The former police residence has been an iconic part of Terralong Street for more than a century. Photo: Supplied.
An old police residence on Kiama’s main stretch which has become overgrown and dilapidated has caused concern among councillors who are calling for the State Government to support the landowners in repairing and restoring the property.
The historic building in the heart of Kiama, which has sat unused for more than a decade, is starting to become an eyesore.
“Unfortunately now the gutters are falling down, trees are growing inside the property, there’s ferns growing on top of the property, the grass is long, you’d be risking snakes in there, the place is in a seriously dilapidated state,” Kiama Councillor Matt Brown said.
“I think it’s concerning for everybody that we have such a beautiful old building, many of us who have lived here for some time have grown up with, and seeing this building in some state.”
The structure was one of the earliest public buildings constructed in Kiama, originally built in 1863 with extensions made in 1902, and has become an iconic part of the Terralong Street landscape.
The ownership of the site recently shifted from the State Government to the Illawarra Local Aboriginal Lands Council, but the process isn’t so clear cut.
“They put in a successful claim to the land, they are effectively the owner but they have not yet been given the keys,” Cr Brown said.
“They haven’t been able to do any work on that property, let alone look at what future that property could have, but they are saying it requires between two and three million dollars.
“While these legal proceedings are taking place, the property is deteriorating further and further.”
Council is calling on the State Government to help support the transition, voting to write to the new local member Katelin McInerney in collaboration with the Aboriginal Land Council requesting funding be secured for the site.
“I think it’s important if we are to, as a state, to divest an asset to a Local Land Council, then we should be able to give that asset in a good and fit and proper state, rather than one where the poor asset is deteriorating along the way,” Cr Brown said.
“I’m asking us to simply write to the local MP and try and work out a way forward in this complicated legal situation where we find ourselves in.”
“While so much of our LGA is being improved, has got capital being expended on it, there are still these plots of land, these assets that are stuck in this intergovernmental stalemate,” Cr Mike Cains said.
“I think it’s absolutely appropriate as councillors that we advocate for the government to assist us in making sure that we don’t continue to have further dilapidation of these buildings which occupy prime real estate in our magnificent town.”
It is hoped the building can once again have a purpose within the community.
“I’d really like to see some action happen and some money spent on this residence so it’s future owner is able to do something with it in supporting and benefiting Aboriginal people, especially Aboriginal people here on the South Coast,” Cr Brown said.
To read the full motion and decision, visit the Kiama Municipal Council website.
