Gold Creek Homestead
Encyclopedia
Gold Creek Homestead is a 140-year old stone and brick building located off Gungahlin Drive in Ngunnawal
a north-western suburb of Canberra
, the Australian Capital Territory
, Australia
.
The Gold Creek Homestead Complex (2) refers to a group of four buildings including the 697m2 homestead, a stone and timber cottage, a buggy shed and an entertainment and function centre (formerly a machinery shed). The Gold Creek Homestead Site (3) is a 41-hectare parcel of land, specifically Block 1 and 2, Section 23 Ngunnawal
upon which the aforementioned complex is situated.
In 2005 a portion of the site was nominated for a second time for inclusion on the ACT Heritage Register. A listing would have placed certain planning controls on the site to ensure its protection. In June 2009, after four years of deliberations, the nomination was rejected by the ACT Heritage Council and as a result, none of the buildings are protected.
Gold Creek Homestead was at one time at the centre of 'Gold Creek' a sprawling 1,594 hectare (3,940 acre) rural property, the largest in the Ginninderra district. Portions of the former property are or will be occupied by parts of the suburbs of Ngunnawal
, Nicholls
, Harcourt Hill, Moncrieff
, Casey
, Kinlyside and Taylor
.
In 1849 Anthony Rolfe, an English farm labourer, arrived in Australia from Oxborough, Norfolk, England
with his wife and five children. The family migrated to the new colonies under one of the Bounty schemes subsidised to the British Government and was part of the wave of free settlers to follow the convict era.
After working for 10 years as a tenant farmer
at Joseph Kaye's Springbank rural property, Anthony established his own property Tea Gardens, on 130-hectare (320 acre) of land in 1857. The remnants of that homestead is located in presentday Ngunnawal
near Ginninderra Creek
which is now part of the Gungahlin Lakes Golf Course.
Anthony's second eldest son Edmund Rolfe spent his early working life as a teamster
, transporting building materials e.g. sandstone, wool, wheat and even drinking water from and to as far afield as Camden
and Braidwood
. He was the principal transport contractor for the tower reconstruction work on St John the Baptist Church
(in present-day Reid
).
Edmund Rolfe's first wife Margaret (née Logue) died during childbirth in 1867 and he later married Margaret O'Keefe. Edmund Rolfe fathered 14 children - Bryan (b.1862), Maria (b.1864), Mary (b.1865), Catherine (b.1867), Anthony (b.1868), William (b.1869), Alice (b.1871), Bridget (b.1873), Margaret (b.1874), James (b.1876), Patrick (b.1878), Gertrude (b.1880), John (b.1882) and Edmund George(b.1884).
Anthony Rolfe financed the initial purchase of 60 acres (24.3 ha) of land which abutes the present-day Gold Creek Homestead Site and transferred the land title as part of a much larger 320 acres (129.5 ha) parcel to his son Edmund in 1872. During its first few decades Gold Creek was devoted to cropping predominantly wheat and later the Rolfes diversified into merino sheep and later still beef cattle
The Rolfes were major beneficiaries of the depression of the 1890s. Rising mortgage rates left many farmers servicing bank loans at rates of seven, eight and even ten per cent. With their previous mortgages paid out, the Rolfes were better placed than most. With five fit young men carrying out a program of cropping, animal husbandry and sheep grazing activities, the property remained profitable while neighbouring farms floundered. When one of the Rolfes’ long-time neighbours forfeited on their mortgage payments in 1897, they snapped up the land.
The superior quality of the Gold Creek livestock was underlined by a purchase concluded in December 1903. Mr E. Hudson, the manager of the Duntroon estate, paid £2100 for 2100 merinos and 900 lambs. They used the cash to secure mortgages on further land purchases. Over a period of several years, he snapped up at foreclosure sales various parcels of land, extending his family's land holdings. By 1907 the Rolfes presided over a rural property 3940 acres (1,594.5 ha) in size, the largest in the Ginninderra district.
