Heritage delight
Having parked in Lydiard St around 11am on Saturday 26th we surprised and delighted to be treated to a lovely medley of tunes played by the Ballarat Memorial Band .
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
They were situated on the upstairs balcony of one of the lovely old building , how fortunate are we to have such a talented bunch of musicians here in Ballarat.
Thank you so much for the unexpected treat.
Gillian Sampson, Lucas
Hole in the Heart of Ballarat’s Heritage.
I congratulate the city of Ballarat for organising an amazing program for the Heritage weekend. However it is ironic that at the same time as our community celebrates Ballarat’s marvellous heritage, one of the iconic precincts in the heart of Ballarat is being destroyed. The Ballarat Railway Station includes a unique group of historical buildings and technological structures. Over half of the current railway precinct has been signed over to a developer for private use. This will leave a hole in the heart of Ballarat’s heritage. One thousand Ballarat residents have voiced their concerns recently by signing an SOS postcard “NO station sell-out”. The sale of the historic goods shed should not proceed and the proposed block of flats should be built on another site. As a member of the Save Our Station group, I urge the state government to renegotiate the contract with the developer so that Ballarat’s historic railway precinct becomes a 21st century transport hub accessible to all.
Maureen Myers, Lake Wendouree.
What a great Heritage Weekend we had in Ballarat.
From the horses and carriages, the Tweed Ride, the various stands and displays, the steam wagon, the Cemetery tours, the steam train and lots more, all one can do is congratulate all who were involved in this great weekend. Ballarat was again at its best.
However, with many cameras, videos and filming the steam train at the Railway Station I again noted that Vic Track and/or V Line have done nothing by way of maintenance of our precious railway heritage assets adjacent to the Lydiard Street gates. The signal gantry and various rail masts etc are being allowed to fall to pieces (or maybe it is planned demolition by neglect).
With tens of millions of dollars being wasted around the proposed re-development of the railway yards why is it that those responsible for maintenance of these Heritage Assets are hiding in the cupboard with their eyes closed. Then again I have a suspicion that they too have been told to shut up and do nothing.
Last weekend proved that Ballarat has a unique asset at our railway station and this must be preserved for future generations.
As I have stated in previous correspondence in The Courier cities and communities around the nation would give their right arm to have these unique assets in their communities but our State Government could not give a stuff and are letting this history being left to rot.
And on the issue of the State Government, from the articles on page 3 of The Courier, Saturday 26th May, it would appear that Premier Daniel Andrews is cracking under the pressure of criticism.
Firstly, I see no reason why he should give crabby comments in reply to the stated fact that there are 18 less uniformed policing resources placed in Ballarat whilst school girls have been filmed on video being bashed in Ballarat. Sometimes the truth hurts.
Secondly, for the Premier to ‘hit out’ at our regional Mayors and Shire Presidents for stating facts and lobbying for asset improvements to our rail structure, much of which is still tired and out of date, is nothing short of insult and mis-representation as he attempted to reply to their comments. The Ballarat Rail Action Committee made up of Ballarat, Brimbank, Melton, Ararat and Pyrenees councils deserve a pat on the back for their endeavours in looking after the travelling public throughout our region.
Paul Jenkins, Alfredton.