A solution for the Chalet …
What's happened to this 'icon' is a crying shame but our council needs to get on the front foot and DEMAND action - like kicking Burbank out and just getting it re-opened, anyway it can be.
Get rid of Burbank and re-open it for ‘day use’ only
With all the carry-on about the closure of the historic (and magnificent) Mt Buffalo Chalet perhaps there’s a simple solution that would see it preserved AND put back to a viable use as a tourist attraction.
I don’t know about you but I’m pretty sick & tired of the continual half-hearted efforts of our Alpine council to lobby the State Government to have the Chalet re-opened for accommodation. That is simply not going to happen and the pathetic pleas of our council are merely paying lip service to this ongoing problem. What the council SHOULD be doing is showing some real leadership and putting forward a viable alternative option.
After all, it’s this area that is most affected by the two-year closure and ’dispute’ between the State Government and the current lessee, Burbank Property Group.
Re-opening the chalet for accommodation purposes is nothing more than a pipe dream. It’s fairly obvious that the existing guest facilities are so far out of date that the only way they could return to viable use would be if the Chalet were substantially re-built, which means all but destroying the existing structure …. and we simply should never allow that to happen. So here is my solution to this two-year saga that looks like dragging on for several more years:
End Burbank’s lease. It’s only got another 6 years to run and it seems very clear that the building & development company Burbank Property Group have no intentions of running the Chalet in its present state and/or preserving this historic asset. They obviously want to rebuild it – probably in tilt-up concrete walls - and turn it into a 180 room+ tacky & tasteless resort, but only if the Government gives them a 100 year lease AND only if the Government installs expensive electricity and sewerage infrastructure. Er, get stuffed, a 100 year lease would be tantamount to giving Burbank freehold ownership of this magnificent icon … for nothing! No, I don’t think we should let these two builder brothers of ordinary looking suburban homes in the western suburbs of Melbourne desecrate this national treasure. It’s time to tell Burbank to piss off er, kindly leave.
Spruce it up. The State Government could easily restore the external facade, the magnificent gardens and a few other features for not much more than $1-$2 million and no, don’t bother with connection to the national electricity grid or sewerage, all that needs to be done is to make it look more presentable to the general public. Why do we want people to stay up there anyway? Isn’t it better if they stay in places like Bright and then just travel up for a day visit? Of course it is.
Establish a public not-for-profit company to run it. If you’ve never been inside the Chalet you’ve really missed something. It’s from another era and has wonderful rooms, lounges, bars, a ballroom, etc. It’s the sort of thing that tourists would gladly pay a dollar (or two) just to look around. Open up the bar and Manfield’s Cafe (what a fantastic room that is!) and I’m sure it’ll raise enough money to meet its ongoing maintenance costs. Again, forget about running it as an accommodation building, that’s where the prohibitive costs come into it – it costs a fortune to heat and maintain the bedroom suites.
Run a tourist bus service from Bright. A lot of people don’t like driving up the mountain so I’m sure a ‘guided’ bus tour would be a viable thing. Hmm, maybe one of our existing ‘butt-kicking dynamos’ running tours in the area might want to pick up on that little idea.
And finally,
Investigate (seriously investigate) the establishment of a gondola running from the base to the top of the gorge. Er, this is so obviously needed I’m staggered it hasn’t been (seriously) put on the table yet. A gondola going up the Mt Buffalo gorge would soon become one of Australia’s most significant tourist attractions … and we’d all benefit.
So there it is Mayor Mautone. You said that the re-opening of the Mt Buffalo Chalet is your “biggest priority”. Maybe it’s time you (and the rest of the council) stopped pussy-footing around and started making a real noise (and a difference!)
Promoting 'Beautiful Bright'.
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I think your ideas for the Chalet are quite sound. It is sad to see these historic buildings go to waste and eventually crumble because it no longer meets habitation standards.
Surely it is gazetted by the National Trust – it should be. It could become an historical tour site for the whole district – maybe one room dedicated to the tobacco industry, another to early settlement etc. Of course, the hoards of tourists need to be fed so commercialisation of the restaurant(s) is certainly in order. Keep pushing Ray!
Concur with much of what you have written Raymond. It’s nice to know that Nino is a closet reader of your blog.
Have you considered formalising this in the form of a letter to the Alpine Shire Executive and Councillors so that it warrants a formal reply? Am interested in the developing dialogue.
Just keeping it on the blog doesn’t ensure it goes any further.
Yes Greg, but I think the “room dedicated to the tobacco industry” might be out of the question!
Thanks Baldrick, I think the answer is screamingly obvious. The Chalet hasn’t been a viable operation since it was taken away from Vic Rail (who had a sort-of captured market, being their massive work force) and put out for private operation. But it’s always been popular with day trippers. We took some people up there recently (they thought it had been burnt down in the bushfires!) and even though it’s fenced off there were still about 50 or 60 people wandering around. Adopt my suggestion and you can multiply that figure by 10 or 20 – daily!
As for “formalising this in the form of a letter to the Alpine Shire Executive and Councillors”, it’s a good idea but I won’t be doing it. Why would they listen to someone who has run for council 3 times and missed out? The people have got the council they deserve and it’s not my place to help the ‘magnificent 7′ do their job.
