Grange Planning Brain

title: Ballarat North PSP Heritage Places and Homestead Citations council: ballarat state: vic category: growth-area classification: MAJOR status: in-progress last_compiled: 2026-05-31 source_docs:

  • Ballarat-North-PSP-Bernera-Homestead-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf
  • Ballarat-North-PSP-Chalmers-Homestead-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf
  • Ballarat-North-PSP-Hawthorn-Farm-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf
  • Ballarat-North-PSP-Hawthorn-Park-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf
  • Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Bernera-Homestead-88-Olliers-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf
  • Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Chalmers-Homestead-15-Sims-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf
  • Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Hawthorn-Farm-134-Gillies-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf
  • Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Hawthorn-Park-112-Olliers-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf
  • Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Scotts-Homestead-103-Olliers-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf
  • Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf
  • Ballarat-North-PSP-Scotts-Homestead-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf

Ballarat North PSP Heritage Places and Homestead Citations

The Ballarat North PSP heritage work turns a lightly protected rural landscape into a mapped statutory heritage constraint for precinct planning: the 2024 assessment found no World, National, Commonwealth, Victorian Heritage Register, or existing Ballarat Planning Scheme Heritage Overlay places in the study area, but recommended seven local Heritage Overlay candidates and identified three Victorian Heritage Inventory archaeological places requiring Heritage Act management. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, pp.10, 23) The 2025 incorporated statements and citations narrow that broad assessment into five homestead-specific controls for Chalmers Homestead, Hawthorn Farm, Hawthorn Park, Scott’s Homestead, and Bernera Homestead, with planning scheme references HO252 to HO256. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Chalmers-Homestead-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, p.1) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Hawthorn-Farm-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, p.1) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Hawthorn-Park-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, p.1) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Scotts-Homestead-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, p.1) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bernera-Homestead-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, p.1)

Background

The Victorian Planning Authority commissioned RBA Architects + Conservation Consultants in August 2023 because the Ballarat North Precinct Structure Plan would urbanise an 833 hectare study area made up of a 568 hectare core area and a 265 hectare expanded area, with the VPA appointed as planning authority on 31 August 2022. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, p.4) The heritage assessment was designed to identify potential post-contact heritage places, catalogue existing listings, prepare a precinct-specific thematic environmental history, and inform any later Ballarat Planning Scheme amendment applying the Heritage Overlay to places advanced by the VPA. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, p.4)

The study area was described as a lightly populated, undulating, largely cleared landscape of fields, paddocks, rural living blocks, Ballarat Grammar, and discrete industrial land on the east side of Gillies Road. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, p.4) The assessment treated Mount Rowan as the historical core of the precinct, with its broad historical extent running from the extinct volcanic hill between Cummins Road and Sims Road toward Burrumbeet Creek, Sulky, Midland Highway, and the edges of Miners Rest. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, p.67)

Analysis

Heritage Constraint Mechanism

The practical planning mechanism is the Heritage Overlay, not a general heritage note: the 2024 assessment recommended seven individual places for inclusion in the Schedule to the Heritage Overlay and did not recommend any group, serial, or precinct-based Heritage Overlays. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, p.20) The overlay mechanism matters because it creates permit triggers for buildings, trees, outbuildings, fences, paint, solar energy systems, and other scheduled controls where those controls are selected for a particular place. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, pp.20-21)

The 2024 assessment used reduced curtilages because the heritage places sit on large rural properties where full-title overlays would capture land not needed to conserve the significance of the place. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, pp.21-22) The effect is a targeted constraint: the significant homestead, immediate setting, public-realm visibility, and significant trees or outbuildings are captured, while broader paddock land is generally kept outside the HO polygon where it does not sustain the heritage value. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, p.22)

