Residents in the heritage village of Hall have criticised the ACT government's decision not to take action over what authorities say was the unauthorised demolition of a stone cottage on a heritage-listed block.
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The residents believe the lack of action sets a precedent that places Canberra's significant buildings at serious risk.
A pre-1900 stone cottage at 8 Palmer Street was knocked down on October 3 and 4 last year, just over three months after Stephen and Deborah Fleischer bought the 2029-square-metre block for $985,000 at auction.
The north Canberra block, which is listed on the ACT Heritage Register as a place of specific value within the Hall Village Precinct, also contained a house known as Ottocliffe, which was demolished after it was found to contain Mr Fluffy loose-fill asbestos fibres.
ACT Heritage Council chairman David Flannery said while the council gave approval for the demolition of Ottocliffe, no council approval was sought or obtained for the subsequent demolition of the stone cottage, which was free of asbestos.
Access Canberra launched an investigation on October 18 last year into potential breaches of the Heritage Act. Its regulatory compliance team found the demolition of the cottage, thought to have been the only cottage in a village setting in the capital, "may have been an unfortunate misunderstanding".
The ACT government decided not to pursue a prosecution against any parties involved in the demolition.
"The evidence available and information presented meant that the fault elements of the offence under the Heritage Act, specifically that the act was reckless or negligent, was not satisfied," an Access Canberra spokeswoman said.
"In addition, the Director of Public Prosecution’s prosecution policy states that the evidence offered must have a reasonable prospect of conviction.
"Access Canberra determined that there was not likely to be reasonable prospects, thus no further action was undertaken."
Hall resident Rob Collins said the decision was "poor as piss".
Fellow resident Jonathan Palmer called it "bizarre" and said someone needed to be held to account.
"There is something very wrong here," Mr Palmer said.
"If heritage buildings can be destroyed without any consequences because the government is prepared to accept that it may have been a misunderstanding, then our built heritage is at serious risk."
Mr Palmer wrote to Environment and Heritage Minister Mick Gentleman, who reiterated Access Canberra's findings that there was "not enough information to suggest that any party blatantly disregarded the law".
In his reply to Mr Palmer, Mr Gentleman said he had directed the Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate to contact the parties involved in the demolition of the stone cottage and to remind them of their obligations around heritage conservation.
"I have also requested that the directorate consider legislative improvements including establishment of strict liability penalties and 'repair' provisions," Mr Gentleman wrote.
Mr Palmer also contacted the Asbestos Response Taskforce and received a response, seen by the Sunday Canberra Times, which said the contract for the sale of 8 Palmer Street included a "retained improvements schedule" that noted clearly that the stone cottage was a heritage structure.
But Mr Fleischer, who owns the block on which the cottage stood, claimed to have received approval from the ACT Heritage Council to knock it down.
He said he had no knowledge of the government investigation until contacted by the Sunday Canberra Times, and asked why, if the demolition was unauthorised, he had not been charged.
"As far as I knew, it was all OK," he said.
"We had all the approvals from Heritage and everything was signed off."
On Wednesday, Mr Fleischer said he would email the Sunday Canberra Times documentation showing the approvals he received, but he did not do so.
Whether anything will be done to attempt to register some of the heritage lost at 8 Palmer Street, which is currently a vacant block, remains unclear.
ACT Heritage Council chairman David Flannery said the council had not been approached with any proposals designed to remedy the loss of the stone cottage, but that he would welcome any such discussions.
He said the cottage was a "sad loss" for the territory.
"It must be said that the [ACT Heritage] Council does share in the community’s dismay at the loss of this place, but we accept the findings of the investigation that it’s just a misunderstanding," Mr Flannery said.
"In future, the council will make sure that - where there are multiple buildings on the [same] block and approval is given for demolition for one - it is clearly stated that other buildings on the block are not necessarily, unless so indicated, marked for demolition."
