CAMP EUREKA
90-100 TARRANGO ROAD YARRA JUNCTION, YARRA RANGES SHIRE
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Statement of Significance
What is Significant?
Camp Eureka is the last surviving campsite in Australia used by the Eureka Communist League.The Campsite in the Yarra Ranges was originally a farmhouse (of which only the barn remains). The land was given to the Eureka Communist League in 1945. It is now in a bushland setting, but when the site was first used as a Camp in December 1946 it had been substantially cleared.Since then every effort has been made to enhance the natural elements of the site including the planting of natives and the revegetation the site.
The site plan and buldings date from the period of 1946 to the early 1950s. Camp members built a number of huts for accommodation, a recreation hut, toilet and shover blocks. Building construction was from salavaged materials and were designed with a simple, rustic look. The largest of these is the mess hut, open on three sides with a corrugated iron roof and bush pole support. This area was used for dining as well as concerts with a small stage at the closed end of the building. Its construction and design was influenced by the experience of members during the war. Nearby are the Kitchen and the Recreation Hut. The Recreation Hut boasts a large fireplace faced with stone on the exterior, the rest of the building is of timber construction.Smaller Huts suitable for accommodation are scattered about the site. The most significant of these is the Model Hut (so called as it was to serve as a model for other huts on the site) and the medical hut. The medical hut is surprisingly intact and retains many of its features form when it was used as a clinic during the Camp's heyday. It too, is of simple bush pole frame construction and malthoid over palings.
How is it significant?
Camp Eureka is of historic, social and architectural, archaeological significance to the state of Victoria and its importance is of Australian wide signifincance.
Why is is significant?
The Eureka Youth League was formed in 1941 as a successor to a number of other bodies associated with the Communist Party. Its predecessor's had organised camps throughout the 1920s and 1930s to Phillip Island and Rosebud. Similar organisations run camps at Corrimal on the South Coast of New South Wales and Maroochydore in Queensland.
A December 1946 article in The Guardian (the official communist newspaper) announced tha the first holiday camp would be held at Camp Eureka from 23 December 1946 to 5 Jaunary 1947. The campers would enjoy hikes, sports days, volley and basket ball, dancing, concerts and film screenings. (The films were provided by the Realist Film Unit who while providing documentaries also screened Charlie Chaplin Films). Camp members were to provide a days labour and contribute to the construction of the camp. Until the mid 1950s, large numbers (up to 1,000) attended the Camp at Christmas and Easter. Amongst those attending the Camp in this period was cartoonist Noel Counihan, jazz musicans Graeme Bell and Fred Johnston and the author Frank Hardy who completed the novel Power without Glory at the Camp in 1949.
The shared work ethic, the design of the buildings and the general philosophy that was found in the Camp was an important component in left wing thinking and in particular offered a place of refuge and company for like minded souls during the Cold War period.
By the late 1960s the site had been largely abandoned and the Eureka Youth League had ceased to exist. In the early 1970s, former campers returned to the site and determined that the site could be refurbished and reused as a holiday destination again. A collective was formed and slowly the buildings are being renewed using volunteer labour as before.
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CAMP EUREKA - Permit Exemptions
General Exemptions:General exemptions apply to all places and objects included in the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR). General exemptions have been designed to allow everyday activities, maintenance and changes to your property, which don’t harm its cultural heritage significance, to proceed without the need to obtain approvals under the Heritage Act 2017.Places of worship: In some circumstances, you can alter a place of worship to accommodate religious practices without a permit, but you must notify the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria before you start the works or activities at least 20 business days before the works or activities are to commence.Subdivision/consolidation: Permit exemptions exist for some subdivisions and consolidations. If the subdivision or consolidation is in accordance with a planning permit granted under Part 4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and the application for the planning permit was referred to the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria as a determining referral authority, a permit is not required.Specific exemptions may also apply to your registered place or object. If applicable, these are listed below. Specific exemptions are tailored to the conservation and management needs of an individual registered place or object and set out works and activities that are exempt from the requirements of a permit. Specific exemptions prevail if they conflict with general exemptions. Find out more about heritage permit exemptions here.Specific Exemptions:General Conditions: 1. All exempted alterations are to be planned and carried out in a manner which prevents damage to the fabric of the registered place or object. General Conditions: 2. Should it become apparent during further inspection or the carrying out of alterations that original or previously hidden or inaccessible details of the place or object are revealed which relate to the significance of the place or object, then the exemption covering such alteration shall cease and the Executive Director shall be notified as soon as possible. General Conditions: 3. If there is a conservation policy and plan approved by the Executive Director, all works shall be in accordance with it. General Conditions: 4. Nothing in this declaration prevents the Executive Director from amending or rescinding all or any of the permit exemptions.Nothing in this declaration exempts owners or their agents from the responsibility to seek relevant planning or building permits from the responsible authority where applicable.
Exemptions include:
Exteriors of Buildings
Replacement of windows, doors, timber palings of like with like.
Treatments to stablise and protect timber structures.
Interiors of Buildings
Painting of previously painted walls and ceiling.
Refurbishment of existing toilets and bathrooms including removal, installation or replacement of sanitary fixtures and associated piping, mirrors, floor and wall coverings.
Installation, removal or replacement of electrical wiring.
Installation, removal or replacement of smoke detectors, sprinkler systems and exit signs.
Landscaping
Management of trees in accordance with Australian Standard; Pruning of amenity trees AS4373
Removal of plants listed as noxious weeds in the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994
Repairs, conservation and management of hard landscaping elements including roads and pathways, fences and gates.
CAMP EUREKA - Permit Exemption Policy
As part of the significance of the built fabric is its 'make do' ethos and recycled materials, then the collective should not have any undue restrictions placed on the materials and construction of the buildings on the site (provided they meet safety requirements). Any new buildings on the site will need a permit, and should be in keeping with the site.
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