The 2024 assessment recommended seven places for Heritage Overlay advancement: Hay Shed at Noble Court, Scott Homestead at 103 Olliers Road, MacLeod Villa at 88 Olliers Road, Hawthorn Park Homestead at 112 Olliers Road, Hawthorn Farm, Former Creamery and Dutch Elm at 134 Gillies Road, Chalmers Homestead at 15 Sims Road, and Bungalow at 220 Sharpes Road. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, p.23) Six of the seven recommended places are in the core area, while the Bungalow at 220 Sharpes Road is the only recommended place in the expanded area. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, p.29)

The 2025 citation package covers five homestead places, not all seven 2024 recommendations: Chalmers Homestead, Hawthorn Farm, Hawthorn Park, Scott’s Homestead, and Bernera Homestead/MacLeod Villa. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Chalmers-Homestead-15-Sims-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.1) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Hawthorn-Farm-134-Gillies-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.1) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Hawthorn-Park-112-Olliers-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.1) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Scotts-Homestead-103-Olliers-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.1) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Bernera-Homestead-88-Olliers-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.1) The Hay Shed and Bungalow remain important analytical gaps for this page because they are recommended in the 2024 assessment but are not represented by 2025 citation or incorporated statement documents in this manifest. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, pp.31-35, 60-63)

Five Homestead Citations

Chalmers Homestead at 15 Sims Road is a mid-Victorian basalt homestead built in 1860-1861 for Archibald and Beatrice Chalmers, with Henry R. Caselli responsible for design and construction. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Chalmers-Homestead-15-Sims-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.1) It is significant at the City of Ballarat level under Criterion A and Criterion D because it illustrates the emergence of Mount Rowan as an agricultural locality in the late 1850s and early 1860s and because it is a fairly intact rural basalt residence. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Chalmers-Homestead-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, pp.1-2) Its recommended HO controls include tree controls for Monterey cypresses and pines, solar energy system controls, and prohibited uses permitted, with no external paint, internal alteration, outbuilding/fence, or Aboriginal heritage place controls. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Chalmers-Homestead-15-Sims-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.13) The recommended HO polygon extends south to Sims Road, north 43 metres, east 43 metres, and west 30 metres from the basalt elevations, capturing the homestead and significant Monterey cypresses and pines. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Chalmers-Homestead-15-Sims-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.13)

Hawthorn Farm at 134 Gillies Road is a mid-Victorian farmstead where the basalt residence was built between 1854 and 1857 for Edward and Letitia Williamson and the brick former creamery was built during the late nineteenth century. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Hawthorn-Farm-134-Gillies-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.1) It is significant under Criterion A and Criterion E because it is identified as the earliest known surviving building in Mount Rowan and as a comparatively rare surviving rural ensemble of homestead, former creamery, and mature cultural plantings. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Hawthorn-Farm-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, pp.1-2) Its recommended controls include tree controls for a Dutch elm and pear tree, outbuilding controls for the brick creamery, solar energy system controls, and prohibited uses permitted, with no external paint, internal alteration, fence, or Aboriginal heritage place controls. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Hawthorn-Farm-134-Gillies-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.10) The recommended HO polygon extends east to Gillies Road, south 32 metres, west 55 metres, and north 10 metres beyond the former creamery, capturing the residence, creamery, Dutch elm, and pear tree. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Hawthorn-Farm-134-Gillies-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.11)

Hawthorn Park at 112 Olliers Road is a late Victorian homestead constructed in 1881 for businessman and farmer George Ronald, with Henry Richard Caselli responsible for the design. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Hawthorn-Park-112-Olliers-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.1) It is significant under Criterion A and Criterion E because it is a high-class rural homestead and a generally intact architect-designed villa with bichromatic brickwork, cast-iron verandah ornament, crenellated rear bays, and Italian cypresses marking the western drive. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Hawthorn-Park-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, pp.1-2) Its recommended controls include tree controls for front Italian cypresses, outbuilding controls for a skillion-roofed timber building with chimney, solar energy system controls, and prohibited uses permitted, with no external paint, internal alteration, fence, or Aboriginal heritage place controls. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Hawthorn-Park-112-Olliers-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.11) The recommended HO polygon extends to the southern and western title boundaries, approximately 45 metres east to an established tree line, and 15 metres north from the cardinal building line, capturing the residence, Italian cypresses, and rear skillion-roofed outbuilding. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Hawthorn-Park-112-Olliers-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.11)

