Council & Business
31 October, 2022
Stage two of the station activation project to get underway with contract awarded
The second stage of a multi-million dollar project to turn the Maryborough Railway Station into a visitor and activity hub will soon commence, with a contract for works awarded. Central Goldfields Shire councillors moved at last Tuesday’s ordinary...
The second stage of a multi-million dollar project to turn the Maryborough Railway Station into a visitor and activity hub will soon commence, with a contract for works awarded.
Central Goldfields Shire councillors moved at last Tuesday’s ordinary council meeting to award the second stage of the project, with a budget of $2 million, to Barpa Pty Ltd.
The project, according to council, will build on initial improvement works undertaken at the station in March 2021, including the relocation of the Central Goldfields Visitor Information Centre.
The second stage of the project will see the information centre’s interior refurbished as well as new entrance doors, provision of a creative art space in the northern end of the building, an expansion of the co-working space to include a meeting space, all abilities access at the platform/ground floor and landscaping works, according to the report tabled to council.
Stage two of the project is funded with $1.8 million through the Victorian Government’s Stronger Regional Communities Program and a $200,000 contribution by council.
Speaking during Tuesday’s meeting, councillor Geoff Lovett said the project would help signify Maryborough’s historic standing, which was important given the project to secure a World Heritage listing in the Central Victorian Goldfields.
“I’m more than happy to move this motion that Barpa be awarded this contract, it’s very important we keep the momentum going with regards to the station activation process,” he said.
“Particularly with the world heritage listing that is looming, that I am personally confident will be successful, we must be ready and we must put our flag in the sand to be a part of it.
“Having moved the motion, there were some aspects of the tender process that required clarification and may result in a possible future revision of those processes, but I am more than happy to move the motion.”
According to the report tabled to council, the tender for stage two of the works received two submissions, with Barpa Pty Ltd scoring the highest against council’s evaluation criteria as well as presenting a works schedule with the lowest cost to council.
The initial responses from both tenderers were significantly over budget, which the report states was not unexpected due to market volatility, with a revision of the project’s scope meaning both tenders were within budget.
The report states that following this review, furniture items in various spaces and staff toilet upgrades for the Visitor Information Centre were removed from the works package.
The project forms one of council’s priority projects and is a key feature in both the organisation’s tourism and events and economic development strategies, something Mayor Chris Meddows-Taylor highlighted at the meeting.
“We didn’t just dream the issue up of the Maryborough station, this has its origins in council’s tourism and events strategy as well as the economic development strategy,” he said.
Council lodged an application with Heritage Victoria to get the ball rolling on stage two of the activation project works, with one of the items including an external glazed enclosure running between the cafe and information centre.
Cr Meddows-Taylor clarified that while the enclosure was not included in the second stage of works, it did not mark a “failure”.
“Any changes to the Maryborough station, because of its heritage classifications, require approval by Heritage Victoria and that process was handled remarkably well,” he said.
“There were a couple of things in that process and one of them was a possible future project which would see an enclosure on the platform for dining.
“Heritage Victoria said to us that we might want to resubmit that again and I’m sure that we will at the appropriate time.
“That’s part of what a responsible authority does, it’s part of what we do with planning applications — it’s not a failure or something we got wrong, it’s part of the process that happens in negotiations.
“I wanted to correct that because I think there is misinformation out in the community about that process.
“We will gladly come back to Heritage Victoria with those proposals when it’s appropriate to do so.”