Latest news with #heritageconservation
ABC News
5 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Grand Western Lodge and Blayney Council's $60,000 footpath battle
The owner of a historic building and a New South Wales council are in a bitter dispute over a footpath, which has already cost ratepayers tens of thousands of dollars, and there is no end in sight. Retired investment banker Ian Gillings has threatened legal action against Blayney Shire Council in the state's Central West over its plan to fix a dilapidated footpath outside his business in Millthorpe, near Orange. Mr Gillings purchased the run-down 1901 Grand Western Lodge on Victoria Street at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and spent more than two years renovating the federation-era property into accommodation for miners. But he is not happy with the state of a bitumen pavement footpath that straddles the state heritage-listed building's wrap-around balcony. Mr Gillings has likened the footpath to a poorly maintained country road, filled with potholes and water damage. "The footpath is in dangerous and is in bad repair," he said. As part of its broader Millthorpe Village Masterplan, the council plans to fix the footpath with asphalt, which Mr Gillings opposes. He alleges the material would worsen water damage in the building, by allowing water to penetrate the cellar, and is not aesthetically appropriate for the heritage. "I don't want my building to fall apart," he said. Instead, he wants to replace it with bluestone, a more porous and durable product that matches the kerbs and guttering in the heritage conservation area. Mr Gillings has even offered to foot the entire estimated $80,000 bill and sign a 99-year guarantee to cover maintenance and costs associated with it. "It doesn't work like that from our risk perspective nor our insurance and liability," Blayney Shire Council's general manager Mark Dicker said. "We need to have a fit-for-purpose product not a Rolls Royce product, particularly when heritage advice doesn't agree with it." Council's heritage advisor and Heritage NSW have given the green light to its existing plans to replace the asphalt path with like-for-like, in line with rest of the village. Its independent engineering advice found the proposed renewal works would not change the conditions that have resulted in rising damp in the lodge. But a report by Calare Civil, hired by Mr Gillings, found the bluestone pavers would be the "best practice approach". "The permeable pavers along with their dark colouring will promote escape of soil moisture through evaporation as opposed to directing water up the building walls," the report said. When council said no to Mr Gillings's offer, he commenced legal proceedings in the NSW Land and Environment Court in April. They have since been discontinued after the council agreed to temporarily pause the planned upgrade. It means the footpath will remain in its poor state for now. "It is the most incomprehensible thing ever," Mr Gillings said. "I have no idea why they'd want to waste money in court rather than just say, 'Fine, we'll take your money.'" The council estimated the legal proceedings could cost up to $150,000 and that money remains set aside if they recommence. "Noone wins going to court; that's a last resort from us," Mr Dicker said. "This has quite frankly wasted over $30,000 of money plus numerous hours of staff time." Mr Gillings also said it had so far cost him $30,000 in legal fees. Mr Gillings said the footpath stoush was the latest hurdle he had faced since purchasing the building, which had a tainted reputation. The lodge gained the unfavourable title "house of horrors" after stories about its previous owner's treatment of discharged psychiatric patients who lived in the hotel-turned-private boarding house emerged in the early 2000s. A class action resulted in a payout of more than $4 million to approximately 50 claimants. In spite of its history, Mr Gillings saw a business opportunity in re-opening the lodge and has no plans of backing down in the stoush with the council. "The moment they give me notice that they're doing it [fixing the path with asphalt] they'll be in the Land and Environment Court."
Free Malaysia Today
09-07-2025
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
Century-old rail tracks unearthed at Penang's Fort Cornwallis
Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow and heritage conservationist Francesco Siravo at the site of the discovery. GEORGE TOWN : A 7.4m train track from the early 19th century has been unearthed near Fort Cornwallis here. The narrow-gauge steel rails, dating back to 1895, were part of a rail loop spanning several kilometres around the fort, running from Kedah Pier to Duke Street, with a spur line leading to the current site of Dewan Sri Pinang. Preliminary checks suggest the trolley tracks were likely in use between the 1920s and 1930s. However, during the Japanese occupation, the system is believed to have been used to transport ammunition from the port to the fort's ramparts. The train track has an inscription indicating that it was manufactured by Barrow Steel in the UK in 1895. It was likely a manually operated trolley track, with an inscription on the rail indicating it was manufactured by Barrow Steel in the UK in 1895. Chief minister Chow Kon Yeow said construction workers restoring the fort chanced upon the track embedded on the northwest portion of Esplanade Road on June 26, embedded below the road's surface. He said the workers were building a new pedestrian pavement when they discovered the tracks. He said the government would study several options to conserve the tracks, including reviving the route. 'The national heritage department has agreed to preserve the tracks as an open-air exhibit,' he told reporters during a site visit. Heritage conservationist Francesco Siravo, who is working on the restoration of Fort Cornwallis, said a similar train track was discovered by a restoration team in 2017-2018 in the fort's courtyard. He said the tracks within the fort were likely used to transport goods to the storeroom on the south side of the fort. Siravo noted that the tracks were similar to those used during the peak of the Penang Hill funicular railway construction. 'This is an extraordinary find. It retains its original sleeper spacing and narrow gauge – a rare element of Penang's wartime infrastructure,' he said.
