Heritage Subcommittee Annual Report 2026

By members of the Heritage Subcommittee, from Bulletin 6/2026 (August)

Subcommittee membership

The Subcommittee meets on the first Monday of the month from 7pm–9pm. Our primary interests are reviewing the impact of local and State heritage controls on Glebe and Forest Lodge, researching and documenting the history of our suburb and informing and supporting the community in the appreciation of our history and heritage. Any Glebe Society (TGS) member who shares these interests is welcome to join us.

Our 2026 members are: Ted McKeown (co-chair), Jude Paul (co-chair), Lyn Collingwood, Rodney Hammett, Caroline Lipovsky, Lydia Bushell, Allan Hogan, Wayne Carveth, Margaret Sankey, Lucas Kallinosis and Margaret Cody.

Development Applications (DAs)

Each week, Rodney checks the City of Sydney website for DAs in Glebe and Forest Lodge and circulates a summary to Subcommittee members. His summary identifies any specific heritage issues which might warrant further discussion and potential action.

In the past year there have been 65 DAs for Glebe and Forest Lodge, compared to 107 in the previous year.

In addition, the Forest Lodge Integrated Seniors Living project in Junction Street, Forest Lodge, is being assessed through the State Significant Development (SSD) pathway which bypasses the City of Sydney approval process.

Meanwhile the redevelopment of the Bidura site on Glebe Point Road has stalled once again. The latest proposal takes advantage of the 30% affordable housing bonus under the Housing SEPP 2021 and now includes two towers of 10 and 11 storeys with a total of 78 apartments including 14 affordable apartments and eight attached houses. The proposal has been elevated to the SSD pathway.

Members are encouraged to write their own submission to Council if they have any concerns about a proposed development. A response by TGS only carries the same weight (one) as individual responses in the count of the total number of objections.

In January 2026 the City of Sydney issued revisions to Section 3.9 (Heritage) of the Development Control Plan 2012 (DCP 2012) and changed the boundary of Hereford and Forest Lodge Conservation Area (C33). TGS asked Brian Fuller and Rodney Hammett to review these proposed changes back in 2025. A summary of the Society’s submission can be found in Bulletin 01/2026.

Community engagement

Enquiries from the public come to the Heritage Subcommittee via the email addresses heritage@ glebesocietyorg.au and history@glebesociety.org.au, via Contact Us on the website and Comments left on history or heritage-related posts on the website. In the main, Rodney and Lyn deal with these enquiries. Most are from people researching their family histories.

In the past year, we have been asked about 40 questions. Some are not too difficult. An ancestor assumed to have been involved in a fire at Kew Cottage had in fact died four years prior to the event. Publishers Wilde and Woolley have long since vacated 16 Darghan Street. An enquirer wanting information about the Sussex Street Ragged School in 1876 was directed to annual reports held by the State Library of NSW. City of Sydney Archives was suggested to someone wanting photos of Glebe in the 1960s. An enquirer trying

to track down a teacher who had lived in Glebe and then worked in New Guinea was referred to a document held by the National Archives of Australia. We recommended the National Library of Australia to an enquirer about a repository for Una Moncrieff’s theatrical material. We had already been asked for the address of the parsonage of the Methodist Church in St Johns Road – 81 Arundel Street. And we already knew about Thrift’s cottages – one of Robert Thrift’s modest dwellings on Glebe Point Road that were used as Glebe Council’s first chambers between 1859–1880 before they moved to the newly built Glebe Town Hall.

Several enquiries related to articles published in our Bulletin on: the Peninton family; J Meloy Ltd carriers; journalist Brian Dewhurst; York brothers butchers; tanner and publican John Walton; politician Michael Chapman; Nurse Farrell who ran a private hospital in Wigram Road; and relatives of George Dann, a builder in Forest Lodge.

In response to a request from the British Library asking about the copyright status of Dora Birtles, we sent information about her family and advised checking with the Australian Copyright Council. Another overseas query came from the editor of the Kenmare Chronicle looking for descendants of Florence O’Sullivan, a male (sic) Irish immigrant who died in South Australia in 1872. The Dean Family enquired about 148 Bridge Road where Chiswell Furniture was established in 1920. An Englishman researching two friends who lived in Glebe lodgings prior to their enlisting in the First World War was sent their military records held by NAA. A sheriff in the USA hoped someone in Glebe might be able to help with a ‘Jane Doe’ cold case dating back to the 1980s.

