IT was a dream come true for Genny Budas last Friday in Northam with a presentation from deputy leader of the Nationals, Mia Davies MLC.
The Minister visited the former Northam Railway Station, now a heritage centre, to hand over the new Conservation Management Strategy for the historic precinct, updating the original plan prepared 20 years ago.
“This is our blueprint for the future,” Ms Budas said, President of Northam Heritage Forum which manages the Heritage Centre – the Old Northam Railway Station.
“This updated document is essential to funding our way forward in promoting Northam’s history and culture,” she said.
The document was prepared by heritage and conservation consultant Laura Gray with funding through Royalties for Regions ($5000), administered by the Wheatbelt Development Commission and the Shire of Northam ($2500).
The comprehensive strategic plan states a “conservation management strategy is a necessary prerequisite for an understanding of the place, as an update to the conservation plan (1996), prior to continuing conservation works and future planning of the site.
“The place is highly valued by the community, both of the township and the wider agricultural district, for its former role as a transport interchange for passengers, produce, machinery and supplies … has high aesthetic value … and provides evidence of a significant period of industrial history in Western Australia.”
In accepting the plan from Minister Davies, Ms Budas quoted from its introductory paragraphs:
“The aim of the strategy is to retain the cultural significance of the place within future conservation, and must include provision for its security and maintenance.
“As the Shire of Northam’s Heritage and Cultural Consultant, Laura Gray was contracted to review the Conservation Plan. She has been in consultation with the Shire of Northam and its residents, gaining personal knowledge of Northam’s heritage and culture,” Ms Budas added.
“We wish to acknowledge grants received from the Wheatbelt Development Commission, Royalties for Regions and the Shire of Northam, to enable this important document to guide us in the future.”
The original conservation plan, prepared for the former Town of Northam in 1996, was outdated by changes in the ownership and administration of the station building, and the amalgamation of the Town and the Shire of Northam.
In 2010 Northam Heritage Forum Inc., an umbrella body for the non-for-profit groups occupying display rooms at the station, assumed management responsibility.
