Plans to save a 155-year-old bluestone cottage, destined for demolition to make way for the Barwon Heads Road duplication, have fallen on deaf ears, according to campaigners.
Major Road Projects Victoria (MRPV) plans to demolish the structure, stating it “may” reuse “some of the materials” to “honour the cottage’s history”.
But Marshall Bluestone Cottage Community Group instead urged the authority to carefully dismantle the structure and reconstruct it on nearby public land.
“When you’ve got a fabulous icon, it doesn’t makes sense to reduce it to rubble,” group president Virginia Johnson said.
“It isn’t enough that they might use some of the materials. They have not heard us at all.”
The pioneering McAteer family built the bluestone cottage at the corner of Tannery and Barwon Heads roads in 1866.
Ms Johnson said her group supported the duplication but opposed taking a “wrecking ball” to the cottage.
“Very little remains of Marshall’s early-European settlement heritage, so our group of more than 50 locals believes this modest place is an important landmark that’s truly worth saving.”
Three Geelong council heritage studies recognised the cottage as “significant” and stated it should be preserved where possible.
But according to MRPV the cottage is not included on the Victorian Heritage Register or any Greater Geelong Planning Scheme heritage overlay.
MRPV asserts that the state of cottage’s roof, floor timbers and internal brickwork prevent a relocation that maintains its integrity.
The authority is instead developing a draft strategy including “heritage interpretive works” within Marshall Reserve, in consultation with Geelong council.
“We are working with local partners, including [Geelong council] to honour the cottage’s history within the community, which may include reusing some of its materials,” MRPV program director Tim Price said.
Mr Price said the authority had engaged extensively with the local community while planning the duplication and would continue to do so.
