The government wishes to retain items of the highest level of heritage signifi cance on behalf of the NSW community, and some would say the Australian community. The government also wishes to ensure the safety of the travelling public and make best use of the public dollar at the same time as conserving the State’s heritage. Increasing negotiations over fi ne detail of the components of heritage items are being carried out between the NSW Heritage Offi ce and the RTA, as the RTA factors in the conservation of recognised heritage items into its triple bottom line reporting. Is this too fi ne a level of detailed negotiation to reach, one piece of timber truss bridge at a time, to achieve a high level conservation outcome? In the long term, yes. But in the short term it has been a painful but necessary exercise. It has made professionals, in both RTA and the Heritage Offi ce, under the watchful eyes of Engineers Australia and the National Trust, aware of what factors must be considered in order to fi nd solutions acceptable to NSW heritage physically, socially and economically. This paper looks at the RTA’s heritage responsibilities, how the RTA has arrived at this fi ne level of negotiation, and what is now required to take the organisation forward to achieve the combined objectives of road safety, value for money and retention of heritage values.