Sounds like a dummy spit there. And you’re negativity towards the Shire shouldn’t preclude a formal letter that requires a formal response. At least it would regenerate debate.
Logically, what weight does that statement have, because you have been unsuccessful in running for council means you have no vaild arguments or you’re treated as a joke. If that is the case you might as well close the blog altogether as your arguments would be considered by others as tripe. Taking your bat and balls as well?
It’s not a ‘dummy spit’, Baldrick, it’s just based on my experience. Let me explain:
I’ve put forward suggestions to council before and some of them have (on the surface) been taken seriously, such as the reinvigoration of the Bright Future works including the makeover of the clock tower area. However, my experience is that the responses are more like lip service and while the administration might agree with me the bottom line is that the councillors resent any idea I put forward. They’re also decidely anti-progress, which doesn’t help. So it’s a waste of good time & effort (not to mention extremely frustrating) to keep putting things forward to a bunch of ‘go nowheres’.
But as for closing the blog, well, why? I enjoy it and so do a few others by the looks of it. There’s nothing wrong with stating your opinion. There’s also no reason why others cannot pick up on my ideas and submit them. You’re welcome to do so.
Maybe the Chambers of Commerce should start writing to the shire & applying pressure.
I for one will push this at the next Myrtleford Chamber meeting.
That’s great, Noel. And you’re right, it’s more the place of groups like the Chambers of Commerce to lobby council for action & changes. I won’t hold my breath waiting for Bright’s Chamber to put forward a viable solution but I’m sure the Myrtleford Chamber will listen to common sense.
Raymond, this is your idea. Are you adverse to the notion that you place a version of this post in the local rag to encourage debate?
There may be a cohort within this village and surrounds who don’t see the “positive” suggestions and equate your views in the past as being negative and reactionary.
I can’t see any deleterious outcomes with launching this, just voicing your thoughts knowing full well that many people are wishing for the Chalet to be given back to the people (sorry I’m swept up in the Obama oratory)
Perhaps the State Gvt is to call an election soon, and it wanting to win the Greens Votes? Thus stalling the decision and not responding to Council.
Hang on, the Council has been on Holidays…………. so maybe the Gvt has been trying to contact Council?! Hope their answering machine has been on.
Well, according to the council’s advertisement in today’s Observer, the new councillors have been “in training”! i.e. they’re being told ‘the rules’.
As for the Govt & Greens votes, I don’t subscribe to the theory that the reluctance to resolve the Mt Buffalo dispute has anything to do with presssure from environmentalists.
I’m more inclined to believe it’s pressure from the Alpine resorts like Hotham & Falls Creek, who don’t want to see Buffalo opened up as any kind of viable tourist alternative. Let’s face it, Buffalo is closer to Melbourne (and Bright) and the Govt is very beholden to the wishes of the RMBs, for some ‘obscure’ reason.
So it’s “YES WE CAN” then, Baldrick?
Seriously, as Noel suggests, it’s only through groups like the Chamber that any real impact or ‘noise’ can be made. Even then, it’s like trying to wake up the dead. Sometimes I take solace in the fact that my ideas are NOT accepted around here and that I’m not ‘electable’, if you get my drift.
Yes Ray you are so right about the Chalet. I worked there in the mid nineties and have been saying what you suggested for years. It was not a viable business back then.
If run as a day trip destination much like Stately Homes etc in the UK it would be a even better draw card for the region.
I hope the powers that be seriously look into this idea as it would be such a shame to see a piece of Victoria’s History fall into total disrepair
In all my nearly 30 years of residence in this area, nothing comes remotely close to the grace and grandeur of the Chalet and surrounds.
I have proudly taken many overseas and domestic visitors to the Chalet and each and every one of them has marvelled at the old world charm. This truly is a jewel in the crown of our region and it is a travesty that it is denied us.
Wouldn’t it be great to have Bob Adams as a spearhead for the campaign and publicity to galvanise support to place some pressure on the relevant authorities.
Without community support and pressure it ain’t going anywhere though is it, hence the impetus of Chamber of Commerce etc would be worthwhile.
Raymond get the letter into the paper, nothing to lose son
Sorry I didn’t respond to your latest comment on this earlier, Baldrick, I must have missed it.
I hear what you’re saying but I’ve probably put ‘one too many’ letters in the paper over the years and it’s reached the point where I’m just regarded as a nuisance/complainer/bleeter and the bottom line is, “if Dixon says it then just ignore it.”
You might see that as ‘sour grapes’ or a ‘dummy spit’ but I can tell you that the only way you get to have any kind of voice around here is if you’ve got a substantial and credible organised group behind you (which counts Save Bright out straight away on the ‘credibility’ front!)
Seriously, I’d do it but I’d be banging my head against a brick wall – again. I mean, do you really believe for one moment that our current Mayor would (a) recognise the common sense and essential urgency of this proposal and (b) be able to coherently and stridently put the case forward to the Government in a forthright manner? I don’t.
I’ll just keep writing about things here and hope that the message finally gets through to those who count (by osmosis, I guess)
[...] I’ve previously written (HERE), I think the best and most expedient solution would [...]