FFF 67. Friday facts & fotos Friday 3rd November 2023
What is H1000?
Many people have asked how the Heritage Listed section of the former Newport Railway Workshops came about, what it is currently used for and what its future may be.
In 1994 Heritage Victoria completed a study with identified the workshop as “Historically Significant” and placed a section (approximately 50 acres) of the workshop shop site on the Victorian Heritage register giving it the reference of H1000.
If you would like to read the details about H 1000, click on this link to Heritage Victoria – https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/…/download-report
The National Trust of Victoria has also classified the Newport Railway Workshops, stating that: “The magnitude and variety of buildings, industrial processes, and trade skills practiced at this site and the extensive collection of working machinery, qualifies the workshops to be of prime national importance.”
The Hobson Bay City Council (HBCC) has also listed Newport Workshops as heritage buildings (H03) under their planning scheme. HBCC have passed a motion to fully support our views about keeping Newport for heritage rail activities.
The attached map shows the boundaries of the heritage area. However, it should be noted that less than half of this area is being used for heritage rail activity. The remaining area in H 1000 is either used for modern rail activities, and government storage or not available to heritage groups (eg East Block building and yards). At present Steamrail, 707 Operations and DERMPAV occupy West Block. Their lease which finished in 2020 is currently being renegotiated and it is likely to be for five years. After that the future of Newport is unknown
The Newport Railway Workshops Preservation Group Inc. was formed to represent the views of many thousands of Victorians that want Newport kept for heritage rail use and designated by the Government as a “Heritage Rail Precinct”. Such a precinct should be available to all heritage rail groups, including the Railway Museum.
If you feel strongly about keeping heritage rail at Newport, please tell your local state member, Member for Williamstown and/or Minister for Transport.
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