Council deems balcony at historic Tasmanian pub a risk to the public
The owners of a historic hotel in Tasmania’s Queenstown are battling the local council over the condition of the pub’s balcony
West Coast Council says the Hunters Hotel balcony is in "poor condition" and "poses a high risk to pedestrians", but co-owner Ralph Wildenauer is convinced the balcony can be repaired and said the report by engineers was "an educated guess" of its condition.
West Coast Council has issued an emergency order to have the balcony dismantled after the report "highlighted significant risks associated with the structure and determined that the most effective way to make the area safe was to dismantle the balcony".
"Following consultation with Heritage Tasmania it was confirmed that dismantling the structure, with careful documentation, would allow the restoration of the balcony in due course and provide a way for this important heritage structure to be preserved for future generations," Mayor Phil Vickers and general manager David Midson said in a joint statement.
The verandah flooring showed "numerous significant structural defects", an eastern room contained "floor boards rotted through" and holes in the roof had let in water "causing significant rotting/damage" to the floor structure, according to the report.
The report also said vegetation was growing in parts of the balcony, the verandah was out of alignment and a steel support column on the eastern end connected to the steel verandah beam was "in poor condition".
But Wildenauer has hit back, saying “it's not a detailed opinion” because the engineer was unable to fully assess the balcony because they could not inspect support beams covered by cladding.
"He's only surmising that there could be water damage," he told The Advocate.
"We've since removed the ceiling and apart from the beam we wanted to replace, we can't see any damage whatsoever.
"The support beams are either hard wood or King Billy Pine, which doesn't really rot, and I can see none of them that are compromised, apart from the one we want to replace and that's compromised because of a dodgy repair years ago and that's because they used pine."
Vickers and Midson said they have tried to work with the owners and inform them of “their obligations to protect the safety of the public”.
"It is our preference that the owners will act to ensure the safety of the public and to preserve this important structure,” they told The Advocate. “It is only if the owners fail to act that council will need to.”
The pub has organised a "Save the Balcony" fundraiser at the Queenstown Club on October 26.
Sheridan Randall, 22nd October 2019
