Balancing Deep Cultural Significance With a 206 Hectare Residential Community at Sunbury
Capitol Property Group is a Victorian property developer delivering master planned residential communities in Melbourne’s growth corridors.
Everley is a 206 hectare subdivision at the southern entrance to Sunbury, planned to deliver 1,700 residential lots alongside a town centre, schools, and sports and community facilities. The Sunbury region holds deep and continuing significance for Traditional Owners, and the land also carries a substantial 19th century pastoral history. Both had to be understood and managed, on a site being released in stages over many years.
Australian Cultural Heritage Management was engaged by Capitol Property Group to manage the Aboriginal and historic heritage approvals processes for the development. The work has involved seven Complex Cultural Heritage Management Plans, staged to align with the release program, alongside archaeological salvage and large scale excavation of a 19th century farm house on the site.
The consistent challenge across this project has been holding two things together at once: honouring the cultural significance of the Sunbury landscape to Traditional Owners, while delivering the sequence of approvals a project of this size and duration depends on.
Client
Capitol Property Group
Location
Sunbury, Victoria
Sectors
Urban & Regional Development
Services
Results Delivered
Delivering Staged Complex CHMPs and Archaeological Excavations Across a Major Sunbury Residential Development
Australian Cultural Heritage Management manages the Aboriginal and historic heritage approvals for Capitol Property Group’s Everley development at Sunbury, delivering seven Complex Cultural Heritage Management Plans staged to align with the project’s release program, alongside large scale archaeological excavation of a 19th century farm house. The approach has allowed Capitol Property Group to bring land to market progressively with heritage obligations discharged ahead of each stage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do residential subdivisions require a Cultural Heritage Management Plan in Victoria?
Yes, in most cases. Subdivision of two or more lots is classified as a high impact activity under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006, and where it occurs in an area of cultural heritage sensitivity a mandatory CHMP applies. For the Everley development at Sunbury, a 206 hectare subdivision delivering 1,700 residential lots, Australian Cultural Heritage Management has delivered seven Complex CHMPs to date. Learn more about our CHMP services.
Can a Cultural Heritage Management Plan be staged across a large, long-running development?
Yes, and for long-duration projects it is usually the more practical approach. Staged CHMPs align heritage approvals with the land release program, spreading cost and effort across the project’s life rather than requiring a single upfront assessment of the entire site. Australian Cultural Heritage Management has structured the Everley heritage program around Capitol Property Group’s staged release, delivering seven Complex CHMPs to date.
How is historic, non-Aboriginal heritage managed alongside Aboriginal cultural heritage on a development site?
Aboriginal cultural heritage and post-contact historic heritage are governed by different provisions and assessed using different methods, and a site with a pastoral history often requires both. At Everley, Australian Cultural Heritage Management has undertaken large-scale archaeological excavation of a 19th century farm house on the site alongside its Aboriginal heritage program.
How does cultural heritage assessment affect the timing of residential land release?
Heritage is frequently a critical path item ahead of civil works, and assessed at masterplan stage it shapes layout at little cost, while assessed after titles are committed it can force redesign or delay settlement. Australian Cultural Heritage Management’s staged CHMP program at Everley has allowed Capitol Property Group to bring land to market progressively, with heritage obligations discharged ahead of each stage.
