Bid to save Coach House

CARDINIA Shire Council is seeking legal advice in an effort to prevent the Old Coach House in Kenilworth Avenue, Beaconsfield, from being demolished.
Cardinia general manager planning and development Phil Walton told councillors of the pending legal advice at Monday night’s council meeting in answer to questions by Central Ward councillor Brett Owen about significant heritage building.
Council received an application to demolish the building on 26 November 2006 from the developer who is subdividing the land on which the Old Coach House sits for housing blocks.
Mr Walton said the legal advice would centre on the definition of the word “retain” which was used in the Section 173 agreement drawn up by the developers lawyers and signed off by council in June 2005.
Mr Walton said initial verbal advice indicated the developer had not breached the Section 173 agreement as the building was still on the site.
Mr Walton said council’s lawyers have been instructed investigate other cases where Section 173 agreements had used the word “retain” in relation to heritage buildings before presenting their advice in writing.
Central Ward councillor Bill Ronald said, in council, he believed the developer had a moral obligation to honour the intent of the agreement and restore the building.
The heritage listed Old Coach House was used in the 1900s as a laundry for the nearby Berry Street Foundling Home.
Local residents have expressed their concerns that the building has been left to fall into disrepair.