses
to the survey and more than 100 people
participating in the group discussions
and interviews.

4.1 Importance as a place highly valued

by a
Considering
the nature of these set
community or cultural group for reasons of
tlements, we felt that research into back
social, cultural; religious, spiritual, aesthetic

tage Council to consider the heritage

values of the shack settlements and the

or educational associations.

imminent threat posed by the conclu

4.2 Importance in contributing to a commu

sions of the parliamentary inquiry that

nity's sense of place.34

country recreation localities would pro

vide a suitable lens through which to
explore the qualities of the people-place

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46 APT BULLETIN: JOURNAL OF PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGY / 45:2-3, 2014

It was a sad day when we had to pull our shacks

According to one of the com
relationships evident at Wedge andidentity.
Grey

down, I felt gutted...some people cried while

others expressed their sadness and anger by
with place may be fostered by being
Allat
my most vivid childhood memories are
of
burning
their shacks on the beach or blowing
Wedge. It's where my imagination ran wild
and up.
I
them
Having to demolish their own shacks
and engaging with a place and one's
had the freedom to follow it.. .When I get was
to tough for most people, destroying what they
companions, extended stays, ritualized
Wedge it feels like coming home. I know all
hadthe
created and felt strongly attached to.43
behaviors, family history in the out
landmarks so well and I have stories attached to
doors, childhood socialization, andeach landmark.41

munity members:
In these types of settings, relationships

In Conclusion
informal training and social learning.35
The nature of these relationships reflects
Earlier research on the poetics ofa the
desire for freedom from the con
The heritage assessment of the shack
vernacular built forms at Wedge and
straints of society while also beingsettlements
part
at Wedge and Grey demon
Grey had observed that each offered
of aa close community. People's stories
strates key elements of current social
refuge from modernity in which one
are about community and shared expe
significance practice. The assessment is
might find the organic, the primitive,
the
riences,
as this comment illustrates:
framed as a research process, combining
original, and the expressive.36 OurThere
re
are no social divisions. Everyone isdocumentary
equal.
and other sources with
search confirmed that each shack settle
The shack lifestyle comes first and foremost.
direct community questioning, and the
Shackies
ment offered a liminal space, outside
the socialize in Grey, but very rarely would
expressions of significance are examined
have had the chance to mix in their original
passage of normal time and conventions
suburbs.42
in relation to the relevant criterion. By
and apart from the everyday world and
using direct quotes, nuances of connec
Newcomers
to
each
settlement
spend
its pressures. This was a significant
tion
time learning the stories that shape theand meaning can be revealed, thus
element of the experience for everyone
building a richer understanding of the
identity of that community, and through
we interviewed.37
nature
of people-place relationships.
this process they build relationships
This experienced "apartness" created
The relationships evident between these
with
the
places
that
others
value
and
dynamic and engaging relationships be
"shackies" and the two shack settle
with those who value them and gain
the
tween people and each place: the remote
ments of Wedge and Grey illustrate the
right
to
tell
the
stories.
location, difficulties of access, the ex
complex and rich relationships that can
Rituals are important in both settle
treme weather, the lack of any facilities
and do exist between people and places.
ments,
or infrastructure in each settlement,
and but stronger in Wedge, the larger
The journey to understand social
ofwit!
the two settlements. Meeting at "the
the need for self-reliance, combined
significance
is not yet over. The chal
Point" at sunset is a longstanding ritual,
communality, were key factors in this
lenge
is no longer to develop a basic
explained
as
a
way
of
reconnecting
with
liminality. For example, travelling into
toolkit but rather to apply these tools to
community and the place. Here,
each settlement was not easy, sincethe
each
a wider range of types of heritage assess
people
gather
on
the
beach
at
sunset,
was a long way off a sealed road and
ments. And as the Wedge and Grey
with
drinks
in
hand,
children
and
dogs
could only be reached by rough tracks
example illustrates, the challenge has
playing
an
informal
game
of
beach
where punctured tires and broken axles
political
and together they reconnect
as a dimensions. Devaluing people
were all a part of the experience. cricket,
Mak
place
community finding out who has ar relationships is easy, especially
ing it through was a literal and symbolic
when the people have limited power to
rived,
rite of passage.38 Each trip represented
a planning shared activities, hearing
advocate for themselves. It is still com
the
news,
seeing
how
the
beach
had
transition from everyday life to shack
monly the case that social significance is
changed after a storm. Going to "the
life: to travel "the track" was to "rattle
not assessed early in an urban-renewal,
Point"
was
part
of
the
ritual
of
arriving,
out any problems back home."39
redevelopment, or even a conservation
connecting, and of inhabiting this
Inhabiting either settlement was of
also,
process, and sometimes not at all, put
in a practical sense, a challenge. Onplace
the and community.
ting
at risk what is at the very heart of
other hand, the idea that in this placeThe very process of inhabiting of
heritage.
living in a place or going there repeat
one could be fully alive and be one's
edly creates a refined sense of thatToday, more than 20 years after
authentic self was widespread. Inhabit
Whatof
is Social Value? was launched,
place and engages people in a process
ing this place was about engaging with
there are still significant barriers to its
identity
formation
or
reformulation.
nature and with oneself, as evidenced b)
acceptance across all facets of heritage
These processes appear not to be intel
one respondent:
practice. Values unrecognized are un
lectual or deliberate; rather, they are
The shack is the single place that has remained
likely
to survive, and even the best
shaped by the experiential and emo
constant throughout my life from my earliest
management can be a de
memories. It is the one place in the world that
I
tional
aspects of our being and thatintentioned
is
have found thus far where I feel truly at home,
where they enduringly reside. Suchstructive force. On the other hand, so
free to be myself and away from the stress and
places
pressure of "normal" life.40

