Author: Felicity Watson

Staff Writer

Advocacy Manager, National Trust of Australia (Victoria)

Felicity is the Advocacy Manager of the National Trust, the state’s leading independent and not-for-profit heritage advocacy body. She has been with the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) since 2013, and has more than fifteen years experience in heritage management, public history, and advocacy. Felicity is responsible for representing the National Trust at VCAT, Planning Panels and Heritage Council Hearings, overseeing the delivery of the National Trust's Reconciliation Action Plan, and the development of strategic programs and campaigns to advocate for the protection of heritage in Victoria.

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Gas and Fuel Corporation of Victoria,

How Heritage Laws Saved Melbourne’s Premier Civic Space, Federation Square

The April 2019 decision by Heritage Victoria to reject plans for the demolition of the Yarra building at Federation Square to make way for a flagship Apple store will be remembered as one of the great victories of heritage conservation in Victoria.When the National Trust nominated Federation Square to the Victorian Heritage Register, many questioned how a place that’s only 16 years old could be considered “heritage”. While it is unusual for a place so “young” to be considered for its heritage values, it is not unprecedented. The National Gallery of Victoria, another monumental government project, completed in 1968, took only 14 years to be included in the Government Buildings Register (a precursor to the Victorian Heritage Register). Read More …