A backward step

ON behalf of the oldest staircase (1889) in the Shire of Yarra Ranges located within the Lillydale Museum (former Shire of Lillydale offices) and now destined for demolition, I would like to thank the four councillors, Keane, McRae, Dunn and Cliff, for voting for its protection and its right to showcase itself for future generations to come.
Unfortunately financial concerns and grandiose plans seem to run the powers that be in the shire. The staircase will now be demolished to make way for the storage of tables and chairs!
As in the words of one objector: “Each and everyone of the current shire employees is just a temporary custodian of that building. One hundred years from now will people be looking at some picture in an obsolete book of a beautiful staircase, lamenting the fact that a few short-sighted people deemed it not worthy of saving. Retrospect is a wonderful thing indeed, but demolition is forever and cannot be undone.”
A word of advice if you are an applicant, submitter or objector in the Shire of Yarra Ranges, make sure you check council agendas at the Customer Service Offices on the Friday prior to the Tuesday meeting.
The shire’s letters of notice of a meeting concerning your issue may never arrive, especially if your submission does not support the council plans.
The objectors of the staircase are still waiting for their letters. I’ll possibly be in a nursing home before mine arrives!
Elena Biggs
Millgrove