ALMOST half of all heritage nominations in the ACT have waited 20 years or more to be assessed.

According to a government response to questions on notice by Liberal shadow heritage minister Nicole Lawder, of 88 heritage nominations waiting to be assessed, 42 were lodged in or before 1999, and a further 20 between 2000 and 2010.

There are:

• 

  12 nominations made from 2016 to date.

• 14 nominations made between 2011 and 2015.
• 20 nominations made between 2000 and 2010.
• 42 nominations made in or before 1999.

“If these nominations didn’t qualify for heritage listing 20 years ago, they probably will by the time it takes this old and tired government to look at their applications,” Ms Lawder said.

“Clearly, the build-up of nominations comes down to a resourcing issue. Over the past two decades, the government has failed to adequately support staff who have been working hard to support the Heritage Council during the heritage-nomination process.

“The new funding provided to the ACT Heritage Council has been dedicated to process development applications only. The new funding will not be spent on the nominations of a place or object to the ACT Heritage Register, meaning the backlog of heritage nominations waiting to be assessed will continue to grow.

“Heritage Minister Mick Gentleman continues to say one thing and do another. He says his government is committed to preserving heritage places and objects, and yet he consistently rejects calls from the Canberra Liberals to improve heritage-listing processes.”