Wall saga blocks road

December 16, 2015 dec16_4676 Carl Pfeiffer @CarlPfeiffer9 25 High Street, Gawler East (CC11/367). Council agreed to pay 50% of the total quoted cost of $4450 ($2225) in repairing the southern section of the Local Heritage Wall located at 25 High Street, Gawler East, and payment be made to the terms and conditions of the Gawler Historic Walls Grant Scheme. ========================= THE rapidly deteriorating condition of a heritage wall has forced Gawler Council to cordon it off from the public and close one direction of High Street. Work began to repair the wall several months ago following ongoing discussions between council and its owners, following six years of deliberations before reaching an agreement. However, the early hot weather this summer has taken its toll on the historic structure, which is now in such a state of disrepair that pieces of it regularly fall onto the High Street footpath and pose a danger for both vehicles and pedestrians. This has forced council to take action by installing heavy-duty bunting around the structure and implementing a temporary traffic light system to control vehicles which can now only utilise one lane of the two-way street. Council chief executive Henry Inat confirmed the landowner had engaged a stonemason to begin a trial technique on a portion of the wall. “If this is successful it will be applied to the rest of the wall,” he said. The trial technique has now been applied to a larger section of the wall, not because it was initially successful, but because rapid deterioration meant it was in danger of collapsing. At least a third of Gawler’s heritage walls are in need of urgent repair and, despite allocating money towards the issue, council appears no closer to solving the problem. Currently, there are more than 300 privately-owned heritage walls around the town, with at least 121 of those in need of repair. Council has committed $25,000 over the past two years through a competitive grant scheme to provide support to repair and restore the walls. The scheme involved wall-owners matching council’s grant contribution dollar for dollar. However, only six private owners have, so far, taken advantage of the scheme. ============================== Kerry Kezzen Haydon The ridiculousness of this is they make a huge fuss about their heritage wall yet just up calton road,on east terrace they've allowed a developer to knock down a building that has real historical signifigance to build pokey little units. The building, sold as a gentlemans bungalow, has been a nunnery a school building and has had james martin stay there but for a little profit and extra rates its been entirely demolished, no trace left. You wonder who these people know that they can get permission,from council to erase history in a matter of months, when it takes other property owners years to arrange to fix a wall. The ridiculousness of this is they make a huge fuss about their heritage wall yet just up calton road,on east terrace they've allowed a developer to knock down a building that has real historical signifigance to build pokey little units. The building, sold as a gentlemans bungalow, has been a nunnery a school building and has had james martin stay there but for a little profit and extra rates its been entirely demolished, no trace left. You wonder who these people know that they can get permission,from council to erase history in a matter of months, when it takes other property owners years to arrange to fix a wall. Edited · Like · 3 people · Reply · Report · 7 hours ago Andrew Rowe A good downpour of rain and that "heritage" wall would be history. That road block is a major inconvenience adding to Gawler's already congested traffic. Like · 6 people · Reply · Report · Today at 8:56am Penny McNicholl Perhaps more should have been done prior to it reaching this point. You know maintained before it crumbled not unlike the Lutheran school walls. Theres a few in Gawler just being left to crumble, all well and good until someone gets hurt. Like · 2 people · Reply · Report · Today at 9:07am Graham Dorey 1. Should never have been left to get to this stage. Decision to fix or remove should already have been made BEFORE it got to this stage. 2. Surely given the amount of traffic on this road, cars can see each other and take turns at going past the obstruction WITHOUT having to install lights like this? Does not drive with due care apply? Who is going to go down the street at 3 in the morning and Stop at the light if the street ahead is clear? Edited · Like · 1 person · Reply · Report · 7 hours ago Suzy Mansfield All the rest of the owners are probably waiting for their walls to deteriorate to the point of not being able to be repaired. ;-) Like · 1 person · Reply · Report · Today at 8:41am Rhiannon Flowers Let that wall go. A few metres of wall is nothing when the gasworks has been left to rot. Like · Reply · Report · 1 hour ago Gary Cluse Spending $25,000 on 121 walls equates to $206 each. Do tell me how this will fix the problem ? Seem like more money has been spent diverting traffic via signs etc and bollards. Maybe invest more and simply get it done Like · 2 people · Reply · Report · 5 hours ago Michelle Dunstan oh and heres me thinking it was being repaired and the road restrictions were in force because someone was actually doing something to repair it... :( Like · Reply · Report · 4 hours ago Shannon Waters I wonder if the council is charging the owner for the cost of the traffic adjustments? Like · 1 person · Reply · Report · Today at 9:42am David Heintze They have had to wait a ridiculous amount of time for this wall to fall over...... Michael Squires nothing a good stone mason cant fix if they whanted it fixed. Like · 1 person · Reply · Report · Today at 10:19am Erny Landherr Pull the damn things down and make it safe. These walls are not worth saving. Like · 2 people · Reply · Report · 8 hours ago Adam John Pellen Have a look at what's been done today. Like · Reply · Report · 9 hours ago Michael Lord Benny Burgess Photo Like · Reply · Report · Today at 8:44am David Atherton Adam John Pellen LMFAO Like · Reply · Report · 11 hours ago =============================================== Gawler’s great walls deteriorating Featured General July 31, 2015 jul22_6873 AT least a third of Gawler’s heritage walls are in need of urgent repair and, despite allocating money towards the issue, Gawler Council appears no closer to solving the problem. Currently, there are more than 300 privately-owned heritage walls around the town, with at least 121 of those in need of repair. Council has committed $25,000 over the past two years through a competitive grant scheme to provide support to repair and restore the walls. The scheme involved wall owners matching council’s grant contribution dollar for dollar. However, only six private owners have taken advantage of the scheme so far. Gawler Mayor Karen Redman said because of the large number of walls and the backlog of maintenance identified, council had committed to contributing grants over 10 years to assist private landowners. “In addition, fees associated with the lodgement of applications when seeking to repair heritage walls are waived to provide a further incentive for repairs to be made and council’s heritage adviser is also available to assist at no cost,” she said. “Council expects ongoing interest from owners to take advantage of the grant scheme.” Of the 121 walls identified, the work required is usually replacement of stone, where damp or weathering has reduced the integrity of the walls, and restoration of plaster pointing. The urgency of work mostly relates to deterioration of walls caused by lack of maintenance or sometimes inappropriate repairs. Walls with structural problems generally occur in sloping areas where they have been built or converted to retaining walls with build-up of earth behind the walls. Mayor Redman said it was important council preserves as many walls as possible. “The historic stone walls of Gawler are a significant feature of the town’s character and links to early European settlement,” she said. “There is a need for significant ongoing investment to maintain these heritage walls.” High Street wall Among the best-known heritage walls in Gawler is one located on High Street. The wall badly needs repairs, with discussions between council and its owners progressing for more than six years. Mayor Redman said council had undertaken a series of recent discussions with the wall owner and a stonemason, who had provided a quote for the necessary repairs. “We have been advised, following a meeting this week with council representatives, the owner, CEO and the stonemason, that after preparatory work is completed by the owner, repair work can be started in October/November,” she said. “This wall requires expert intervention and such skilled stonemasons are not easily available in our local community.” Mayor Redman said council’s involvement depended on the level of co-operation with the High Street wall owners as “council has to balance issues of heritage protection, development approval and management of public safety”. “We understand the work is proposed in stages and would be expected to take a few months,” she said. “The owner has requested financial assistance from council, with this not finalised as yet.”