BBC News
17-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Medway Council rejects flats plan for Chatham school building
An application to turn an Edwardian building into 11 flats and build eight homes in its garden has been of the former St John Fisher Catholic Comprehensive School site in Chatham, Kent, was the subject of a planning application to create a mixture of one and two-bed flats, and eight three-bed houses towards the back of the plot on Maidstone the application has been rejected by planning officers on the grounds that the eight houses represented an over-development of the site, according to the Local Democracy Reporting also raised concerns that the entire application failed to "adequately address the impact of the development on heritage assets". In a report from Medway Council on 9 June, officers said plans "would result in a cramped over-development of the site, with poor living conditions for future occupants and harmful to the site and its surroundings including the conservation area".In relation to the historic elements, officers say although the plans protect the exterior, they represent a significant internal change, including the removal of the main staircase, which would harm its historic also said building eight homes on what were the gardens of the house showed no recognition of their historical all of the former gardens would be needed to be built upon for the homes and associated infrastructure, such as roads and parking spaces, the report objecting to the plans raised concerns about the impact on the building, the new homes being overcrowded and out of keeping with the area, and the impact of new residents on local amenities and the road Victorian Society also objected, saying the plans would likely mean the loss of historical elements inside the house and negatively impact the Maidstone Road Conservation report said: "Whilst no overriding objection in raised in principle to the reuse and possible development of the rear of the site for residential purposes, the current submission is not acceptable."The rest of the site, where there are more modern school buildings, is the subject of another, separate application for an Aldi supermarket which was submitted in June.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Conservation and heritage groups have their say on historic hotel extension plan
NATIONAL conservation charities and heritage groups have had their say on a planning application submitted to Dudley Council detailing plans to extend an historic hotel in Stourbridge Town Centre, adding 10 additional rooms. The application submitted to the council to extend The Talbot Hotel in the High Street and repurpose its conference room into new bedrooms has sparked controversy since its submission on March 18. A planning, design, access and heritage statement, submitted by AP Architects on behalf of the Talbot Hotel, details plans to construct a two-story flat roof extension and a single story pitched roof extension at the back of the building, which in total would allow for seven extra bedrooms, a space for laundry storage and a boiler/plant room. The plans also request permission to divide the historic conference room to create two additional bedrooms and make internal alterations to the hotel's lobby and reception areas, the bar and its toilet facilities, including relocating the accessible toilet. The hotel was bought by Birmingham-based hospitality operators, Rosevine Ltd, at the end of 2024, with the new owners looking to revamp the hotel. The Grade II listed building dates back to the 1600s, with the application having attracted strong criticism from over 100 objectors, including the town's MP, Cat Eccles and local councillors including ward councillor, Andrew Tromans. Echoing the concerns of objectors, conservation charity The Georgian Group have submitted recommendations to the council saying the plans pose 'serious concerns'. Read more Hotel management issues statement over application to extend historic town landmark On behalf of the group, James Darwin said: 'These proposals cumulatively have the potential to cause a considerable degree of harm to the listed building. 'The proposed works are both poorly explained and justified, and thus fail to meet the minimum requirements set out by the Secretaries of State within the NPPF (National Planning Policy Framework). 'The group is particularly concerned by the extremely poor standard of the information provided in support of this application and by its failure to adequately assess the impact of the proposed alterations on the significance of the listed building.' Historic England have also criticised the application, voicing concerns bout the 'level of detail' in terms of potential harm to the listed building that the applicant has included, and the degree of harm the alterations would cause overall. Benjamin Williscroft from the organisation said: 'Fenestrated with sash windows, [The Talbot] has a commanding presence within the streetscene, and makes a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the conservation area.' He continued: 'Overall, it is considered that these external and internal alterations, including two storey extensions to existing extensions and that to the conference room, would result in a significant degree of incremental alteration, and harm to the significance of the existing designated heritage asset, especially where the legibility of historic internal spaces would be compromised.' The building, which is mostly located within the Stourbridge High Street Conservation Area, has many historical features including original timber framing, red brickwork, timber sash windows and a 'good' 18th century staircase. The planning, design, access and heritage statement submitted by the application said that the proposals have been 'designed to be sympathetic and in-keeping with the character of the existing building', with the two rear extensions being designed to 'echo the aesthetic, forms and feature of the immediate host' and continue the form of the existing building, therefore 'minimising' the impact on neighbouring buildings. The Georgian Group and Historic England are both statutory consultees, whose views the council are obliged to take into account when deciding on applications to alter listed buildings. The relevant applications P25/0222 and P25/0223 are available to view on the council's planning portal and will go before Dudley Council Planners.
