By Jude Paul, Glebe Society Bulletin, December 2020
A Glebe house in 2020 – in need of a lick of (heritage-appropriate) paint (source: https://www.realestate.com.au/)

The City of Sydney’s guidelines for repainting houses in a heritage conservation area can be found at: https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/heritage-guidelines-studies/heritage-conservation-areas-repainting-guidelines

For Glebe/Forest Lodge residents, no prior approval for repainting is required unless your property is a heritage-listed item.

Council’s guidelines highlight the following priorities:

  • Only paint surfaces intended for painting. These generally exclude face brick work, tiles and stone
  • You can paint timber joinery and metalwork
  • Consider carefully removing paint where paint was not the original finish, especially on face brick work
  • Don’t remove any original details, such as decorative plaster work, during repainting.

The guide also includes advice about colour schemes and consideration of painting in pairs/groups.