Horsham embraces plan to restore a key heritage feature to city buildings

A new vision for Horsham could mean the grand verandahs that once dominated properties along Firebrace Street would one day return.

Returning the architectural addition is among dozens of ideas for redeveloping the city’s centre being put forward as part of Horsham Rural City Council’s Central Activity District Revitalisation: Streetscape Plan Project.

Of seven key improvement strategies, one describes “strengthening character and identity by promoting and restoring heritage features”.

The project document outlines opportunities to “reinstate original features such as verandah posts and fretwork”, among other frontage restoration ideas.

Urban designer Rebecca Finn runs UrbanFold, the consulting company behind the plan, and said the idea of restoring balconies had generated a lot of interest from the community.

“Of course it’s a very costly thing to do but it’s something that we’re hearing continuously from the community, and something that council would love to see as well,” she said.

“That may be something that doesn’t happen all at once, but there may be opportunities to do that incrementally through town over the coming years.”

Horsham Rural City Council Mayor Robyn Gulline said she had also received positive responses about the idea.

“We’ve had great feedback from the community about bringing back the verandahs, this was just an idea put out to be tested and everyone’s so keen,” she said.

“So the fact people are keen [means] we now have to think, well, how are we going to implement it.”

When responding to a ratepayer question at Monday’s council meeting, director of community and social wellbeing Kevin O’Brien said the council would investigate funding the works by establishing a heritage restoration fund, or a financial scheme to offer loans.

What happened to the balconies?

Verandahs on pubs and buildings across Victoria were once common and many still retain their original structures.

But nearly 70 years ago, Horsham Rural City Council ordered those on posts to be torn down.

“The council actually decreed that after December 31, 1952, any verandahs over public land had to be a cantilever design, and that all the verandahs supported by posts had to removed by January 31, 1963, so that was the death knell for the lovely verandahs,” Horsham Historical Society president Rod Jenkinson said.

“The community weren’t happy but there were about nine councillors in 1952 that were all businessmen and several had premises in Firebrace Street and their rationale was that the verandah posts were a safety hazard for cars and pedestrians.

“[But] one trader slipped that the removal of the posts would allow passing motorists better view of the window display.”

The by-law was repealed years later, but by that stage most of the balconies were gone.

Horsham’s Royal Hotel once had an extensive verandah and publican Grant Fiedler said he would love to see the facade reinstated.

“Hardly a day goes by where someone doesn’t come in and mention how wonderful it would be if the verandahs were still there, because in the foyer into the pub we’ve got the old photos from before the 1950s with the verandahs and certainly they just look fantastic,” he said.

“It would be quite a costly exercise but it would be money well spent.”

Plans suggest more trees, parking and a town square

Aside from the heritage facades the streetscape plan also includes suggestions around alternatives to angle parking, a dedicated town square and better use of “laneways networks”.

“We were really tasked by council to come up with almost a toolkit, a smorgasbord of ideas that can make Horsham a better place for locals, for businesses, for tourists, and now  council can use this document to help prioritise their capital budget and spending over the next several years,” Ms Finn said.

Horsham Rural City Council’s Central Activity District Revitalisation: Streetscape Plan Project is open for public consultation until March 25.

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