cial significance has become a rich field

are embedded, remembered,
endeavor, and each year attracts
yearned for, and grieved for when of
gone.
Inhabiting is one kind of relationship
strong
interest, especially from younger
Some people recounted the experience of
with place. It implies depth and conti
heritage
losing their shack when the shack settle professionals, meaning that the
nuity in the relationship. For many
of
ments
further north were removed: future for social significance looks
those we interviewed their experiences
bright!
at Wedge or Grey had shaped their

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SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE IN PRACTICE IN AUSTRALIA 47

CHRIS JOHNSTON, Director of Context Pty

Ltd, and Honorary Research Fellow at Deakin
University, seeks to understand people's percep
tions of place and what it means in their lives.
Through her project work, research, and writ
ing she has examined the social and aesthetic
significance of many Australian places and
community settings.

12. Australian Heritage Commission, Criteria

27. Western Australia Legislative Council
Standing
Committee on Environment and
and Thresholds for the Register of the
National
Estate (Canberra: AHC, 1988).
Public Affairs, Shack Sites in Western Australia,
Report 21 (Perth: Western Australia Legislative

13. AHC, "Social Significance Assessment," 2.

Council, April 2011), 56.

14. Johnston.

15. Peter Downton, "Response to the Frame

work Paper," Oct. 1, 1989, 1.
16. Y. F. Tuan, "Rootedness versus Sense of

Notes

1. Chris Johnston, What is Social Value? A

Place," Landscape 24, no. 1 (1974): 3-8.

Edward Relph, Place and Placelessness (Lon
don: Pion, 1976).

Discussion Paper (Canberra: Australian Her 17. Miles Lewis, "Response to the Framework
itage Commission, 1992). This paper is avail Paper," Sept. 16, 1989, 6-7.

able at http://contextpl.com.au/static/files/

assets/0b97ba9d/What_is_Social_Value_web

.pdf.

2. For example, through the emerging area of

critical-heritage studies as represented by the
Association of Critical Heritage Studies.

3. Relationships that have been disrupted may

be able to be revived by modifying the circum
stances: for example, by allowing access again,
reintroducing an activity or use, through

research, and community discussion. The Burra

Charter: The Australia ICOMOS Charter for
Places of Cultural Significance (Melbourne:
Australia ICOMOS, 2013) reflects this possibil
ity in Article 24.1.

4. National Trust of Australia (Victoria) Her

itage Register, http://www.nationaltrust.org.au/
vic/heritage-register.

5. Hope Committee of Inquiry, Report of the

National Estate: Report of the Committee of
Inquiry into the National Estate (Canberra:
Australian Government Publishing Service,

1974), Recommendation 2.7, 334.

