Thank you to everyone that has welcomed me to the island and taken the time to share your tremendous knowledge about the Kingston and Arthur’s Vale Historic Area (KAVHA) and Norfolk Island’s history, as well as your ideas for the area’s future. I’m incredibly honoured to be working at such a truly unique heritage site, and look forward to working with the community to conserve and enhance KAVHA for future generations.
With this update, I am continuing the practice of providing information directly to you on the activities and plans for KAVHA. These updates were started at the request of the KAVHA Advisory Committee, which provides both expert heritage and local advice to guide management of the site.
I would particularly like to thank the community members that have generously given their time and contributed their views to consultations on the draft Cultural Landscape Management Plan (CLMP) and Archaeological Zoning and Management Plan. These projects will be finalised in the coming months.
There are several other projects taking shape at KAVHA that I wanted to share with the community.
Interpretation Plan
A draft Interpretation Plan has been developed to ensure that a broad range of stories are interpreted and presented at KAVHA to attract and engage visitors to discover Norfolk Island’s outstanding heritage. These stories will cover the many layers of KAVHA’s history, including Polynesian, convict and Pitcairn.
Following an initial visit to the island last year, the team from Convergence Design will return to present their ideas and receive community feedback during the week commencing 8 April 2019.
Convergence Design will present the draft plan to interested community members at two open sessions as follows:
| Session 1 | Session 2 |
|---|---|
| Date: Wednesday 10 April 2019 | Date: Wednesday 10 April 2019 |
| Time: 1.30pm – 3.00pm | Time: 5.30pm – 7.00pm |
| Location: Paradise Hotel | Location: Paradise Hotel |
To register for any of the sessions, please contact the Office of the Administrator on 23115 or at office.administrator@infrastructure.gov.au by 5 April 2019.
A copy of the draft Interpretation Plan and summary of proposed interpretation activities will be available early next week at kavha.gov.au/projects.
Community Advisory Group
The KAVHA Community Advisory Group will have their second meeting next Tuesday to provide their views on several projects at KAVHA including the draft CLMP and proposed works to address a range of structural hazards identified at KAVHA.
Shingling of Quality Row Duplex Roof
The replacement of the roof at No. 2/3 Quality Row has commenced. The corrugated iron roof is being replaced with traditional split wooden shingles, each one made by hand on island from locally grown timber. Encouraging our craft traditions at KAVHA is something we will be focusing on over the coming year.
At the moment it is not possible for members of the public to enter the work site for safety reasons. The team will soon begin work on the front of the building affording an excellent view from Quality Row. I encourage community members and visitors to the island to take this opportunity to pop down and have a look and learn more about this traditional building practice over the coming weeks.
Crankmill Road
I’m sure many locals driving past the Crankmill have noticed the road levelling that was undertaken immediately prior to the heavy rain on Island along the line of the existing roadway. The resurfacing ensures a somewhat smoother drive for locals and visitors.
Fire Safety
Insuring the safety of workers and visitors to KAVHA is a high priority. We recently replaced smoke detectors and fire alarms in a number of buildings across the site, and further upgrades to fire detection systems are planned.
A specialist engineering firm has also undertaken a review of fire egress from KAVHA’s multi storey buildings and they will be advising on options to enable safe evacuation that are consistent with the heritage values of these buildings.
Development Control Plan
AECOM Australia is preparing a draft Development Control Plan (DCP) for KAVHA to address landholders’ and other stakeholders’ calls for clearer guidance around development and planning approval processes at KAVHA.
The DCP will support the Norfolk Island Plan (2002) by providing greater detail for specific use and development, and design and planning requirements for KAVHA. This will help clarify allowable development and activities at KAVHA and facilitate future activities by landholders, leaseholders, the community and site managers.
AECOM will be on island next week for fieldwork and targeted consultation.
If you would like to find out more about any of these projects, please contact me on +6723 23115 or at martin.purslow@infrastructure.gov.au.
Martin Purslow
Heritage Manager
March 2019