OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE AND CURTILAGE HERITAGE MANAGEMENT PLAN 2008–2013

J. Condition of Values
Part D – Appendices
Old Parliament House and Curtilage Heritage Management Plan 2008–2013
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• condition and integrity of fabric that reflects the values; and
• integrity of uses and associations related to values.
In the first case, if the fabric is of poor condition or low integrity, the values might be reduced, lost or put at risk.
In the second case, values might be reduced, lost or put at risk if significant associations are lost or uses changed.
The next step in developing the methodology is to consider the values and their related attributes for both National
Heritage listing and Commonwealth Heritage listing, and how these are embodied as either fabric, use or
association.
The next task is to assess the condition and integrity of the attributes, as the embodiment of and indicators
for the values.
The condition and integrity of fabric is a relatively straightforward issue as this is a matter commonly addressed
within the heritage industry over the years as part of conservation management planning.
The integrity of a significant use may be assessed in terms of whether the use is:
• retained/not retained
• stable/declining/increasing relative to level of use at significant periods; and
• sufficient to sustain the value.
Associations may be contemporary or historic. Where an association is contemporary, that is with a
living group or person, the integrity of a significant association may be assessed in terms of:
• the condition and integrity of the fabric that is the focus of the association
• whether the association is stable/fostered/impeded; and
• if the individual or group is healthy/not healthy.
Where the association is an historic one, the integrity of a significant association may be assessed in terms of:
• the condition and integrity of the fabric that is the focus of the association; and
• if the story of the association is recalled by general knowledge and/or interpretation. 2
The assessment of OPH values is undertaken in the following chapter employing this methodology.
A possible issue to be resolved is the affect of aggregating component assessments into an overall assessment
for a particular value or for all the values. The problem here is that specific condition issues may get lost in a
process of averaging assessments across one value or all values. For example, OPH might be assessed as being
of fair-good condition overall but this disguises the fact that a few elements may be in quite poor condition.
2 There is some uncertainty about using interpretation in the methodology. Partly because the question may be asked why it would not feature in other/all aspects. For example, design values are not necessarily self evident in the fabric, so why
would interpretation not be assessed in this case also?
On the other hand, the situation with historic associations may be different. Whereas with a contemporary association there will be a group who know the association and recognise it in the place, in historic associations that knowledge cannot
be assumed. The question is, if the historic association is not ‘told’ does it exist? There may be a similarity with songlines. In the case of historic associations is the transmission of the value part of its integrity? And if transmission is achieved
only through telling the story, should the telling be part of the integrity assessment? Accepting this line of argument, it may also be important to consider the difference between oral cultures and those which have a documentary tradition.