A holistic view of sustainable development - lessons from the coastal town of Queenscliff in Victoria, Australia

Abstract eng:
Palmer et al. (1997) identified four governing principles underlying sustainable development from the sustainability literature. These were: futurity, environment, equity and participation. How do these principles relate to heritage and its conservation? This paper critically considers how the above framework can be used to assess the changes and challenges occurring in the historic town of Queenscliff in southern Victoria, Australia. The town was initially a settlement site for strategic reasons and soon became a tourist destination for the early settlers in Melbourne, the state’s capital city. In their urban conservation study of the town, Allom et al. (1994) identified over 90 historic and/or heritage buildings, ranging from grand hotels to simple settler cottages. These historic buildings, together with the town’s unique topographical and environmental surroundings, have drawn growing numbers of tourists to the town, which has become increasingly reliant on this sector for its economic survival. Pressure on the heritage values of the town has increased significantly over the last twenty years from development proposals. In this paper, specific examples are used to illustrate how a failure to see sustainable development in a holistic way has compromised the town’s long term future.

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