Scott’s Homestead at 103 Olliers Road is a Federation-period timber residence constructed on a 5 acre farming allotment between about 1900 and 1914, with the 2025 citation identifying Catherine Scott as the likely longest Federation-era resident. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Scotts-Homestead-103-Olliers-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.1) It is significant under Criterion A and Criterion D because it represents modest early twentieth-century agricultural activity in Mount Rowan and is a generally intact Queen Anne-style Federation timber residence in a rural setting. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Scotts-Homestead-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, pp.1-2) Its recommended controls include external paint controls for weatherboard fabric, tree controls for a Monterey cypress, solar energy system controls, and prohibited uses permitted, with no internal alteration, outbuilding/fence, or Aboriginal heritage place controls. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Scotts-Homestead-103-Olliers-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.9) The recommended HO polygon extends to the northern and western property boundaries, 12 metres east, and 19.7 metres south to safeguard the Monterey cypress tree protection zone. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Scotts-Homestead-103-Olliers-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.9)

Bernera Homestead at 88 Olliers Road, identified as MacLeod Villa in the 2024 assessment, was constructed in about 1881 for Norman Roderick Macleod and Elizabeth Margaret Oswald Macleod on a former 73 acre or 29.5 hectare farm. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bernera-Homestead-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, p.1) It is significant under Criterion A and Criterion E because it illustrates late nineteenth-century farming consolidation on Ballarat’s rural edge and is a generally intact late Victorian brick villa with a neoclassical design mode, distinctive paired chimneys, pilasters, bracketed eaves, and a rural garden setting. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bernera-Homestead-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, pp.1-2) Its recommended controls include tree controls for a Monterey cypress southeast of the house, solar energy system controls, and prohibited uses permitted, with no external paint, internal alteration, outbuilding/fence, or Aboriginal heritage place controls. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Bernera-Homestead-88-Olliers-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.11) The recommended HO polygon extends south to Olliers Road, north 20 metres, east 55 metres to the title boundary with 74 Olliers Road, and west 15 metres, capturing the residence and Monterey cypress. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Bernera-Homestead-88-Olliers-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.11)

Archaeology and Non-Built Heritage Controls

The study area contains three Victorian Heritage Inventory entries: H7622-0430 Mt Rowan Mullock Heap 1 at 15 Olliers Road, H7622-0431 Mount Rowan House Remains at Gillies Road, and H7623-0353 Former House Site, Wyndolm Park at 171 Gillies Road. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, p.10) The assessment states that all historical archaeological sites in Victoria that are 75 years or older are protected under the Heritage Act 2017 whether identified or not, and that works must cease and Heritage Victoria must be notified if archaeological remains are exposed during future development. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, pp.10, 28-29)

The assessment also recommended four tree-related matters outside the five homestead HO schedules: a substantial gum tree at 15 Sims Road, approximately three Monterey cypress trees broadly opposite 138 Olliers Road and associated with Mount Rowan House Remains, a tall Monterey cypress at 300 Cummins Road, and a likely Golden elm at 220 Sharpes Road were recommended for nomination to the City of Ballarat Exceptional Tree Register. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, pp.27-28) This creates a dual mechanism: some trees are managed through Heritage Overlay tree controls because they contribute to a listed heritage place, while other trees are better managed through the Exceptional Tree Register because they do not independently meet the heritage threshold for an HO. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, pp.20-21, 27-28)

Interface With Urban Development

The key cause-and-effect issue is not that heritage prevents the PSP, but that heritage changes the design interface around a small number of significant places. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, pp.22-23) The assessment recommends master planning for sympathetic type and intensity of development near VHI sites and recommended heritage places, including attention to scale transition, sightlines, vistas, and materiality. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, p.29)