Contributions to the Bulletin

One of the pleasures of living in Glebe is exploring its interesting and varied history. A regular item in the Bulletin is the mystery photo which aims to spark interest in and recollections of places and events in Glebe and Forest Lodge. Wayne took over this segment from Lyn during the year and has a wealth of material to work with.

Lyn’s continuing series, Who lived/worked in your street?, included articles about Fascination House, the Mackie Building, Children’s Hospital matron Frances Holden, the dry cleaners at 4 John Street, solicitor and landowner William Redman, cricket barracker ‘Yabba’, UNSW bursar J.O.A. Bourke, Kerribree’s Joseph Leeds, Glenwood’s John Wood and The Biggin’s Professor Anderson Stuart. (The last story was prompted by a photo of Stuart’s house posted to TGS from Albury NSW.)

Margaret Cody wrote about her experience walking the Stations of the Cross in Glebe on Good Friday.

Rodney wrote about the families who lived at 1 and 3 Avon Street between 1885 and 1985, including a Glebe Inspector of Nuisances and master mariners who sailed all over the world; also of the subdivision and houses built by George Dann in Forest Lodge in the late 1880s.

Blue Plaques awarded

We nominated cartoonist Les Tanner who grew up in Glebe to be considered for a commemorative NSW Blue Plaque. His plaque has been installed at the National Cartoon Gallery in Coffs Harbour. Bessie Guthrie was another successful nominee. Her plaque is due to be installed at 97 Derwent Street.

Heritage maintenance

There are a number of outstanding heritage issues that continue to rankle:

The ‘repair’ to the retaining wall at Forest Lodge Primary School

The unsightly engineering-driven ‘repair’ was undertaken in 2014. We thought we might have a solution as Council accepted responsibility for the full restoration of the retaining wall on the opposite side of Ross Street, built at the same time as the school retaining wall, for the tram line to Harold Park. It turns out that the wall on the opposite side was built partly, if not wholly, on the Council-owned footpath on Ross Street. However, Council believes the school wall is built wholly on land owned by the NSW Department of Education. Very difficult to get a response from the Department of Education, but Council is following this up.

The light rail viaduct at Wentworth Park

This magnificent structure which is listed on the State Heritage Register is in considerable disrepair. As well as responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the light rail service and tracks, maintenance of the viaduct itself is also the responsibility of Transdev Sydney Light Rail. The ‘comprehensive maintenance program’ promised by Transdev in 2019 has yet to materialise. Our local MP Kobi Shetty is following this up on our behalf but to date has had no response from the Minister responsible.

Bidura

As mentioned earlier, the latest proposal for this development now sits with the Independent Planning Commission as a State Significant Development. A start has been made to the restoration of the original Blacket house and ballroom, but the builders are now off-site and fears remain for the ongoing vandalism of these buildings.

Glebe Island Bridge

Listed on the NSW State Heritage Register and wholly owned by the NSW Government, this bridge faces demolition by neglect. Despite recent press speculation that the bridge may be preserved as a static ‘museum piece’ with an elevated pedestrian and cycleway bridge over the top, there has been no confirmation or otherwise from the State Government nor the Heritage Council.

Heritage resources

In 2021 Council recognised it should be more proactive in assisting owners and their advisers to restore properties in Heritage Conservation Areas, such as in Glebe and Forest Lodge. However, very little happened until the middle of last year when a meeting was arranged between the Council, the Glebe Society and the Paddington Society and a degree of urgency was added.

Council has now embarked on a comprehensive review of the heritage aspects of its website, taking into account what has been done by other Councils, notably Woollahra, Waverley, Parramatta and Ku-ring-gai. We have seen drafts of the proposed webpages that contain a number of very helpful links. It is expected that the new webpages will go live in a couple of months.

Council’s decision in 2021 also included the production of educational resources. In conjunction with the Paddington Society, we will continue to follow this up.

Website review

A small team of Heritage Subcommittee members (Allan, Ted, Lyn and Rodney) has been working closely with Sarah Fogg and Tarny Burton to review the format, content and accessibility of the History and the Heritage sections of our website. This project aims to make it easier for members and visitors to navigate the site.

NSW Heritage Strategy

Earlier this year the State Government released the NSW Heritage Strategy for the next five years. The key objectives of this strategy are to tell the stories of NSW, simplify the heritage systems and to help owners and custodians.

One of the indicators of the success of the objective ‘to help owners and custodians’ is ‘NSW heritage is better protected’. Let’s hope this will be the case for Glebe Island Bridge and the Wentworth Park viaduct!