Dear Sir/Madam,
 
Would you please include the attached letter as a submission to your enquiry on Heritage listing.  
 
We have tried very hard to have the house removed from the heritage listing because it reduces the value of the property by at least $500,000.  However we have not been successful and my mother stands to lose a great deal of money with no compensation.
 
Regards
 
Diana Anderson

Black Rock. 3193.
August 29th, 2005.
Mr. Rob Hulls.
Minister for Planning
55 St. Andrews Place,
East Melbourne. 3002.

Dear Mr Hulls,

I am writing to you about my mother’s property that has been put on the Bayside Heritage listing by Sandringham Council.

My Mother and Father worked very hard to buy the land and build the property which was completed in the early 50’s.  Dad has since died and Mum lives there alone.

She has urged me since 1998 to fight what she sees as the Council’s acquisition of her property.

We have been to many Council meetings where I have spoken on her behalf over the years.  Initially it was put on the Heritage register, then it was removed because we contested it.

However, the Bayside Ratepayers Association objected to this and the house was placed back on the Heritage register.

The panel did not come down to see the house, a Heritage representative looked at it briefly from the outside, and did not even bother to see how impractical it is for today’s living standards and conditions.

The house sits on a double block in Black Rock, but the house itself is quite run down.
My Mum is elderly now, and has been very distressed for quite some time, about the way that the local Council, has unfairly acquired her property without any compensation.

This is completely unjust and undemocratic.

We had some independent Real Estate Agents value the property with and without the Heritage listing on it, and they estimate that Mum will lose approximately $500,000 when she sells it, because of the heritage listing.

She is most upset, as she planned to leave the house to be shared amongst her numerous grandchildren.

She has urged me to write on you on her behalf, to see if you are prepared to remove her home from the Heritage list, and allow her and her property to be treated fairly and democratically like other Bayside property owners.

We look forward to your considered reply.
Yours Sincerely,
Diana Anderson