Latrobe City Council to demolish visitor information centre at Traralgon

Community members say it is “beyond comprehension” a historic church at Traralgon will be demolished and replaced with two seats.

A historic 142-year-old church at Traralgon is set to be demolished to make way for a railway station upgrade.

The Latrobe Valley City Council plans to send a wrecking ball through the 1879 building.

But former deputy mayor Lisa Procter said the demolition was “illogical” and a “big mistake”.

Citing the masterplan from 2011, Ms Procter said: “The plan is to remove the building and replace it with vacant land and a couple of seats”.

“It is beyond comprehension,” she said.

“Why would we rip out a building of this age and replace it with nothing?”

Ms Procter said the masterplan had not been reviewed since it was adopted in 2011.

Council’s acting general manager city development Gail Gatt said the site would become an “open plaza” to improve connections for the proposed bus interchange.

“The area was identified to be opened up to improve the connections between Franklin Street through to the overpass in the station,” she said.

Council considered relocating the building but a structural report found it wouldn’t survive another move, having already being relocated twice.

It would also cost ratepayers $600,000 while the demolition costs $80,000.

The Department of Transport who own the land say they are “committed to implementing the Traralgon station precinct masterplan”.

Linda Barraclough, who lives in Traralgon, said there were only nine timber churches left in Gippsland predating 1880.

She urged Latrobe council members to reconsider.

“I speak for 23,000 people,” she said.

“I am struggling to believe why my council, who I have the greatest respect for, could demolition an 1879 timber church without any professional heritage advice.”

Another community member Jenny Hammett, who grew up in Traralgon, said the church was “more than just a building”.

“It signifies the evolution of Traralgon, it links us to who and what we were.”

“That is our little church,” she said.