Help by sending an email to Heritage Victoria

Copy the following text, then click on the following email address - jim.gardner@dpcd.vic.gov.au - paste the text in, add your name and contact details, and send it off.

The Executive Director,
Heritage Victoria,
G.P.O. Box 2392,
MELBOURNE, Victoria 3001

Dear Mr Gard'ner,

Re: Your reference: Permit Application P15311 HER/2000/00017 VHR2200, Hermes 6137

I wish to register my concern over permit application P15311, which is currently before you.

The Westerfield property has great cultural significance, and the bushland that is the subject of the above Permit Application is an integral part of it’s cultural value.

Westerfield, with its heritage link to Sir Russell Grimwade, one of Victoria's leading philanthropists, industrialists and environmentalists, needs to be preserved in its entirety. Sir Russell Grimwade, who was passionate and knowledgeable about Australian plants and the environment, preserved the Westerfield bushland intentionally for posterity.

The subsequent and current owners of the property have continued Sir Russell Grimwade’s Stewardship.

Heritage Victoria listed the property on 9 April 2009. The listing acknowledges that the property is of great significance to the cultural heritage of the State of Victoria, and the bushland is acknowledged as an integral component of Westerfield’s heritage value. Westerfield was also classified by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria), on 12 December 1990.

The Westerfield bushland is a high quality pre-European remnant with old-growth eucalyptus trees, heath understorey and rare orchids, lilies and wildflowers in season. Westerfield provides habitat for 143 indigenous species of plants and 83 native species of fauna, including birds, Sugar Gliders and other marsupials, Echidnas, native rodents and bats. If this irreplaceable bushland is destroyed, it will not only greatly diminish the cultural integrity of Westerfield, but compromise the ecological integrity of the region.

If the Westerfield dam is destroyed, the Great Egret, Royal Spoonbill and Grebes will lose their habitat along with other wetland birds, frogs & native fish. But the loss of water from the dam may also mean the loss of the viability of the rest of this culturally significant property.

Sir Russell Grimwade had a vision and a passion for Westerfield, and that vision and passion has been diligently preserved and maintained in its entirety and for future generations.

The Victorian Government and Heritage Victoria have the legislative responsibility under the Heritage Act to conserve and enhance heritage places. They must therefore continue to protect the whole of the Westerfield property for the future generations.

Please make sure Victoria retains this unique property in its entirety.

Yours faithfully

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