Heritage Resources & Collections
Southern Midlands Council holds a significant collection of heritage items. These include (but are not limited to):
- Archaeological artifacts
- Photographs (scenes, people, events)
- Documents, plans, maps
- Objects and furniture
- Honour boards
In the past, these collections have been managed in an ad-hoc fashion, with no regular conservation activities and no regular assessment of storage/display conditions, security etc. With ongoing archaeological excavations, the heritage collection is set to grow exponentially over the next 5+ years, therefore it has been recognised by Council that a more systematic and thorough management system is required for heritage collections.
In 2003, Council employed a Consultant (Stacker 2003) to review the large collection of ephemeral memorabilia stored in the attic of the Kempton Offices (deriving from the former Green Ponds Council). Various recommendations for storage, display and disposal were made, however these have not yet been acted upon. Parts of this document were drawn upon for the development of the recently adopted heritage collections policy (below).
In May 2007, Council adopted a Heritage Collection Management Policy, which outlines the broad parameters for managing the collection, including accessioning, deaccessioning, loans, maintenance, display, review etc. From this policy, a series of management documents are to be produced, including:
- Procedures manuals for the broad collection categories
- Maintenance regime for storage/display facilities
- Disaster preparedness manual
- Audit procedures
These will be developed in the near future.
