A review of the ACT's heritage laws has recommended a radical overhaul of a system in which some applications have been waiting for more than 12 years to be processed.
The Government-commissioned review of the Heritage Act is also urging the Arts and Heritage Minister Jon Stanhope to take steps that would bring the territory's laws up to date and into line with other jurisdictions.
Heritage consultant Duncan Marshall, who compiled the five-year review of the laws, says that the ACT Heritage Council is understaffed, under-resourced and using a ''steam powered'' computer system to try to keep on top of its workload.
Mr Marshall believes that the lack of an enforcement arm to the council means that buildings, particularly houses, with historical significance are being destroyed without the knowledge of the authorities.
The Heritage Council currently operates with a staff of 12 and on a budget of just over $1.45 million in the 2009-2010 financial year.
There is a backlog of 211 places or objects awaiting decisions on registration, with applications outstanding on Hill Station Homestead, Hume, nominated by the National Trust in 1998, and the Tharwa Village Precinct, nominated by the trust in 2003.
Mr Marshall said yesterday there was unlikely to be an improvement in the council's position without a funding injection from the ACT Government. ''It's a question for the Government but if it wants to see some improvement then it's going to have to commit some resources,'' Mr Marshall said.
The heritage expert said that the council did not have a single person working on enforcement or compliance with heritage decisions and valuable buildings were being lost as result.
''We are seeing houses in heritage areas being substantially demolished, leaving just the facade standing and effectively destroying the rest of the house, and these are houses that may be due for heritage protection,'' he said.
''So [the ACT Planning and Land Authority] and the Heritage Council really need to get in there and do some fairly urgent heritage work because it seems that there are a lot of these demolitions going on.''
Mr Marshall is also calling for appeals against heritage decisions to be taken out of the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal's jurisdiction, arguing that the Heritage Council was the body with the appropriate expertise to deal with appeals.
Mr Stanhope said the Government would consider all of the recommendations thoroughly before responding formally to the findings.
Greens MLA Caroline Le Couteur said she supported a boost for heritage protections for the territory and welcomed the debate around the report. ''We have some very well maintained heritage buildings in the ACT but we've also got some that are not so well looked after,'' Ms Le Couteur said. ''The big question is one of resources.''
The Greens MLA said the review was an opportunity for the ACT community to take stock of what was worth preserving in the built and natural environment.
''It's time to decide what we really value and what sort of resources do we want to put into the conservation of those assets,'' she said.
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