Many verandahs in Henty’s main street “pose a danger to pedestrians” and must come down as soon as possible.
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This was the recommendation made to Greater Hume Council by Wright Barrat Civil and Structural Engineers, in their assessment of the structures along Sladen Street.
The verandahs fronting the library, craft store, pharmacy, hairdresser and newsagency all need to be “demolished as soon as possible” and rebuilt to a standard of the structure adjoining the library.
Four others on the street – in total, covering 40 per cent of the footpath in the Henty shopping strip – face a similar fate or need upgrades.
The assessment was commissioned by council in line with the Henty Streetscape project, with works on footpaths and underground drainage to commence in early July.
The total cost of the verandah replacement could be in the vicinity of $100,000 to $150,000.
Normally, the building owners would bear the full cost, but engineering director Greg Blackie recommended on Wednesday council fund the works initially, with the owners being billed for their portion of work upon completion.
These landowners would then be subsidised up to $2000 per property from council’s local heritage places establishment grant program.
Deputy mayor Doug Meyer questioned the subsidy, saying it should be higher.
“It’s been raised to me by some of the owners, that going back prior to 2004, a lot of those people wanted to do their verandahs up and were precluded from doing so by council and the heritage advisor they employed,” he said.
“They are quite uptight, now that suddenly they’re being forced to spend the money they wanted to spend 20 years ago.
“Why should the $2000 amount that was determined then, be the same today – that hasn’t kept pace with inflation.”
General manager Steven Pinnuck said indexation on government grants and other factors meant the heritage fund was limited.
“At the moment there’s only about $40,000 there … this is going to take a reasonable chunk of the remaining funds,” he said.
Cr Denise Osborne questioned whether the proposal would “open a Pandora’s box” given there were other towns across the shire with old verandahs.
“I’m worried council will be placed in the position where should this occur in any other community, it will be used as a precedent to have us do exactly the same thing,” she said.
Councillors voted unanimously to meet building owners and provide upfront funding to contract out the work, with owners able to repay the cost of their proportion over three years.