Historic Woolmers Estate at risk of closure

Longford’s beloved Woolmers Estate, a Tasmanian UNESCO World Heritage Convict site, could be forced to close its doors to the public.

Having failed to secure government heritage funding, it cannot afford to continue opening due to what its management team considers to be “a failure by government, both Federal and State to meet their international obligations to protect, conserve, present and transmit the nation’s history to future generations”.

Woolmers was placed on the World Heritage Register in 2010 for its outstanding universal values, particularly in relation to the story of convict assignment.

Chairman John Campbell-Smith said that despite a submission to Environment and Water minister, Tanya Plibersek in August last year requesting the Federal government honour the terms of the UNESCO Convention and the terms of the Australian Convict Sites Strategic Management Framework agreement between the Federal Government and the relevant States, no meaningful response has been received.

He stated that Woolmers is being discriminated against as (together with Brickendon) it is the only one of the 11 World Heritage Convict sites in Australia that are not government owned, and has consequently not received government heritage operating costs provided to other sites.

In his view this constitutes a serious breach of Australia’s UNESCO obligations.

Mr Campbell-Smith stated that his submission requested the government honour its obligations and cover heritage-related costs that Woolmers have been trying for years to cover from limited tourism related revenues and private donations.

“These costs have resulted in Woolmers making financial losses despite recent increases in visitations,” he said.

“The site is being dragged under by the ongoing burden of maintenance, protection requirements such as fire and security systems and other infrastructure costs.

“Without more funding it’s only a matter of a couple of months that we could keep the doors open.

“It’s not a case of putting off the work we need to do until next year – it’s urgent and more funding is vital.”

Mr Campbell-Smith said that Northern Midlands Mayor Mary Knowles has been particularly supportive and on behalf of the Council has written to Ms Plibersek, as has Rebecca White MP.

The response from the Federal Government has been to apply for a grant yet as Mr Campbell-Smith pointed out in his submission, grants were not the answer as they did not cover heritage operating expenses such as ongoing maintenance requirements, insurance, fire and security systems and health and safety related expenses.

He added grants were not always available and if they were, they were competitive, uncertain of outcome and restricted mainly to building remediation works.

 “Under the agreement entered into by both the Federal and State governments, they have an obligation to provide ongoing assistance to Woolmers,” he said.

“Heritage Tasmania and the Department of State Growth have been supportive in trying to assist Woolmers but also need the Federal Government to fulfil their obligations.

Mr Campbell-Smith said that his submission is seeking a more flexible system to enable Woolmers to prioritise where funds are spent to properly protect, conserve and present the site.

“For example Woolmers was recently successful in obtaining approval for a Federal grant largely applicable to interior restoration work for the Woolmers Cottage, however, this is a very specific grant and unfortunately without assistance for ongoing maintenance such as repairs to a leaking roof or rising damp, the many buildings that make up the World Heritage Village of Woolmer Estate are deteriorating, and have been for the past years as the result of underfunding.”

Woolmers is largely run by volunteers and is only seeking assistance of $400,000 as an annual budgeted amount to cover some of the heritage operational costs.

“It would appear that Woolmers is being discriminated against simply because it is run by a not-for-profit Foundation with a very low cost structure compared with comparable government run sites,” Mr Campbell-Smith said.

Woolmers is a heritage village with some 36 heritage structures.

It is unique as it offers insights into assignment, the majority convict experience in a setting that has been preserved since its inception in 1817.

Although almost every convict male and female spent time on a property like Woolmers, only a small minority served time in a penal station like Port Arthur, a site which dates to 1830.

The historic village that is Woolmers is a time warp, its homestead is arguably one of the only estate houses in Australia to still have its original artefacts in place.

These represent the accumulated history of six generations of occupation by the Archer family.

It is almost as though the last Thomas Archer just finished dinner in his lavish, elaborate dining room.

Mr Campbell-Smith said it would be a tragedy if this valuable and unique icon was allowed to deteriorate further or worse still, close.