Heritage plans progress for Mayfield homes and part of Broadmeadow

Councillors are set to vote on June 25 to forward planning proposals on 14 Sunderland Street and 22 Victoria Street at Mayfield to the state government for local heritage protection.

The council will also consider progressing a planning proposal to create a heritage conservation area at Cameron's Hill in the suburb of Broadmeadow.

It comes after the council lodged interim heritage orders earlier in 2024 for both Mayfield homes to protect them from demolition.

Both homes were independently assessed and found to have local heritage significance.

The Sunderland Street home is a late Victorian dwelling that was bought, occupied and likely constructed by the Braye family during Thomas Braye's first tenure as Mayor of Waratah.

Mr Braye was a well-known Waratah resident, known for being one of the youngest aldermen to be elected to council.

The Victoria Street residents was one of the only houses constructed on the Scholey subdivision designed by the prominent architect F.G Castleden.

The heritage assessment found the home represented "a rare intact residential dwelling which has generally retained the integrity of its built form, making a positive contribution to the streetscape".

Its features are generally in original condition. Some dilapidation has occurred through neglect and there have been minor modifications being made, however the assessment found the changes may be reversible.

Councillors will vote on forwarding both planning proposal to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure for gateway determination, and to consults with the community and relevant government agencies as the gateway determination requires.

The Cameron's Hill proposal comes after the council received a community nomination in December 2018 to investigate the subject area for a potential heritage conservation area.

Most dwellings in the proposal area were constructed in the Federation period and reflect characteristics aligned with the period.

Newcastle lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the city had "a unique mix of heritage conservation areas, archaeological sites, heritage-listed buildings and places that are recognised and protected for their character and significance"

"The creation of a heritage conservation area for Cameron's Hill will preserve this unique piece of Newcastle's history for future generations of Novocastrians," she said.

A study was completed in May 2024 which found that the Cameron's Hill study area met the threshold for heritage significance under several of the NSW heritage assessment criteria, at a local level.

Part of the proposed conservation area overlaps with the Broadmeadow Renewal Corridor area.

The council has proposed to remove the investigation area from the floor space ratio and maximum building height mapping to ensure consistency with other heritage conservation areas.