The Editor
Next time you’re in town, take a look around you.
Is it time to reconsider the Heritage listing of Gaskill Street?
What must visitors to the town think when they come to see barricaded and taped off areas with verandas falling into substantial disrepair, with warning signs and restriction for pedestrians.
Peeling paint, scaffolds and rotten timbers on display do not enhance the concept of Heritage preservation.
I note that Cabonne Council offered grants a few years ago (2018) to assist with repairs to Heritage listed structures of up to $1000 but not exceeding 50% of the value of the work. Where would $2000 go to effect repairs? When I considered a Gaskill Street premise a couple of years back, I was told I needed to engage a Heritage Consultant (about $3500) to guide the work, and then limits on how the internal fit out could be undertaken would be applied.
To repair these structures is not only expensive, but a bureaucratic nightmare, with so many rules and requirements to comply with it is no wonder the work is not being undertaken. You have to feel sympathetic to the building owners who, with unaffordable upkeep obligations, have buildings falling into disrepair.
Heritage preservation is a great concept, but at whose expense? With rising costs and declining trade, it’s a wonder buildings fall into disrepair with the main street starting to look like a demolition zone.
Is it time to consider modernising the streetscape?
Stephen Tamplin