Paper presented by Charlotte Webb
ICOMOS* Australia Conference 2005
Corrugations: the Romance and Reality
of Historic Roads
*ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) is primarily concerned with the philosophy, terminology, methodology and techniques of conservation. It is a non-government professional organisation formed in 1965. It is closely linked to UNESCO with national committees in some 100 countries with the headquarters in France. Members in these countries are formed into national committees and have the right to participate in the ICOMOS General Assemblies held every three years. Australia ICOMOS was formed in 1976.
The Remembrance Driveway is an easily recognised part of the cultural landscape along the main vehicular route from Sydney to Canberra. The Remembrance Driveway consists of a collection of roadside plantations, groves and parks covering 100 hectares over a distance of 300 kilometres. It has been designed as a continuous aesthetic and organised cultivated landscape, to be appreciated and experienced by passing motorists and local communities.
The Remembrance Driveway was established in the 1950’s with national community and business involvement and retains significant social and historic value as a living war memorial developed by collaborative effort on a large scale and relating to seminal events in the history of Australia and the world.
The Remembrance Driveway was initially planted as a memorial to those who served in World War II, which has been extended to include all those who served in subsequent conflicts. Since 1988, with the injection of government funds, the Remembrance Driveway has undergone a revival with the establishment of 20 new memorial plantations in honour of the recipients of the Victoria Cross.
This paper examines the significance and future of a senescing memorial roadside landscape, and considers the difficulty of assessing this broad scale landscape against the standard heritage measures in Australia.
One issue is the consideration of the significance and the value of by-passed plantations after road realignment where the plantations no longer meet the criteria for which they were originally designed.
The Remembrance Driveway has cultural significance, as defined by the Burra Charter, with aesthetic, historic, social and scientific value for past, present and future generations. They are worthy of retention and conservation as evidence of our heritage.