Sharing the reins
- Jamie Kronborg
- 22 hours ago
- 3 min read
COMMUNITY UPDATE # 2
Thanks to so many in the community for supporting our pitch for temporary use of the long-empty, secure railway goods shed to house Beechworth's historic horse-drawn carriage collection.
With the National Trust of Australia (Victoria), we've identified at least eight vehicles from Beechworth, the North East and Border, plus others from the district, to remain here. With these, our ambition is to tell the story of HORSEPOWER! - the fundamental contribution of the horse to the 1850s goldrush, migration, transport on the plateau and Beechworth's economic, social and cultural development.
While our not-for-profit society makes plans for HORSEPOWER!, we've been on the hunt for a temporary home for this important collection. We've talked with estate agents and property-owners with sheds. And we asked Indigo Shire Council about possible use of Beechworth’s former railway goods shed as a provisional home.
Works that cost taxpayers and ratepayers about $590,000* were completed on the shed in June 2020. It has since remained empty. There is no prospective tenant. Two expressions of interest to let it commercially have failed. It’s secure. Storage is allowed under the planning scheme. There’s ample space for 10 vehicles. And it meets the National Trust's requirements.
So we asked Indigo not for funding, just temporary use of this big, empty, dry, lock-able shed for vehicles including the Edwards’ famed hearse, O’Neils’ omnibus, Bateman (Larkin) piano box buggy, Bill Drever’s farmer’s buggy waggonette, Warner family spring dray, and McGuinness family sulky.
Indigo's executive management team answered 'No'.
It says the goods shed is a ‘strategically important facility’ and unsuitable for the preservation of heritage items. (The council has used the shed for an extended period to store important colonial, purpose-built furniture from listed heritage buildings.)
Indigo also questions the stamina of a community group like ours to raise and maintain the volunteer effort to manage the carriage collection.
And it says the shed should only be offered for use through an open assessment process because it’s a council asset. We could respond but the council's not advertised any calls for interest. That's why we asked directly.
Our approach to Indigo has been constructive and positive. The council’s executive team didn’t support keeping these carriages in Beechworth. It didn't stand with its community. We think our ask has been fair and reasonable. Everyone we talk with in our community, including Beechworth Secondary College, is stoked about taking a role in saving and activating this significant collection. Our next step? Finding it a temporary home in Beechworth so we can work on our permanent housing plan.
We’ve asked our elected councillors what they’ll do to support our ambition. Thanks, Jane Dowsley, for your initial response.
We'd be grateful for the community's voice, too. Can you ask them?
Greg Bourke
Call / text 0476 479 025
Jane Dowsley
Call / text 0417 112 712
John Harvey
Call / text 0429 929 283
Roberta Horne
Call / text 0404 343 699
Scott Landells
Call / text 0480 787 131
Sophie Price
Call / text 0400 651 848
Diane Shepheard
Call / text 0428 115 213
Thank you.
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Images: Beechworth railway goods shed empty interior (March 2026), O'Neil family's cypher on the Stanley omnibus, Hines' Butchery Christmas greeting card (outside what is now Eldorado Road's cantina, Bridge Road Brewers and Vino Bar Beechworth)
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