Draft Report takes heritage in a sensible direction in seeking greater Commonwealth funds for heritage, in looking to more equitable distribution and in trying to find common ground between owners and listing bodies. However the report really needed to more completely explore existing incentive schemes and the current opportunities for Conservation agreements.
8.	There is a final aspect of the report on which I would seek to comment. The report acknowledges the significance of area conservation and its generally positive impact on property values. This leads to a further possibility not explored here. If all heritage listed structures were to have broad supportive zones around them and to be the core of a zone rather than standing as an isolated site then many of the problems suggested in this Report would simply vanish. In attempting to enmesh heritage with wider planning processes [an activity in which a lot of progress has already been made], zone and precinct conservation makes a good starting point. For it is simply not the case as the report claims that planning controls, heritage apart, are to prevent negative impact. Current planning practices seek to improve rather than simply prevent loss of amenity. Planners have long been aware of the place of heritage in local amenity value. One answer to the perceived difficulties identified in the report may lie in simply creating Conservation Zones for at least all of the urban heritage sites placed on local, state and federal lists.