6. Ibid., Recommendation 1.4, 20.

7. Ibid., Recommendations 1.5-1.6, 20.

8. Australia ICOMOS, The Australia ICOMOS

Guidelines for the Conservation of Places of
Cultural Significance (Melbourne: Australia

ICOMOS, 1979).

9. Australia ICOMOS, Guidelines to the Burra

Charter: Cultural Significance (Melbourne:

18. Context Pty Ltd, Lake Condah Heritage

Management Plan and Strategy (Victoria:
Aboriginal Affairs Victoria, 1993).
19. Randolph Hester, "A Womb with a View:
How Spatial Nostalgia Affects the Designer,"
Landscape Architecture (Sept. 1979): 475-481.
20. "Aesthetic value" was defined for the

Register of the National Estate as "importance

in exhibiting particular aesthetic characteristics
valued by a community or cultural group."
21. Chris Johnston, "Technical Assessment of
Social Value: Central Highlands," report to the
Australian Heritage Commission by Context
Pty Ltd, 1994.

22. Chris Johnston and Nigel Lewis, "East

Gippsland Heritage Workshops: Report on
Project," report to the Australian Heritage
Commission by Context Pty Ltd and Nigel
Lewis Richard Aitken Pty Ltd, June 1993, 40,

42-44.

23. For example, Queensland Heritage Coun

24. The Australia ICOMOS Charter for Places

25. Australia ICOMOS, Code on the Ethics of

Co-existence in Conserving Significant Places

2.5.

30. Ibid., 59.

31. Ibid., 17.
32. Godden Mackay Logan with Context Pty
Ltd, Wedge and Grey Shack Settlements: Cul
tural Heritage Assessment (Perth: National
Trust of Australia, 2012), 2.
33. Heritage of Western Australia Act, 1990,
Part 1, Section 3, 3.

34. Western Australia Heritage Council, Regis

ter of Heritage Places Information Paper
(Perth: HCWA, 1996), 4.
35. J. J. Brooks, G. N. Wallace, and D. R.
Williams, "Place as Relationship Partner: An
Alternative Metaphor for Understanding the
Quality of Visitor Experience in a Backcountry
Setting," Leisure Sciences 28 (2006): 331-349.
Christopher J. Wynveen, Gerard T. Kyle, and
Stephen G. Sutton, "Place Meanings Ascribed
to Marine Settings: The Case of the Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park," Leisure Sciences 32

(2010): 272.

36. R. Tresidder, "Sacred Spaces," in Leisure

Tourism Geographies, ed. D. Crouch (London:
Routledge, 1999), 137-145. Reena Tiwari,
"Embedded Poetics and Surrounding Politics of
a Coastal Squatter Settlement," Journal of
Landscape Architecture 4, no. 1 (2009): 66.

37. Godden Mackay Logan, 63.

Ibid., 67.
Ibid., 60.
Ibid., 65.
Ibid., 66.
Ibid., 71.

43. Ibid., 68.

of Cultural Significance, 1999, 2013.

10. Australian Heritage Commission, "Social

Significance Assessment: Internal Report (AHC
88/87)," prepared for AHC 67th meeting, July
4, 1988 (Canberra: AHC, 1988), 1.
Burra Charter: Cultural Significance, Article

29. Ibid., 58.

cil, Using the Criteria: A Methodology (Bris

bane: Queensland Environmental Protection 38.
Agency, 2006). Heritage Council of Victoria, 39.
Assessing the Cultural Heritage Significance of
Places and Objects for Possible State Heritage40.
Listing: The Victorian Heritage Register Crite41.
ria and Threshold Guidelines (Melbourne:
42.
Heritage Council of Victoria, 2012).

Australia ICOMOS, 1988).

11. Australia ICOMOS, Guidelines to the

28. Ibid., 55-56.

(Melbourne: Australia ICOMOS, 1998).

I Association of Preservation Technol

26. There are many other examples of this type

of shack settlement in other Australian states.

ogy International, an interdisciplinary

International examples include "batches" in

New Zealand and the dune shacks of Cape
Cod, Massachusetts.

BM The |APT
organization
Bulletin
dedicated to the is
prac published by the
international tjcaj application of the principles and
techniques necessary for the care and wise use of
the built environment. A subscription to the
Bulletin and free online access to past articles are
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www.apti.org.

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