New Life for the Old Newcastle Post Office

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Work has finally begun to restore the old Newcastle Post Office.

The building has certainly been through the wars, from a fire which broke out on the veranda back in August, to sheltering up to 200 homeless.

The first phase of repair work which is getting underway will secure the veranda - the Awabakal Land Council have moved on the homeless who had taken up residence there, and crews have also cleared away all of the rubbish and debris which had built up.

CEO of the Awabakal Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC) Rob Russell says its taken some time to get things right.

"These processes are slow because of the environment and heritage status of the post office. There are a lot of t's to cross and i's to dot in the process. before you move on anything you've got to make sure you're doing the right thing by the building itself and making sure it stays in as pristine condition as we can keep it in."

The initial phase of works have been funded by a $150,000 dollar-for-dollar matched funding grant obtained by the Awabakal LALC under the NSW Heritage Grants Program.

The works are all being done in a bid to protect the site from further damage and deterioration. The funds will go towards critical security, repair and general remediation works. The architectural features of the site will all be preserved as well.

"Once we make the building secure and wind proof and waterproof and vermin proof, the next stage is to start repairing the roof to make sure there's no further water damage or pigeon invasions and also no more people invasions," said Rob Russell.

"I field several phone calls weekly from people who are annoyed at the status of the post office and want to see something done with it and all I've been able to say to them is 'please be patient, we will get there, it's not an easy job ans we've got to do it right'. So I'm just happy that we're able to start moving forward."

The first phase of works are expected to be finished within a week.

Newcastle Post Office Image NBN News.

Historial Morpeth Better Off This Way

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Morpeth residents slammed a decision by Maitland City Council to not hold consultations for a state heritage listing register on properties, but council say it's for the better.

The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage wrote to the council to seek support for the listing on all properties for the historic town.

The office asked for council's "in-principal" support of the register on all properties stating it would allow council more time to consider the nomination and determine if any operational issues would arise.

Councillor Philip Penfold said voting against the listing was the best outcome because realistically not all of the homes in Morpeth are heritage, or in fact old, some are just one year old.

"This isn't a listing that would just affect the homeowners of Morpeth, this is a listing that would last forever, for generations ahead of time,"

"These properties in many cases are between 1 year old and 40 years old - these properties are the ones that shouldn't have this listing," said Councillor Penfold.

Morpeth is listed as a Heritage Conservation Area already with a few properties of historical significance on the State Heritage Register.

Council also say having all of the properties put on a register would impact what homeowners could do to them, making a simple alteration or a small renovation more difficult to achieve jumping through heritage hoops.

"What would concern me was that to go for a year or more to have an extensive consultation period will decimate the housing market in Morpeth - it will put a cloud of uncertainty over property transactions. I've already had people call me late last week concerned that they've got properties listed and they're unsure what might happen if the Labor party were to succeed in their mission to list state heritage register on every single Morpeth property," said Councillor Penfold.

"We need to be careful not to just listen to a noisy minority. We need to listen to the entirety of a community and this isn't just affecting the people who currently live in Morpeth, this affects Morpeth into generations."

EARLIER:

No Say For Morpeth Residents on Heritage

No Say For Morpeth Residents on Heritage

BY JESSICA ROUSE

A request for support of a consultation process with the Morpeth community to get a heritage nomination listing underway has been knocked back by Maitland City Council.

At council's meeting on Tuesday night eight of the twelve councilors voted against the consultation requested by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage.

The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage suggested in a letter to the council that they provide "in principal" support for the nomination to allow the Heritage Division to begin community consultation in Morpeth and surrounds to determine what support there is for the listing.

The consultation would happen before any official heritage listing.

Morpeth Heritage Conservation Group President Simon Brooker is slamming the council's decision and said it's not the first time they've tried to get the town heritage listing -  back in 2007 Morpeth received a nomination but then it seemed council tossed it in the bottom drawer.

"I don't know whether there's sour grapes within the components of Maitland City Council that certain people didn't get elected into the positions that they wanted or whether there's another agenda there we just don't know. But just voting no to allow a community to have a say is reprehensible as far as a council is concerned," said Simon.

Simon also said the heritage nomination won't stop any development within the town, but what it will do is make sure any development is consistent with the heritage of the town and its surrounding countryside.

He said the decision council made against the town having a say doesn't bode well for the their future.

"It's staggering and what is even more staggering is that our elected council, the people who we vote in and whose rates we pay, decided to vote no for allowing their community to have a say on their future. It's absolutely quite extraordinary," said Simon.

Port Stephens Heritage Funding

BY TYLER FARDELL

This morning, Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter, Scot Macdonald announced Port Stephen's Council will receive $24,000 for the region's heritage work.

With this funding, residents will be able to apply for small grants to help preserve and maintain local heritage works for the future.

Scot MacDonald says the funding isn't just for particular heritage projects.

"So it will go towards their advisory services, their record keeping and just assisting the community so it's not targeted at a particular heritage asset. this is more for their back office and to support all the heritage work that they do as a Council."

"Our local heritage speaks to our history, so it's important to protect, promote and celebrate it".

The funding has been welcomed by the General Manager of Port Stephens Council, Wayne Wallis, who says without funding, heritage work in the region cannot be done.

"Maintaining heritage items can be costly and as it's been said there's always the pressure to pull down and build something new. It is expensive to maintain these heritage items and the historical significance of that so providing some funding that the residents can use to maintain or restore their own properties it certainly helps to keep those heritage items on the forefront," Wallis said.

The announcement also marks the start of this year's Australian Heritage festival, which runs until the 21st of May.

Scot Macdonald and Wayne Wallis this morning at the funding announcement

A boost for the neglected old Newcastle Post Office

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The former Newcastle Post Office is getting a much needed cash injection from the state government.

Under the Heritage Grants Program, the government are giving the Awabakal Aboriginal Land Council $150,000 to go towards stabilising the building.

The building has been in a state of disrepair for some time, and without any stabilising works will continue to fall a part and crumble.

Awabakal Local Aboriginal Land Council CEO Rob Russell isn't even allowed into the building to assess the damage so making it safe for inspections is a top priority.

Without the funding, the building's future was up in the air with no one sure how long the building could go without any form of stabilisation before it would've fallen further into disrepair.

"Primarily what we want to do is just have a look inside and see what damage has been done. We believe that the basement is full of water, we need to find out where that water is coming from, how much structural damage its done so yes there will need to be a fair bit of work done," said Rob Russell.

"This is a very important asset to the Aboriginal community in Newcastle. You can see its been in neglect for some time. This money will be very useful for the community in being bale to repair some of the damage that's been done through that neglect," said Rob Russell.

Scot MacDonald and Rob Russel in front of the Newcastle Post Office this morning.

The Newcastle division of the land council are now looking away from private partnerships for funding, and keeping the building as a community asset.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald says if nothing else the funding will ensure the building can be repaired to stop it from deteriorating any further.

"Looking at it now, and I'm not an expert I should say, you've got to worry that it's getting to a point where it's going to be dangerous for the people who are squatting here, or anybody that sees some sort of future use, so you can see the potential but you can also see if it isn't turned around soon then you will be looking at a dangerous condition," said Scot MacDonald.

"The community want to see this, if not restored to its former glory then at least functional. At least not being an eyesore and it is an eyesore at the moment and I don't know what that path will be."