State Heritage property owners able to tap into $500,000 of grants

Owners of State Heritage-listed properties will be able to get up to $500,000 to help them undertake preservation and restoration works under a new grants program starting on Monday.

Environment and Water Minister David Speirs says the grants will help retain South Australia’s heritage (AAP/Emma Brasier)

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Owners of State Heritage-listed properties will be able to get $500,000 in grants to help them undertake preservation and restoration works.

On Monday, the State Government’s new SA Heritage Grants Program will open — a 2018 election commitment — in an attempt to rejuvenate South Australia’s built heritage after funding cuts of $600,000 by the former Labor government.

The Advertiser and Messenger last month ran a “heritage week”, focusing on the state of heritage listed buildings — and the regulations and systems that are putting them at risk.

As part of the special series, it emerged that councils had increased funding to owners of heritage properties and expanded their support to state heritage-listed buildings in response to the budget cuts.

However the state’s Property Council, which represents commercial property owners, said current grants remained “very modest”.

Environment and Water Minister David Speirs said the new $500,000 program would have a primary focus conserving significant SA heritage place and areas.

“South Australia has a rich architectural, historical and cultural heritage and the State Government wants to see heritage places re-energised, either by adaptively reusing them, or by investing in them as tourism drawcards,” he said.

“South Australians value heritage places and want them to be nurtured, revitalised and invested in so that they continue to give our communities character and connect people with the stories of our state’s rich history.

“Heritage is not just about the past, but is a living representation of where we’ve come from.”

The $500,000 budget for the program will be divided into two rounds of $250,000.

But a Heritage Grant will only pay up to 50 per cent of the anticipated costs of conservation works or documentation, with the recipient responsible for matching dollar for dollar funding.

Up to $5,000 will be available for simple projects, $10,000 for complex projects and $20,000 for major projects.

Mr Speirs said in some cases in-kind labour and materials may be recognised as part of the matching contribution.

He also said conservation projects that benefit the public realm, activate under-utilised places, support specialised heritage training and/or facilitate tourism may get special consideration when it comes to the grants.

Applications for the first round will be open from January 14 to March 15.