Heritage Overlays in Victoria

[xcvator]

I've been doing a bit of research on some older sites in my area and 1 in particular caught my fancy.Building dates back to 1900 so it's fairly old and the parks around are the same. Then the thought crossed my mind that it might even be Heritage Listed and may be a no go area.So I had better do a bit of cma and rang the council and asked them the relevant questions, guess what, they didn't know, but they referred me to their heritage consultant to whom I asked the same questions and the answers were quite enlightening.
Unless coins and artifacts are specifically mentioned and protected in the overlay and not prohibited by other rules/bylaws etc it's OK to detect in heritage overlay areas .
But do your own research

 

[Goldpick]

This has been a pretty contentious issue in the past with detecting for coins in relics in Victoria. Despite what the council says, be careful regarding what State Heritage laws mention, especially regarding targeting Heritage listed structures and surrounds for finds - State regulations may well overide council regulations.

There was mention that any item found over 50 years old should be left in the ground and be reported to the authorities, and specifically targeting known heritage locations can attract a fine. I'd get whatever the heritage consultant mentioned in writing as a backup just in case.

Probably a good reason why many detectorists now seek permissions on private properties and farms. Only takes one person to report you and cause a whole lot of grief in built up areas.

Seems to be lot of grey areas surrounding detecting such areas, recently there was a newspaper article about a guy who found a war medal in the middle of a central Melbourne park. He tried to return the medal to the family of the deceased medal owner, but as it happens the actual park that he found it in was a heritage listed area - go figure!