A push to heritage list three of Australia’s oldest buildings could soon become reality, with an application set to be lodged this month.
Located on the edge of Parramatta’s CBD, Hambledon Cottage, Elizabeth Farm and Experiment Farm make up a small precinct of some of the country’s most significant heritage sites.
Built in 1793, Elizabeth Farm is known as the birthplace of Australia’s Merino wool industry and the oldest standing European building in Australia, with Experiment Farm taking second place.
Hambledon Cottage, built in the 1820s, recently celebrated its 200th anniversary earlier this year.
Now operating as a house museum, the heritage-listed cottage continues to remain popular among local and visitors, having brought in a record 4,500 visitors in the last year alone.
But despite the precinct long being recognised locally as an area of national heritage significance, it has never been added to Australia’s National Heritage list.
Now, local representatives are looking to change that, with an application to be submitted in July to help protect the site.
Working with National Trust, Federal Member Andrew Charlton is leading the push for national heritage protections of the heritage precinct.
“Sitting on the edge of Australia’s fastest growing CBD are three of our oldest and most important heritage assets,” Charlton said.
“This is where it all began – the crops that fed a starving colony, the Merino wool that put made Australia an agricultural powerhouse, the olive trees that helped early migrants lay down their roots.”
The application comes off the back of a proposal submitted in 2022 for 483 new high-rise units at 2a Gregory Place, Harris Park.
If approved, the development, varying from four- to eight-storeys in height, would overlook Hambledon Cottage, Elizabeth Farm and Experiment Farm Cottage, as well as Our Lady of Lebanon Co-Cathedral.
A total of 104 submissions were made against the proposal on the NSW Planning Portal, with many locals raising concerns about the scale of the development.
The planning application will ultimately be decided by the NSW Government.
Charlton, who has previously warned the proposal will spell disaster for Harris Park and Parramatta if it gets the go-ahead, has also started a petition to stop the Gregory Place development from proceeding.
“The history of Parramatta is the history of Australia. These sites must be protected,” he added.
Ellie Busby is a news reporter for Western Sydney Publishing Group. A graduate of the University of Hertfordshire and Western Sydney University, she is a journalism Major. Ellie has worked with Universal Media, The Cova Project and for a range of other organisations. In 2024, Ellie was named Young Writer of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.