Options for station considered
• Scottsdale Rotary’s Rodney Martin welcomes Mayor Greg Howard to the railway station information session.
By Tony Scott,
November 03, 2021
An information session at the old Scottsdale Railway Station attracted more questions than answers regarding the future of the severely vandalised building.
About 40 people attended the evening hosted by the Scottsdale Rotary Club including a bring-your-own barbecue.
Rotary had signalled its interest in developing the site as some form of tourism facility when the North-East Rail Trail was first mooted.
Dorset Council is holding a sum of $25,000 to help any redevelopment get underway.
But Rotary foundation director Rod Martin said given the extent of the damage the work needed might be beyond Rotary’s capacity.
“We had been prepared to match the funds available, but really that’s not going to go far.”
Most people made an inspection of the heritage-listed building’s interior and were shocked at the extent of damage, despite the structure being relatively solid.
Rotary Club president Shane Roach said the original intention had been to provide facilities for visitors probably starting with toilets, which could fit in with suggestion for the area close by to be designated for overnight stays by recreational vehicles.
He said the club could still be interested if it were made available.
Mayor Greg Howard said Rotary had been prevented from doing anything with the building by Tasrail up until 18 months ago when the Council was appointed manager, but not the owner, of the rail corridor, including the station.
“We’ve got no hard and fast ideas of what might be done with it.
“We really are open to suggestions.
“It’s quite a strategic space in the middle of town.
“To have an RV park here would probably be better for the town than Northeast Park because it’s a good flat walk to the shopping area, or the brewery or the pubs for a meal.”
Councillor Howard said he was impressed with a plan for the area developed by local resident Cheryl Brown nearly 20 years ago, though it would probably require Federal government funding to establish.
He said clarification of the rail trail could help give more certainty to the building’s potential uses.
A decision on the appeal against the Council’s approval of the trail is expected this month.
Some of those at the session were supporters of retaining the railway rather than the rail trail.
Some suggested turning the station into a museum for rail memorabilia and said they would be interested in volunteering to support the building.