The City of Greater Bendigo has received 64 objections to an application to subdivide and remove native vegetation from the “iconic” Nanga Gnulle estate.
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The high number of objections, including a number from outside the region with fond memories of visiting the popular wedding venue’s gardens, mean the issue will now be decided by a vote of councillors.
Among the objectors is the son of original owners Rob and Peg Green, who spent 40 years developing the two-hectare block until age forced them to sell two years ago.
Rod Green, who grew up on the estate and married his wife Jane there in the first wedding to be hosted there, said the debate provided an opportunity for councillors to learn from mistakes of the past and preserve “a whole lot of Bendigo’s history wrapped up in one house”.
Mr Green said the reclaimed materials used to build Nanga Gnulle, including parts of the old Axedale railway bridge and View Street’s ANA Hall, would not survive a second demolition.
“By embedding those within Nanga Gnulle it’s actually containing history from that and a lot of other old magnificent structures,” he said.
“Council made a mistake back then by allowing those things to be demolished, whereas now they’ve got an opportunity to actually preserve Nanga Gnulle and all the history it encompasses, which means a hell of a lot, not just to me as a family member, I know I’ve got a special attachment to it, but to a whole lot of people in Bendigo.
“Who’s going to store bridge timber that weighs a couple of tonnes each? No one’s ever going to store that stuff.”
Leonard Tranter, who checked over the house as an inspector with the former State Electricity Commission when it was first built, also cited the historic materials used in the building’s construction, as well as the overall quality of the build, as reasons it should not be demolished.
“I just think it’s too good a property to be bulldozed out and put into a residential allotment,” he said.
“The architecture of the place is quite unique because around that time a lot of mud-brick houses were being built but some of them were pretty crumby, whereas this one was architecturally designed, it’s a pretty good sort of house.”