Edmund Rolfe was very active in local politics in the two decades prior to the Federation of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. He served for a number of years as the treasurer and later the vice president of the Ginninderra Protection Union, the forerunner to the Protectionist party
. He was also a committee member of the Ginninderra Agricultural Show, the forerunner to Canberra's Royal Easter Show.
The Rolfes also hosted a number of balls and dances at Gold Creek in support of St Benedicts, a Catholic Girls School in Queanbeyan. Edmund Rolfe was a fundraiser for Ginninderra St Francis Church and its replacement, Hall’s St Xaviers Church.
The Gold Creek Rolfes were amongst a handful of local farming families including Frederick Campbell (of Yarralumla
) that lobbied the Federal Government for improved compensation during the land acquisition process in the lead-up to the creation of the Federal Capital Territory (now the Australian Capital Territory
).
John Bruce was responsible for introducing scientific farming practices based on Agricultural Science
at Gold Creek during the 1960s. A substantial program improved efficiencies and drought-proofed the property. < As a result of measures such as these Gold Creek produced first-cross ewes (merinos mated with border Leicester), then much sought after by prime lamb producers in the Cowra region. The progeny of these ewes were excellent 'prime lambs', which yielded higher than average percentages of meat and accordingly achieved better sale prices.
Ten earthen dams were constructed to capture water runoff and arrest soil erosion, and provide water for stock. Today, the traffic roundabout at the corner of Gungahlin Drive and Wanganeen Avenue marks the location of a subterran bore a key component of this strategy. In 1967, the Bruces sunk an artesian bore, the centrepiece of an elaborate water reticulation system. From the small pump house directly above the bore head, a 9 hp diesel engine pushed a column of bore water 1,000 yards west to a 20,000-gallon concrete holding tank through very long lengths of two-inch polypropylene pipe. The water pump could completely fill the holding tank in about twelve hours. Today, this tank is located not far from Clarrie Hermes Drive in Harcourt Hill. From the tank, bore water was gravity-fed through buried pipes to 26 watering troughs. The entire reticulation system could be controlled by one person from a set of stop valves located in the machinery shed.
The Bruces also oversaw the planting of more than 1,000 trees across the rural property. Australian natives, especially the Tasmanian blue gum
(Eucalyptus globulus) found favour with the Bruces, though the vast majority of the species planted were European ornamentals. The list of species included poplars (Populus canadensis), Monterey Pine
pines (Pinus radiata), pencil pines
(Athrotaxis cupressoides), pussy willows
(Salix discolor), silver spruces (Picea engelmannii), black walnuts (Juglans nigra), golden elms
(Sassafras albidum), silver birchs (Betula pendula), quince
(Pseudocydonia sinensis) and white oaks (Quercus arizonica).
During the early to mid 1970s the Federal Government teminated the leases on a number of rural homesteads including Lanyon
, Cuppacumbalong
and Gold Creek. The government intended to issue a commercial lease for the use of the 16 hectares encompassing the Gold Creek Homestead Site (3).
In 1977 a group of Canberra business people pooled their finances to redevelop Gold Creek Homestead as a reception and function centre. The rural-style venue, which was to become amongst the first of its type in the Canberra region, hosted more than 7,000 wedding parties during its heyday through the 1970s, 1980s and into the early 1990s. The hayshed complex was also converted for use as a function centre. Many public service and social clubs celebrations were held in the hayshed over a twenty-year period. A partnership led by Australian national soccer player John Warren
acquired the business in 1979. Gold Creek hosted the national rodeo and country music events in 1981 and 1982.
In late 1977, David Templeton and two other former partners of Gold Creek Pty Ltd bought the Red Hill Hereford Stud, a cattle breeding business located near Finley in southern NSW. Established in 1966, Red Hill Stud’s breeding stock was top notch. Initially the partners transported their prize bulls to Gold Creek to prepare them for show and eventual sale. During the to come the Red Hill Hereford Stud won a swag of blue ribbons at Agricultural Shows in Canberra, Sydney and regional NSW. Its success led to a series of cattle breeders’ field days at Gold Creek held in conjunction with the Australian Hereford Society that attracted society members from around Australia.
