Pyrenees Shire Council acting chief executive Doug Gowans said council had no current plans to purchase the site which acted as a school for more than 150 years. 

It is understood a group of community members are developing plans to use the facilities for community activities like art, education and space for community groups, while preserving its historical significance. 

The old primary school site is not currently subject to heritage protection, but Pyrenees Shire Council has requested a heritage overlay be applied. 

The request was supported by a heritage assessment report completed in April which recommended a heritage overlay for specific buildings and areas of the former school. 

The report identifies the site as both ‘socially’ and ‘aesthetically’ significant for the Beaufort community.

Community members have been in contact with Heritage Victoria to discuss the process of adding places to the Victorian Heritage Register, but no application has yet been made. 

Pyrenees Shire council acting chief executive Doug Gowans said council believed there was potential for developing or re-purposing the site.

“If a community use was identified and aligned with the Pyrenees Shire Council Plan and the Beaufort Community Action Plan, council may be interested if they were gifted the site or provided with adequate funding to restore the heritage assets on site,” he said. 

“Council appreciates the significance of the site and believes that the site could be developed for a range of uses including housing development, community open space and repurposed heritage assets.”

A Department of Education and Training spokesperson said the department will ‘continue discussion with council and other interested parties on how to best utilise the site in the future’. 

The heritage assessment report completed in April was on behalf of the Department of Treasury and Finance. 

The department is currently seeking to rezone the land prior to sale. 

The report recommends the original 1869 stone school building be retained on site and protected with an individual heritage overlay, along with the 1925 higher elementary school, memorial gates and the relocated Mt Rowan school and former cookery building. 

The school was erected as a common school, partly funded by the government and by local community fundraising in 1869. It was one of the earliest common schools erected in the state. 

It also recommends the whole allotment 11 Hill Street with the former Mt Rowan Primary School be protected with a heritage overlay. 

It was used as the cookery classroom at Beaufort Primary School for over 60 years. 

Beaufort Primary School relocated to Park Road near the Beaufort Secondary College in 2014. 

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