A Victorian council has gone against the owner’s wishes and issued heritage status to a fire-ravaged home.
The City of Greater Bendigo has agreed to support interim heritage protection on a 130-year old former police station that was partially destroyed by fires earlier this year.
The owners had applied to knock down the existing property at 15 Thorpe Street, California Gully, and build a new home in its place.
The property is one of several early police quarters and stables that were erected on specific gold fields in the Bendigo area.
The single storey, double-fronted, square residence has a double hipped roofed and is constructed out of locally made red brick.
The application was to demolish the whole dwelling, even though only the weatherboard section was destroyed by fire. The remainder of the house is smoke damaged but structurally sound, the council’s heritage advisor said.
“This is not just about the building … Heritage is also about the stories that go with the building and once a building is demolished so are the stories that g with it,” Councillor Peter Cox said.