During 1987/8, Gold Creek Pty Ltd began discussions with Japanese developer Kumagai Gumi Co. Ltd
to partner up for a 8-hole golf course development. Detailed plans were prepared for a condominium-style development. The go-ahead for the project depended on ACT Government approval which was ultimately not forthcoming. While the ‘Gold Creek Golf Estate’ didn’t see the light of day, in a major touch of irony, the government put its considerable financial backing behind the Gold Creek Country Club, a golf course development that bears, some would argue, striking similarities to the plans submitted by John Warren.
In the early 1990s the ACT Government progressively withdrew rural leases in the Gungahlin district ahead of construction work on the suburbs of Ngunnawal
, Nicholls
and Harcourt Hill. The Gold Creek Homestead business fully expected that land planners would retain a respectable buffer zone between the Homestead Site and surrounding houses to cater for extra noise. By 1994, a long timber paling fence stretched along the northern, eastern and western boundaries of the now 41 hectare Gold Creek Homestead site, while to the south, a two-metre high earth noise barrier
was erected alongside Gungahlin Drive. With the majority of the construction work finished, bookings for the Gold Creek hayshed began to recover by mid 1995. Soon after noise complaints from nearby houses during a night-time function in the entertainment led to a suspension of live music at Gold Creek. The ACT Government commissioned a consultants report which estimated the cost of noise abatement measures at $300,000. The government quickly cooled on the idea. With no willing buyers, John Warren reluctantly sold the 41-hectare property to the ACT Government for $1.25M in 1998.
The delivery of the Gold Creek Homestead site into public hands left the ACT Government with 41 hectares of land with excellent development potential. In July 2000 the
Government began a first round of community consultations about future options for the site. Three months later indicative plans were unveiled for an aged care facility, medium density housing, motel and plant nursery.
Ngunnawal residents lobbied the government for retention of the entire site for community use. They presented a petition to the Heritage Minister with more than 4,000 signatures in support of their cause but to no avail. Unperturbed the group organised two open days at the site. The larger of the two events, held in April 2002, attracted about 1,500 people.
Later still the community group received a heritage grant to record Gold Creek's history. In March 2005 the ACT Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope, launched the book Gold Creek: Reflections of Canberra's Rural Heritage by local author Chris Newman at Gold Creek Homestead.
Criterion (d) The site is highly valued by the community or a cultural group for reasons of strong or special religious, spiritual, cultural, educational or social associations. The name Gold Creek and by extension the site, have retained a strong resonance within the local Gungahlin community. The name has subsequently been appropriated by a local golf course, tourist precinct, high school and commercial businesses, which trade on the strong associations engendered in the name Gold Creek. Criterion (h) the site has strong or special associations with a person, group, event, development or cultural phase in local or national history. The Gold Creek Homestead site has a special association with individuals and events namely Edmund Rolfe that helped shape local history including the transition to Australia’s Federal Capital Territory.
The nomination was rejected in June 2009.
Ngunnawal, Australian Capital Territory
Ngunnawal is a suburb in the district of Gungahlin in Canberra, Australia. The suburb is named in tribute to the Ngunnawal people, the original inhabitants of the area. The suburb was gazetted on 18 October 1991. Ngunnawal is adjacent to the suburbs of Nicholls, Casey and Amaroo and Taylor...
a north-western suburb of Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, the Australian Capital Territory
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
The Gold Creek Homestead Complex (2) refers to a group of four buildings including the 697m2 homestead, a stone and timber cottage, a buggy shed and an entertainment and function centre (formerly a machinery shed). The Gold Creek Homestead Site (3) is a 41-hectare parcel of land, specifically Block 1 and 2, Section 23 Ngunnawal
Ngunnawal, Australian Capital Territory
Ngunnawal is a suburb in the district of Gungahlin in Canberra, Australia. The suburb is named in tribute to the Ngunnawal people, the original inhabitants of the area. The suburb was gazetted on 18 October 1991. Ngunnawal is adjacent to the suburbs of Nicholls, Casey and Amaroo and Taylor...
upon which the aforementioned complex is situated.
