What is this report for?

When you make adjustments to heritage buildings, you need to assess the impact of how the proposed new building works or installations are likely to affect the heritage significance of the building or place. The heritage impact statement (SHI) is a document that consent authorities require from applicants or proponents in relation to changes that are intended for such buildings.

What is in this report?

A Statement of Heritage Impact (SHI) contains five sections as follows;

1. A search of the prevailing heritage listings of the subject building whether it is a heritage listed building or a building in a conservation area.
2. A brief history of the building; when it was constructed; who lived or worked there or had an association with it; what took place in the building and how the building has changed over time since the date of its original construction. Often, secondary resources are retrieved including early subdivision maps, DA application plans and information sourced from consent authorities under a GIPA application. These plans and maps assist the researcher in acquiring a rounded understanding of the building’s background history sufficiently to guide the changes that may or may not be allowed to be made to such buildings or places.
3. A significance assessment of the building or place based on the information acquired from Items 1 and 2 above. In other words, what is the relative proportion of the historic, associational, aesthetic, technical and social significance contained in the subject building? Further, is such significance exceptional, high, moderate, little or intrusive? And is such significance rare or representative?
4. A description of the proposed changes intended as part of the application that gets lodged with the consent authorities.
5. An assessment of heritage impacts likely to be generated by the intended works. Such an assessment would consider impacts upon, setting, curtilage, predominant building type, height, bulk, scale, morphology, materiality, colours and setbacks.
6. Recommendations and conclusion

Why do I need this report?

It assists consent authorities in measuring the impact of the proposed works and intended changes to the heritage fabric to make an assessment of whether or not the proposal is appropriate, compatible or capable of protecting the heritage values and significance contained within the building and its presentation to the street, area or place.

When do I need this report?

You will need a SHI when you are lodging your DA or any other type of application involving a heritage-listed building or a building in a designated conservation area to the consent authority required to undertake such an assessment pursuant to an approval or a refusal from such authority.