Plans to transform Menangle into tourist mecca

The famous Menangle Rotolactor and Creamery could soon return to it’s former glory, with ambitious plans to transform the site into a tourist mecca set to be lodged next month.

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The famous Menangle Rotolactor and Creamery could soon return to it’s former glory, with ambitious plans to transform the site into a tourist mecca set to be lodged next month.

The state heritage listed site attracted tens of thousands of visitors 50 years ago and now land owners Cameron Halfpenny and Ernest Dupere wish to recreate the magic once more.

Land owners Cameron Halfpenny and Ernest Dupere plan to restore the Menangle Rotolactor and Creamery. Picture: Matthew Vasilescu

The Chronicle can reveal plans to restore the famous rotolactor and creamery into a tourist heritage precinct, inspired by The Grounds of Alexandria and The Farm at Byron Bay, and will feature a boutique brewery and distillery, museum, hotel, restaurant, kid’s farm, farmers markets and function centre.

Long-term dreams of an 8000-person amphitheatre looking across the Nepean River are also in the works.

An artist’s impression of the proposed refurbishment of the Menangle Creamery.

Ernest Dupere, who is the site’s co-landowner with Cameron Halfpenny, told the Chronicle the tourist precinct would make Menangle and the Wollondilly Shire renown across the state and rival the Hunter Valley.

“The vision has always been a precinct that celebrates the heritage of the area and becomes a destination for people to come and enjoy it,” he said.

“It’s an amazing canvas that we have to work with and we absolutely want to make this the focal point of the Shire.

“The buildings themselves speak to what happens here.

“Traditionally a lot of the good stuff is in the big smoke — why can’t we have quality offerings here.”

The famous Menangle Rotolactor. Picture: Camden Images Past and Present

The rural backdrop of the proposed function centre, which would be inside the refurbished rotolactor. Picture: Matthew Vasilescu

With a train station on the precinct’s doorstep, Mr Dupere said the site could become a regional tourist hub.

The surrounding land around Station St, Menangle was rezoned by the Planning Department last year with plans for 350 houses to be developed in the area.

A development application for 97 houses is currently being assessed by Wollondilly Council.

Part 2 of the Menangle series will be published tomorrow (Friday) at 5pm, revealing potential strategies to activate the Nepean River foreshore in Menangle.