In 2005 a portion of the site was nominated for a second time for inclusion on the ACT Heritage Register. A listing would have placed certain planning controls on the site to ensure its protection. In June 2009, after four years of deliberations, the nomination was rejected by the ACT Heritage Council and as a result, none of the buildings are protected.
Gold Creek Homestead was at one time at the centre of 'Gold Creek' a sprawling 1,594 hectare (3,940 acre) rural property, the largest in the Ginninderra district. Portions of the former property are or will be occupied by parts of the suburbs of Ngunnawal
Ngunnawal, Australian Capital Territory
Ngunnawal is a suburb in the district of Gungahlin in Canberra, Australia. The suburb is named in tribute to the Ngunnawal people, the original inhabitants of the area. The suburb was gazetted on 18 October 1991. Ngunnawal is adjacent to the suburbs of Nicholls, Casey and Amaroo and Taylor...
, Nicholls
Nicholls, Australian Capital Territory
Nicholls is a suburb in the Canberra, Australia district of Gungahlin is named after Sir Douglas Nicholls , a former Governor of South Australia. It was gazetted on 18 October 1991. Streets are named after sportsmen and sportswomen....
, Harcourt Hill, Moncrieff
Moncrieff, Australian Capital Territory
Moncrieff is a designated suburb of Gungahlin, Canberra, the National Capital of Australia. The name was gazetted in April 1991 though no official announcement has to be made about the first land release. It is named after Gladys Moncrieff, an Australian singer of the 1920-30s musical era who was...
, Casey
Casey, Australian Capital Territory
Casey is a suburb in Canberra, Australia , approximately 4 km from the Gungahlin Town Centre and about 13 km from the centre of Canberra. The suburb is named after Richard Casey, Baron Casey an Australian politician, diplomat and later the 16th Governor-General of Australia. It is bound...
, Kinlyside and Taylor
Taylor, Australian Capital Territory
Taylor is a designated suburb in Gungahlin, Canberra though the first land release is yet to be announced. The suburb is named after magazine publisher Florence Taylor OBE, who was editor of and writer for several Australian building industry journals including the influential 'Building' magazine...
.
Rolfe family
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
with his wife and five children. The family migrated to the new colonies under one of the Bounty schemes subsidised to the British Government and was part of the wave of free settlers to follow the convict era.
After working for 10 years as a tenant farmer
Tenant farmer
A tenant farmer is one who resides on and farms land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management; while tenant farmers contribute their labor along with at times varying...
at Joseph Kaye's Springbank rural property, Anthony established his own property Tea Gardens, on 130-hectare (320 acre) of land in 1857. The remnants of that homestead is located in presentday Ngunnawal
Ngunnawal, Australian Capital Territory
Ngunnawal is a suburb in the district of Gungahlin in Canberra, Australia. The suburb is named in tribute to the Ngunnawal people, the original inhabitants of the area. The suburb was gazetted on 18 October 1991. Ngunnawal is adjacent to the suburbs of Nicholls, Casey and Amaroo and Taylor...
near Ginninderra Creek
Ginninderra Creek
Ginninderra Creek is a water course that flows across the Ginninderra Plain through the Gungahlin and Belconnen regions in Canberra, Australia....
which is now part of the Gungahlin Lakes Golf Course.
Anthony's second eldest son Edmund Rolfe spent his early working life as a teamster
Teamster
A teamster, in modern American English, is a truck driver. The trade union named after them is the International Brotherhood of Teamsters , one of the largest unions in the United States....
, transporting building materials e.g. sandstone, wool, wheat and even drinking water from and to as far afield as Camden
Camden, New South Wales
-Education:Camden is the location of research facilities for the veterinary and agricultural schools of the University of Sydney. The local government area has two public high schools, Camden High School and Elderslie High School, as well as eight Catholic and three Anglican schools.-Culture:The...
and Braidwood
Braidwood, New South Wales
Braidwood is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, in Palerang Shire. It is located on the busy Kings Highway linking Canberra to Batemans Bay on the coast. It is about 200 kilometres south west of Sydney and about 60 kilometres inland from the coast...