Free Malaysia Today
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
‘Urban renewal' not a dirty term
From Boo Jia Cher I would like to respond to Anand Krishnan's letter critiquing Bukit Bendera MP Syerleena Abdul Rashid's support for the Urban Renewal Act (URA). Anand makes a compelling case for thoughtful urbanism, heritage conservation, and a healthy scepticism toward Malaysia's latest legislative attempt at reshaping the city. But his critique, while eloquent and preservationist in tone, glosses over the deeper, on-the-ground realities that many Klang Valley residents live with daily. It's one thing to argue for sensitive reuse and the existence of adequate laws; it's another to ignore that large parts of Kuala Lumpur are already suffering from entrenched structural neglect. Take a walk through Pudu or Imbi Anand's claim that 'our cities are lovely and well-regarded by any standard' is, frankly, out of touch. Just minutes from the gleam of Bukit Bintang, urban decay is everywhere. Walk through Pudu, Imbi, or even areas near Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, and you'll find overcrowded shophouses, dark alleys overflowing with trash, rats darting through neglected infrastructure, and public amenities on the brink of collapse. Perhaps Anand should try waiting alongside the elderly poor and migrant workers at the undersized ageing bus stop on Jalan Pudu, then tell us how wonderful KL really is. These areas don't necessarily need to be demolished and rebuilt wholesale. But they do need serious, sustained reinvestment – just as Singapore did with old neighbourhoods like Tiong Bahru and Kampong Glam. To pretend these places are 'fine as they are' is to turn a blind eye to people living in substandard conditions. Plaza Rakyat: a monument to dysfunction Nowhere is KL's urban rot more evident than Plaza Rakyat: a half-finished megastructure sitting at the city's core, paralysed for decades by legal and bureaucratic inertia. Adjacent Pudu Sentral, once a bustling bus terminal, now limps along, hollowed out and forgotten. Jalan Pudu, the artery between them, is a pedestrian hazard: crossing it feels like a death wish, and continuous sidewalks are rare or nonexistent. For visitors to the city, this corridor leaves a jarring first impression – of abandonment, decay, and an infrastructure built with anything but people in mind. Are such places worth 'preserving'? Or are they symbols of abandonment, deserving bold and overdue intervention? Kuala Lumpur's contradictions are stark The real scandal isn't demolition; it's disrepair. Across KL, gleaming condo towers rise across the street from derelict flats and crumbling shoplots. This is more than just aesthetic contrast; it's a spatial expression of inequality. It reflects, as Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim noted, a tale of two cities – where some flourish, while others are left to rot. Are we meant to romanticise this contrast in the name of heritage? Or should we confront it? Car-centric planning has hollowed out the city KL's car-centric design is part of the decay. Much of the city is built not for people, but for vehicles. Wide roads, elevated highways, and mega-malls isolate neighbourhoods and sterilise streets. Walking is neither safe nor pleasant. Streets are not places to linger; they're obstacles to cross. Anand may find KL 'lovely' because, like many, he likely experiences it from behind the wheel. But step outside the car and a different city reveals itself: one where illegally parked vehicles choke sidewalks, noise and fumes dominate, and historical streets like Jalan Sungai Besi and Jalan Loke Yew are reduced to sad, forgotten corridors. This is not urban vitality; it's engineered alienation. If the URA is to mean anything, it must take aim at this form of urban planning. The housing and local government ministry must coordinate with the works and transport ministries, Kuala Lumpur City Hall, and urban thinkers like Think City to confront the real problem: we've built cities for cars, not people. How can we then reverse this death spiral? Preserve, but also intervene Anand is right to call for greater attention to heritage and adaptive reuse. These must be central to any renewal strategy. But to oppose the URA outright, or to rely on existing legal frameworks that have repeatedly failed, is wishful thinking. The very laws he defends are what allowed Plaza Rakyat to languish for decades and Jalan Sungai Besi's heritage stock to crumble along high-speed roads. They are not sacred; they are part of the reason we're in this mess. Urban renewal shouldn't mean blanket demolition or unchecked developer profit, nor should it be reduced to cosmetic fixes or nostalgic preservation. In a city grappling with neglect and inequality, renewal must mean real transformation, driven by public interest, equity, and thoughtful planning. Look at Mexico City: recent investments in underserved areas like Iztapalapa have improved housing, infrastructure, and public services without displacing residents. These projects show that renewal can be ambitious, inclusive, and community-driven. The question isn't whether to act – it's how. We must proceed with care, but let's not pretend that inaction is the more principled choice. Boo Jia Cher is an FMT reader. The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
