Council ‘didn’t try’ to save one of last colonial brick cottages

OPPOSITION says Council ‘didn’t try’ to save one of Brisbane’s few surviving examples of colonial brick cottages.

COUNCIL’S assessment of a colonial-style brick cottage bulldozed to widen Lytton Road came under scrutiny today with the Opposition saying the administration “didn’t try” to investigate the heritage value of the building.

Despite calls from residents, the local heritage group, councillor Jonathan Sri (The Gabba) and the Opposition for it to be saved and relocated into adjoining Mowbray Park, it emerged one engineer’s report determined the fate of the early cottage, built on the edge of Mowbray Park, East Brisbane.

The cottage next to Mowbray Park at 80 Lytton Rd was demolished earlier this year for the Wynnum Rd Corridor Upgrade. Picture: Brian Bennion

Opposition Infrastructure spokesman Steve Griffiths said although residents had provided proof of the heritage significance of the cottage, council “didn’t try”.

Today’s Infrastructure Committee meeting was told the cottage at 80 Lytton Rd was removed after an engineer’s report.

“I believe the council didn’t try very hard,” Cr Griffiths said.

“When you look at how buildings like Captain’s Cook cottage can be shifted 15,000km from England to Australia it just puts it into perspective.

“This council can’t even move a heritage building a few metres sideways into a park. If the will was there, I believe they could have made it happen.

“Actions speak louder than words and they’ve just let an irreplaceable link to Brisbane’s past fall to the bulldozers.”

East Brisbane residents had commissioned their own heritage report by house historian Magnus Eriksson into the buildings resumed by council for the road widening project.

In his report Eriksson described the building, named “Wirrawa”, as one of few surviving examples of the standard-style cottages that predominated in Brisbane in the 1800s and early 1900s.

The name Wirrawa appears in city records after 1916 and the building is on the 1918 surveyor plans.

Eriksson said based on its architectural style and presence on 1918 surveyor plan, it had a high likelihood of being built before 1911.

A council spokeswoman said there was no evidence of the house on survey maps that Council uses to identify pre-1911 houses across the city and the building was not heritage listed or earmarked for preservation.

“An independent structural engineer assessed the stability of the building at 80 Lytton Road, to determine if it could be relocated, however, found that it was in poor condition and would not withstand relocation,” she said.

“The building had a brick chimney and support structure, which was holding the weatherboard frame in place.

“The engineer assessed that the removal of the brick structure would result in a collapse of the timber elements of the building and could not be relocated.”

The cottage Wirrawa next to Mowbray Park, East Brisbane, as works begin on the Wynnum Road Corridor Upgrade project early this year.

The cottage is reduced to a pile of twisted iron and rubble.