. He was the principal transport contractor for the tower reconstruction work on St John the Baptist Church
St John the Baptist Church, Reid
St John the Baptist Church is the oldest church in Canberra, Australia, and also the oldest building within Canberra's city precinct. It is sited at the corner of ANZAC Parade and Constitution Avenue in the suburb of Reid.-Construction:...
(in present-day Reid
Reid, Australian Capital Territory
Reid is a suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Located directly next to Canberra City, Reid is one of the oldest suburbs in Canberra....
).
Edmund Rolfe's first wife Margaret (née Logue) died during childbirth in 1867 and he later married Margaret O'Keefe. Edmund Rolfe fathered 14 children - Bryan (b.1862), Maria (b.1864), Mary (b.1865), Catherine (b.1867), Anthony (b.1868), William (b.1869), Alice (b.1871), Bridget (b.1873), Margaret (b.1874), James (b.1876), Patrick (b.1878), Gertrude (b.1880), John (b.1882) and Edmund George(b.1884).
Anthony Rolfe financed the initial purchase of 60 acres (24.3 ha) of land which abutes the present-day Gold Creek Homestead Site and transferred the land title as part of a much larger 320 acres (129.5 ha) parcel to his son Edmund in 1872. During its first few decades Gold Creek was devoted to cropping predominantly wheat and later the Rolfes diversified into merino sheep and later still beef cattle
The superior quality of the Gold Creek livestock was underlined by a purchase concluded in December 1903. Mr E. Hudson, the manager of the Duntroon estate, paid £2100 for 2100 merinos and 900 lambs. They used the cash to secure mortgages on further land purchases. Over a period of several years, he snapped up at foreclosure sales various parcels of land, extending his family's land holdings. By 1907 the Rolfes presided over a rural property 3940 acres (1,594.5 ha) in size, the largest in the Ginninderra district.
Edmund Rolfe was very active in local politics in the two decades prior to the Federation of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. He served for a number of years as the treasurer and later the vice president of the Ginninderra Protection Union, the forerunner to the Protectionist party
Protectionist Party
The Protectionist Party was an Australian political party, formally organised from 1889 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. It argued that Australia needed protective tariffs to allow Australian industry to grow and provide employment. It had its greatest strength in Victoria and in...
. He was also a committee member of the Ginninderra Agricultural Show, the forerunner to Canberra's Royal Easter Show.
The Rolfes also hosted a number of balls and dances at Gold Creek in support of St Benedicts, a Catholic Girls School in Queanbeyan. Edmund Rolfe was a fundraiser for Ginninderra St Francis Church and its replacement, Hall’s St Xaviers Church.
The Gold Creek Rolfes were amongst a handful of local farming families including Frederick Campbell (of Yarralumla
Government House, Canberra
Government House, Canberra, commonly known as Yarralumla, is the official residence of the Governor-General of Australia. It is located in the suburb of Yarralumla, in the City of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory....
) that lobbied the Federal Government for improved compensation during the land acquisition process in the lead-up to the creation of the Federal Capital Territory (now the Australian Capital Territory
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
).
Bruce family
Agricultural science
Agricultural science is a broad multidisciplinary field that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. -Agriculture and agricultural science:The two terms are often confused...
at Gold Creek during the 1960s. A substantial program improved efficiencies and drought-proofed the property. < As a result of measures such as these Gold Creek produced first-cross ewes (merinos mated with border Leicester), then much sought after by prime lamb producers in the Cowra region. The progeny of these ewes were excellent 'prime lambs', which yielded higher than average percentages of meat and accordingly achieved better sale prices.
