Could the plan for Byron Council to take over the old stationmaster’s cottage and the train station building in Mullumbimby be cruelled by contamination issues on both sites?
This was the concern raised at last week’s Council meeting, bringing renewed questions about the future of the historic structures.
For years, members of the community have lobbied Council and the NSW government over the future of the two buildings, arguing that they should be retained for their heritage value, and potentially made available for use by local charities and community organisations.
Led by the Mullumbimby Chamber of Commerce and the Brunswick Valley Historical Society, the campaign submitted a large petition to Council last week, calling for them to retain and restore the two buildings.
The favoured option is for the NSW government to gift the two properties to Byron Council, which would then be responsible for their management, upkeep and the provision of leases into the future.
Contamination
But last Thursday’s meeting heard that a thorough, independent investigation into contamination issues at both sites was needed before Council would agree to any takeover of the sites.
This was required because the stationmaster’s cottage was contaminated with lead, and the station buildings contained asbestos and may also lie on soil that contains large quantities of degraded coal tailings.
‘The levels of lead far exceed what is supposed to be in a living environment,’ Mayor Sarah Ndiaye said of the stationmaster’s cottage.
‘We need to make sure that it’s safe before any community groups are housed there.’
It became apparent during the meeting that Council’s experience with contamination at the former Mullumbimby Hospital site has made it particularly wary of taking over such sites without doing its own due diligence.
‘We can’t afford to find ourselves in a similar situation as we did with Mullum Hospital, where the contamination report that we received [from NSW Health] said remediation would cost between $300,000 and $400,000, and it ended up costing us between five and six million.
‘I’m very cautious to leap into something without having all the details, because it’s incumbent on us when we’re making these decisions that, as a cash-strapped council, we’re not creating more problems for ourselves.
‘It may be that we end up with an answer that we don’t necessarily want.’
Nevertheless, Council reiterated its earlier support for taking control of both sites at last week’s meeting.
A unanimous motion by councillors states that Council would do ‘everything in its power to retain, control and restore’ the stationmaster’s house and the train station building. Discussion is now in full swing regarding how this area of rail corridor, which does not include the heritage buildings, might be used.
Current uses being considered include up to 150 parking spaces and accessible open space.
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