The reduced curtilage approach leaves broader PSP land use planning available outside the HO polygons, but the immediate setting of each homestead becomes a design constraint for subdivision layout, road alignment, open space siting, building scale, and view management. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, pp.21-22) Mount Rowan is repeatedly identified as a landmark visual reference in the historic environment, and the assessment states that maintaining its public-realm visual status would improve the quality and interest of the broader historic environment. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, pp.29-30)

Current Status

The 2024 post-contact heritage assessment recommended seven places for full citation and Heritage Overlay advancement. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, p.23) The five May 2025 statements of significance are incorporated documents in the Ballarat Planning Scheme under section 6(2)(j) of the Planning and Environment Act 1987. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bernera-Homestead-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, p.2) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Chalmers-Homestead-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, p.2) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Hawthorn-Farm-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, p.2) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Hawthorn-Park-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, p.2) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Scotts-Homestead-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, p.2)

The five incorporated statement references are HO252 for Chalmers Homestead, HO253 for Hawthorn Farm, HO254 for Hawthorn Park, HO255 for Scott’s Homestead, and HO256 for Bernera Homestead. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Chalmers-Homestead-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, p.1) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Hawthorn-Farm-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, p.1) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Hawthorn-Park-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, p.1) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Scotts-Homestead-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, p.1) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bernera-Homestead-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, p.1)

Dependencies

  • Blocks: Development layouts near the five cited homesteads should not be finalised without accounting for the reduced HO polygons, significant trees, scheduled outbuilding controls, public-realm visibility, and archaeological management requirements. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Bernera-Homestead-88-Olliers-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.11) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Chalmers-Homestead-15-Sims-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.13) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Hawthorn-Farm-134-Gillies-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, pp.10-11) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Hawthorn-Park-112-Olliers-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.11) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Heritage-Citation-Scotts-Homestead-103-Olliers-Road-Mount-Rowan-RBA-April-2025.pdf, p.9)
  • Blocked by: Final development response depends on the broader PSP layout, urban design framework, any arboricultural assessment needed to confirm tree controls, and archaeological protocols for VHI and unexpected historical archaeological material. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, pp.20-21, 28-29)
  • Informed by: The heritage work is informed by the 2024 RBA post-contact heritage assessment, the five 2025 RBA citations, and the five incorporated statements of significance. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, p.4) (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bernera-Homestead-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, p.2)
  • Implements: The work implements local heritage protection through Clause 43.01 Heritage Overlay scheduling and incorporated statements under the Ballarat Planning Scheme. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Bernera-Homestead-Statement-of-Significance-May-2025.pdf, p.2)
  • Conflicts with: The source set does not identify a direct policy conflict, but it records that heritage listing decisions must be considered alongside other strategic issues and that the Hay Shed may face non-heritage strategic challenges. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, p.29)

The documents identify Heritage Victoria as the authority administering the Victorian Heritage Inventory and the Heritage Act 2017 requirements relevant to historical archaeological sites. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, p.10) The documents identify the VPA as the planning authority for the Ballarat North PSP and the City of Ballarat as the responsible authority under the Planning and Environment Act framework for the Ballarat Planning Scheme. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, pp.4, 10)

Gaps in This Analysis

The manifest does not include full 2025 citations or incorporated statements for the Hay Shed at Noble Court or the Bungalow at 220 Sharpes Road, even though both were recommended for full citation and Heritage Overlay advancement in the 2024 assessment. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, pp.23, 31-35, 60-63) The manifest also does not include the broader Ballarat North PSP plan, DCP, landscape and visual assessment, arboricultural assessment, submissions, or planning scheme amendment package, so this page cannot quantify land-take, lot-yield, road-layout, open-space, or staging impacts of the heritage curtilages beyond the curtilage dimensions stated in the heritage citations. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, pp.20-23) The 2024 assessment itself flags that tree controls should be informed by proper arboricultural assessment and records that the VPA was understood to be commissioning an arboricultural assessment at a future date. (Source: Ballarat-North-PSP-Historical-Post-Contact-Heritage-Assessment-RBA-July-2024.pdf, p.21)

Graph View