Ten earthen dams were constructed to capture water runoff and arrest soil erosion, and provide water for stock. Today, the traffic roundabout at the corner of Gungahlin Drive and Wanganeen Avenue marks the location of a subterran bore a key component of this strategy. In 1967, the Bruces sunk an artesian bore, the centrepiece of an elaborate water reticulation system. From the small pump house directly above the bore head, a 9 hp diesel engine pushed a column of bore water 1,000 yards west to a 20,000-gallon concrete holding tank through very long lengths of two-inch polypropylene pipe. The water pump could completely fill the holding tank in about twelve hours. Today, this tank is located not far from Clarrie Hermes Drive in Harcourt Hill. From the tank, bore water was gravity-fed through buried pipes to 26 watering troughs. The entire reticulation system could be controlled by one person from a set of stop valves located in the machinery shed.
The Bruces also oversaw the planting of more than 1,000 trees across the rural property. Australian natives, especially the Tasmanian blue gum
Eucalyptus globulus
The Tasmanian Blue Gum, Southern Blue Gum or Blue Gum, is an evergreen tree, one of the most widely cultivated trees native to Australia. They typically grow from 30 to 55 m tall. The tallest currently known specimen in Tasmania is 90.7 m tall...
(Eucalyptus globulus) found favour with the Bruces, though the vast majority of the species planted were European ornamentals. The list of species included poplars (Populus canadensis), Monterey Pine
pines (Pinus radiata), pencil pines
Athrotaxis cupressoides
Athrotaxis cupressoides is a species of Athrotaxis, endemic to Tasmania in Australia, where it grows at 700–1,300 m altitude.Its common name is Pencil Pine, although it's not a member of the Pine family....
(Athrotaxis cupressoides), pussy willows
Salix discolor
Salix discolor is a species of willow native to North America, one of two species commonly called Pussy Willow.It is native to the northern forests and wetlands of Canada and the northeastern contiguous United States .It is a weak-wooded deciduous shrub or...
(Salix discolor), silver spruces (Picea engelmannii), black walnuts (Juglans nigra), golden elms
Sassafras albidum
Sassafras albidum is a species of Sassafras native to eastern North America, from southern Maine and southern Ontario west to Iowa, and south to central Florida and eastern Texas. It occurs throughout the eastern deciduous forest habitat type, at altitudes of sea level up to 1,500 m...
(Sassafras albidum), silver birchs (Betula pendula), quince
Pseudocydonia
Pseudocydonia sinensis , the only species in the genus Pseudocydonia, is a deciduous or semi-evergreen tree in the family Rosaceae, native to eastern Asia in China. It is closely related to the east Asian genus Chaenomeles, and is sometimes placed in Chaenomeles as C...
(Pseudocydonia sinensis) and white oaks (Quercus arizonica).
During the early to mid 1970s the Federal Government teminated the leases on a number of rural homesteads including Lanyon
Lanyon Homestead
Lanyon is an historic homestead and grazing property located on the southern outskirts of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory.-History:...
, Cuppacumbalong
Cuppacumbalong Homestead
Cuppacumbalong is an historic homestead located near the southern outskirts of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory. It is also the name of a former sheep and cattle grazing property that surrounded the homestead near the junction of the Murrumbidgee and Gudgenby Rivers. The word...
and Gold Creek. The government intended to issue a commercial lease for the use of the 16 hectares encompassing the Gold Creek Homestead Site (3).
Gold Creek Pty Ltd
Johnny Warren
John Norman Warren, MBE, OAM was an Australian football player, coach, administrator, writer and broadcaster. He was known as Captain Socceroo for his passionate work to promote the game in Australia...
acquired the business in 1979. Gold Creek hosted the national rodeo and country music events in 1981 and 1982.
In late 1977, David Templeton and two other former partners of Gold Creek Pty Ltd bought the Red Hill Hereford Stud, a cattle breeding business located near Finley in southern NSW. Established in 1966, Red Hill Stud’s breeding stock was top notch. Initially the partners transported their prize bulls to Gold Creek to prepare them for show and eventual sale. During the to come the Red Hill Hereford Stud won a swag of blue ribbons at Agricultural Shows in Canberra, Sydney and regional NSW. Its success led to a series of cattle breeders’ field days at Gold Creek held in conjunction with the Australian Hereford Society that attracted society members from around Australia.
