THE historic core of Beechworth will have the same status as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Great Ocean Road and Uluru if a push by Indigo Shire succeeds.
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The council this week moved to nominate the town’s historic precinct for national heritage listing.
The shire’s cultural heritage manager Cameron Auty said the move would draw more travellers to Beechworth.
“It would be a huge benefit for us in tourism because we would be up alongside those such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the MCG and the Opera House,” Mr Auty said.
The area proposed for inclusion on the list encompasses Beechworth’s former jail, court house and telegraph office, the Burke Museum, Queen Victoria Park, Town Hall Gardens and the Police Paddocks.
It will be argued that the precinct warrants inclusion on the national list because of the number of surviving gold rush era buildings which reflect colonial and frontier governance.
If it succeeded, Beechworth would not be the only North East historic location on the list.
Wodonga’s Block 19 at the former Bonegilla migrant camp and the Glenrowan Heritage Precinct have been on the list since 2007 and 2005 respectively.
Mr Auty said the application was anticipated to be lodged with the government next February with a decision likely to be affected by the expected May federal election.
He added that if successful there would then be an opportunity to seek UNESCO world heritage listing, which he believes is achievable.
Sites in that directory include the Great Barrier Reef, Italy’s Cinque Terre coastline, the Kremlin and Red Square in Moscow, the Great Wall of China and the Grand Canyon.