Member for Gosford Liesl Tesch has vowed to work with Minister for Crown Lands Steve Kamper to salvage as much as possible of the historic Empire Bay boatshed and to commit to a more transparent process.
“The boatshed is a vital element of the Central Coast’s marine heritage as a symbol of the long history of boatbuilding on the Central Coast,” she said.
“Over a century old and owning the title of the third building ever built in Empire Bay, this important site has been left neglected by the previous tenants and has continued to decay.”
Tesch said it was “bitterly disappointing” that the former State Government did not take advantage of the opportunity to salvage the boatshed during its 12 years in government.
Tesch said she had been in discussions with Minister Kamper.
“He understands the historical significance of the boatshed and the environmental and public health impacts it poses,” she said.
“Crown Lands has engaged a heritage consultant to document the site and work with the community to salvage part of this historically significant location.
“We are concerned about ensuring some historical value can be salvaged.
“The boat shed is listed on the Central Coast Local and Environment Plan as an important element of our Brisbane Water marine heritage and our local community deserves proper consultation, including access to heritage reports undertaken.
“I am glad that Crown Lands has committed to make these reports publicly accessible.”
Despite a huge community campaign to salvage the original boatshed building, Crown Lands remains convinced it has to go.
Empire Bay Heritage Boat Shed Association spokesperson Errol Baker said the 300+ members of the group had held several gatherings on site, the latest of which was on July 22, and had had their own advice from a structural engineer that the boatshed could be saved safely.
He also accused Crown Lands of lack of transparency.
But a spokesperson said Crown Lands has met previously with the Empire Bay Boatshed Association and the Empire Bay Progress Association and had discussions and correspondence on why the boatshed needs to be removed.
“The community is regularly updated with fact sheets available on the Department’s website and with letter box drops,” the spokesperson said.
“Expert advice from structural engineers is that the boatshed is dilapidated, structurally unsound, in danger of collapse, and access should be strictly prohibited in and around it for public safety.
“The structure is defective, does not meet Australian standards and needs to be removed to allow site remediation.”
The spokesperson said the marina site has been declared significantly contaminated by the EPA, requiring its cleanup.
“Contaminants onsite include tributyltin (TBT), hydrocarbons, metals (copper, lead, nickel, zinc and mercury) and asbestos warranting regulation under the Contaminated Land Management Act 1997,” he said.
“The dilapidated structures need to be removed to allow for full and safe access to the site to remove underground fuel tanks, undertake further contamination testing beneath the structures, and then associated remediation.
“Crown Lands has engaged a heritage consultant to assess the heritage significance and document the boatshed and make recommendations on archiving, recording and identifying any items that could potentially be salvaged and made available for interpretive reuse or memorialisation.
“Once completed, this document will be made available on the department’s website.”
The spokesperson said engineers reports on the site were available on the department website at https://www.crownland.nsw.gov.au/whats-happening/notifications/empire-bay-marina
Terry Collins