Battle yet to be won in campaign to save Jim’s Row of Machinery

A passionate public campaign to save a beloved rural art installation is yet to be won despite claims from Bundaberg Mayor Jack Dempsey that “it’s here to stay”.

A passionate public campaign to save a beloved rural art installation is yet to be won despite claims from mayor Jack Dempsey to have saved it.

Despite claims from from mayor Jack Dempsey that a beloved art installation on a rural property in Bundaberg “is here to stay”, the battle is far from won with the owner saying he will be forced to take the display down unless an extension is granted.

South Kolan resident Jim Sauer began setting up the displays of old vehicles on his property about four years ago, as a point of interest for passersby travelling along the quiet country road about 30km west of Bundaberg.

On January 15, the 83-year-old received a letter from the Bundaberg Regional Council informing him that the displays and a shed on his property were violating Queensland government legislation.

He was threatened with a $696,600 fine if he did not comply by either obtaining building approvals for the installations, taking them down or lowering their height within just over a month from receiving the letter.

Jim Sauer started setting up the displays of vehicles and old machinery on his South Kolan property around four years ago.

The letter from the council stated the machinery displays, with many on timber poles more than 4m high, were not compliant with state government building laws requiring special structures such as these to be less than 3m high.

Mr Sauer did not know who had made the complaint and said reports which he did not believe had come from a neighbour were harming his relationships with the surrounding residents.

“I had no idea who it was, and really it doesn’t make any difference because it’s happened, it is what it is and we’ve just got to go on from here,” he said.

After meeting with Mr Sauer on February 26, mayoral candidate Helen Blackburn claimed in a social media post that the council “took it upon themselves to investigate and raise a complaint”, which was denied by chief executive Steve Johnston on Wednesday.

“The matter came to light following a complaint,” Mr Johnston said.

The council enforcement action led to extensive public outcry, including a petition launched by concerned locals titled “Save Jim’s Row of Machinery” which as of February 28 had received more than 10,000 signatures.

Locals raised a petition to save Jim Sauer's art installation after learning of the enforcement action.

Mr Sauer said he was taken aback by the the passionate response from the community in support of his quirky handiwork.

“I didn’t expect the amount of interest that that’s come from it,” he said.

Coming in the midst of a council election campaign, the mayoral candidates were quick to get involved, with incumbent mayor Jack Dempsey meeting with Mr Sauer at his home on February 25, the day after the petition was launched.

In a video and social media posts Mr Dempsey said he had obtained an extension for Mr Sauer to make the displays compliant with state legislation, but went further to say the artwork was “here to stay”.

“I signed the petition to keep Jim’s machine art in place and I obtained an extension for compliance issues to be resolved,” Mr Dempsey said in a Facebook post on February 26.

“The artwork is here to stay!”

However, on the same day, Mr Sauer received another letter from council informing him that he was still required to comply with the state legislation, and had been granted an extension to December 31.

The owner of the petition to overturn the enforcement action, Whitney Woodfield, said Mr Dempsey’s claims that the artwork was here to stay seemed a little “misleading”.

“Just the way he’s been talking about it, it kind of feels like (he was saying) it’s all saved, vote for me, I’m such a hero’,” Ms Woodfield said.

In response, Mr Dempsey reaffirmed his commitment to keeping the artworks in Bundaberg, but did not specify whether they would remain in situ on Mr Sauer’s property.

“While I’m the Bundaberg Region mayor, the artworks are here to stay,” Mr Dempsey said.

Mr Sauer said unless he could be granted an exemption from the legislation, the requirement to bring the displays down to a height of 3m would mean he would need to remove them in the interests of public safety.

Jim Sauer said that if required to bring the displays down to 3m, he would remove them altogether in the interests of public safety.

“If they aren’t allowed to stay there, well then I’ll take them down,” Mr Sauer said.

“It wouldn’t be practical to reduce the height because most of them would have to sit on the ground, and then that would be a problem with vandals and kiddies that want to climb in as somebody could get hurt.

“As they are now, they are quite safe.”

But given the support offered by the mayoral candidates, Mr Sauer was still hopeful of obtaining a positive outcome.

In their discussions with Mr Sauer, Mr Dempsey and Ms Blackburn had said they would assist him to retain the displays if elected on March 16.

“Mr Dempsey just said that he’d like to help, and Helen Blackburn also said that she’d love to if she happened to be re-elected,” he said.

“So I’ve got the both of them on my side, so hopefully something will turn out good in the end.”

Originally published as Battle yet to be won in campaign to save Jim’s Row of Machinery