Community & Business
8 April, 2025
Ruby to get her own home
AN historic steam engine will have its own building and become a tourism asset for the Tolga Historical Society despite Tablelands Regional Council officers’ recommendation to reject the proposal to build a new structure on council land to house the old machine.
The steam engine, affectionately known as Ruby, was originally installed at the Atherton Silo site in 1925 and was involved in transporting maize for around 70 years.
The historical society intends to fund the construction of the new shed but because the facility would be built on council land, the council would then have to add it to its asset register, meaning council would have to fund depreciation, insurance and disposal costs.
A council report explained why officers recommended rejecting the proposal.
“As part of Council’s asset management improvement objectives, council developed and adopted a Community Facilities Strategy 2019-2029, which set out the principles for future planning of its community facilities, contemplating asset renewals and new infrastructure,” the report stated.
“Having a planned approach minimises the risk of opportunity loss, such as unplanned or forced capital expenditure on failing or surplus assets.
“While there may be a desire to upgrade every facility within the region, this is not a sustainable option for any responsible asset owner, given external funding levels and the community’s ability to pay.”
“The strategy defined the rate of provision for each facility within an activity centre type. Tolga is deemed a village activity centre as per the strategy. In accordance with the strategy, a museum is not a provision that aligns with a village activity centre and as such a provision for new assets are not recommended for approval.”
Before the item came up for consideration by the council at the meeting, historical society members Margo Watkins and John Hardy told the council why supporting the shed construction to display the steam engine would be beneficial to the whole area, citing the growing appetite for cultural tourism.
“Travellers are seeking more authentic experiences these days, they want to connect with local community, they want to get involved with culture and get a rich understanding of each place,” Ms Watkins said.
“So this is not only about a local asset that’s really important and has strong history connections but could also potentially bring an even greater number of cultural tourism visitors to our region.”
When the item came up for discussion, Cr Kevin Cardew told the council he did not agree with the estimated “whole life” costs of $298,653 for council over the next 50 years which included annual maintenance ($77,826), total annual operations ($181,593) and estimated disposal costs at the end of the useful life of the asset ($39,234).
None of the councillors supported the officer’s recommendation, so Cr Cardew moved an alternative resolution to support the project.
“Where we have not for profit organisations such as the Tolga Historical Society - and we have lots of them - are financially sustainable, they do everything themselves, don’t ask for handouts from anyone, especially council, and look after their assets, build their assets, and provide a community tourism asset which is well received, I am more than happy to support those groups,” he said.
“We should be supporting those types of community groups. When we have minor projects like this come to council, we should be bending over backwards to help these people, and not putting bureaucratic brick walls in front of them.”
Cr Dave Bilney said he accepted the rationale behind the community facilities strategy but supported the historical society’s shed proposal.
“In this case, the museum was in existence before the strategy was completed. If it was a greenfield site, it would have a stronger validity,” he said.
“For me, this is a natural expansion of the museum and does provide the opportunity to showcase something that’s very important in the Tablelands history.”
He said the steam engine was located in the Silo Shopping Centre for many years and when it was removed, the community had concerns as to where the engine would be housed.
The council unanimously agreed to allow the historical society to build the new shed for the steam engine.