During 1987/8, Gold Creek Pty Ltd began discussions with Japanese developer Kumagai Gumi Co. Ltd
Kumagai Gumi
is a construction company founded in Fukui, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. The company still has registered headquarters in Fukui, but the actual head office is located in Shinjuku, Tokyo.Kumagai Gumi was removed from the Nikkei 225 index on Oct...
to partner up for a 8-hole golf course development. Detailed plans were prepared for a condominium-style development. The go-ahead for the project depended on ACT Government approval which was ultimately not forthcoming. While the ‘Gold Creek Golf Estate’ didn’t see the light of day, in a major touch of irony, the government put its considerable financial backing behind the Gold Creek Country Club, a golf course development that bears, some would argue, striking similarities to the plans submitted by John Warren.
Decline
Ngunnawal, Australian Capital Territory
Ngunnawal is a suburb in the district of Gungahlin in Canberra, Australia. The suburb is named in tribute to the Ngunnawal people, the original inhabitants of the area. The suburb was gazetted on 18 October 1991. Ngunnawal is adjacent to the suburbs of Nicholls, Casey and Amaroo and Taylor...
, Nicholls
Nicholls, Australian Capital Territory
Nicholls is a suburb in the Canberra, Australia district of Gungahlin is named after Sir Douglas Nicholls , a former Governor of South Australia. It was gazetted on 18 October 1991. Streets are named after sportsmen and sportswomen....
and Harcourt Hill. The Gold Creek Homestead business fully expected that land planners would retain a respectable buffer zone between the Homestead Site and surrounding houses to cater for extra noise. By 1994, a long timber paling fence stretched along the northern, eastern and western boundaries of the now 41 hectare Gold Creek Homestead site, while to the south, a two-metre high earth noise barrier
Noise barrier
A noise barrier is an exterior structure designed to protect sensitive land uses from noise pollution...
was erected alongside Gungahlin Drive. With the majority of the construction work finished, bookings for the Gold Creek hayshed began to recover by mid 1995. Soon after noise complaints from nearby houses during a night-time function in the entertainment led to a suspension of live music at Gold Creek. The ACT Government commissioned a consultants report which estimated the cost of noise abatement measures at $300,000. The government quickly cooled on the idea. With no willing buyers, John Warren reluctantly sold the 41-hectare property to the ACT Government for $1.25M in 1998.
The delivery of the Gold Creek Homestead site into public hands left the ACT Government with 41 hectares of land with excellent development potential. In July 2000 the
Government began a first round of community consultations about future options for the site. Three months later indicative plans were unveiled for an aged care facility, medium density housing, motel and plant nursery.
Ngunnawal residents lobbied the government for retention of the entire site for community use. They presented a petition to the Heritage Minister with more than 4,000 signatures in support of their cause but to no avail. Unperturbed the group organised two open days at the site. The larger of the two events, held in April 2002, attracted about 1,500 people.
Later still the community group received a heritage grant to record Gold Creek's history. In March 2005 the ACT Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope, launched the book Gold Creek: Reflections of Canberra's Rural Heritage by local author Chris Newman at Gold Creek Homestead.
Heritage Nomination Rejected for a second time
In late 2005 a portion of the historic site was nominated for inclusion on the ACT heritage register. (See diagram to the right). The nomination addressed two specific criteriaCriterion (d) The site is highly valued by the community or a cultural group for reasons of strong or special religious, spiritual, cultural, educational or social associations. The name Gold Creek and by extension the site, have retained a strong resonance within the local Gungahlin community. The name has subsequently been appropriated by a local golf course, tourist precinct, high school and commercial businesses, which trade on the strong associations engendered in the name Gold Creek. Criterion (h) the site has strong or special associations with a person, group, event, development or cultural phase in local or national history. The Gold Creek Homestead site has a special association with individuals and events namely Edmund Rolfe that helped shape local history including the transition to Australia’s Federal Capital Territory.
The nomination was rejected in June 2009.
External links
- National Trust of Australia - Our heritage at risk - Gold Creek Homestead
- ABC News Sun Mar 6, 2005 - Chief Minister Jon Stanhope backs Gold Creek heritage listing