Heritage Planning

The Mackay Region is home to many significant historical buildings and landmarks. Over the years Council undertook various projects to identify and research historical buildings and land marks in the Mackay City and the wider Mackay- Pioneer Valley region. Below are some of the projects which have been undertaken.

Further information regarding the history of the Mackay Region is able to be found on Councils' Arts, Culture and Heritage webpage.

Information about the library’s heritage collection and related online services are available on the Council’s Library webpage.

Conserving Heritage Houses in the Mackay Region

Mackay Regional Council produced an information kit to assist anyone wishing to undertake restoration, additions or alterations to heritage and character houses in the region.

The aim of the heritage information kit is to assist with the conservation of the regions built heritage.

For ease of reference, the publication has been broken down into four sections:

Conserving the character and heritage significance of your house
Getting help with your conservation project
Making alterations and additions to your heritage house
Further reading and information.

While the publication is designed to provide guidance to assist home owners navigate through the process of conservation and renovations, it is important to seek information about building and planning requirements from a building certifier and Mackay Regional Council.

Conserving Heritage Houses in the Mackay Region (PDF 1.68Mb)

Historical Planning Schemes

The Historical Planning Schemes webpage, provides a variety of information relevant to the former shires within the region (Mackay City, Mirani, Pioneer and Sarina).

Further information about the historical planning schemes available can be found here.

Heritage Brochures

There are currently four heritage brochures available:

Mackay Heritage Walk (PDF 1.21Mb)
Mackay Cemetery Walk (PDF 3.0Mb)
Art Deco in Mackay (PDF 1.18Mb)
Bungalows of West Mackay (PDF 1.02Mb)

Registered Heritage Places

Queensland State Heritage Register

The Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) is responsible for maintaining the Queensland Heritage Register. There are currently 41 state listings within the Mackay Region. Any property listed on the register must comply with rules and regulations that have been designed to ensure all development on the site and related to the buildings listed are preserved in their original form.

For more information relating to the Queensland State Heritage Register please visit the Department of Environment and Resource Management website.

Council’s MiMAPS Online Mapping provides interactive and up to date heritage listings for state heritage places within the Mackay City Planning Scheme area- select the Planning and Land Use Maps theme.

Local Heritage Register

The Local Heritage Register identifies sites of local heritage/character significance. Schedule 4 of the Mackay City Planning Scheme contains a list of all of the local heritage sites. Locations which are listed on the Local Heritage Register must comply with the provisions outlined within Part 8, Division 6- Character/Heritage Protection Overlay Code of the Mackay City Planning Scheme.

Council’s MiMAPS Online Mapping provides interactive and up to date heritage listings for local character/heritage places within the Mackay City Planning Scheme area- select the Planning and Land Use Maps theme.

Residential Character Areas

There are three key areas within the Mackay City locality that have been identified as key residential character areas (Railway Station, Queens Park and West Mackay) dwellings within these areas are required to adhere to provisions which are relevant to the type of work being undertaken on the site. More information regarding to Character/Heritage Provisions can be found in the Mackay City Planning Scheme, relevant sections include Dwelling House Code, Multiple Dwelling, Accommodation Units and Dual Occupancy Code, Character/Heritage Overlay Code.

Further information regarding Residential Character Areas can be found in Additional Information regarding Residential Character Areas (PDF 2.16 Mb)

Council’s MiMAPS Online Mapping provides interactive and up to date heritage listings of residential character areas within the Mackay City Planning Scheme area- select the Planning and Land Use Maps theme.

Past Studies

There has been two significant studies undertaken in the past to investigate places of heritage significance within the Mackay region.

1994 Mackay Region Pilot Heritage Study

The Pilot study was undertaken by Graeme Butler and Associates and was designed to cover the environmental history of the post contact Mackay region. The study also developed an extensive listing of heritage and character sites within the region. Each site was researched to identify (if possible) preliminary heritage value, creation date, first/major owner, details of settlements and the historical themes represented.

1994 Pilot Heritage Study Part A (PDF 8.14Mb)
1994 Pilot Heritage Study Part B (PDF 13.5Mb)

1996 Heritage Context Study for the Mackay City Council Town Planning Review

The 1996 heritage context study was conducted by Berenice Wright, Anne Jcobs and Roger Dalton and was undertaken to identify the following:

Character areas within the CBD (and elsewhere throughout the City), as appropriate;
Building elements that contribute to the character including form, height, scale and colour; and
The relationship between buildings and their surroundings.

This study was also used as the foundation of the new planning scheme (Mackay City) to direct the development of the heritage and character precincts and codes.