Historic pub under threat

By Martin Boulton

July 11, 2005

Macedon House may fall victim to Gisbourne's land rush.

In Victoria's gold rush days blacksmiths, grain stores and saloons flourished in Gisborne. Now a rush to develop the town, 50 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, could the end for some of its landmark buildings.

Macedon House was built in town in the late 1840s, but even its reputation as a favourite watering hole of John Pascoe Fawkner, one of Melbourne's founding fathers, might not save it from being bulldozed.

Plans for a retirement village on the site have outraged locals and led to a bid to have the structure protected. Heritage Victoria confirmed the building had been nominated for heritage listing.

But Macedon Ranges Shire councillor Deb Dunn said there were no guarantees Macedon House (or any other historical buildings in town) would be saved unless they receive state heritage protection. "We've seen unprecedented growth right across the shire . . . and we're facing some fairly significant challenges because we're subject to Melbourne 2030 planning guidelines," Cr Dunn said.

Melbourne 2030 is the State Government's planning blueprint to accommodate an extra million people, or 620,000 new households in metropolitan Melbourne over the next 25 years. "There's no doubt Macedon House needs some repairs, but we've already lost too much of our heritage . . . that's why people here are jumping up and down . . . they want their heritage looked after," Cr Dunn said.

Lee Jabara, a spokesman for developer People First Retirement Living, said the company had wanted to incorporate the building into its plans, but it was too unstable and likely to collapse. Even if it could be rebuilt, the cost of this would make the development too expensive, Mr Jabara said. "We have to be realistic about the economics of the project."