Preserving heritage buildings

Freeling Recreation Park may soon have a new pavilion because the existing structure has been deemed as unsafe and beyond economic repair through damage cause by white ants.

For anyone who has ever had the misfortune to experience the damage that white ants can cause, it is a heart breaking feeling.

White ants like to work away in the damp, dark and relatively quiet areas and often their activity can continue unnoticed for years. However, in the meantime they can quickly build up a damage bill into thousands of dollars.

Traditional methods of ridding properties of white ants may have proven to be successful in the past but with poisonous chemicals, today there is the added danger of affecting the public.

No doubt the Freeling Recreation Park Pavilion has served its community well for many years and it is sad that the local community is not able to utilise this facility at the moment, but safety is a major factor when it comes to structures such as a pavilion.

If Council insists on this building being listed as a heritage item then to comply with these rules the building would again have to be built of iron and timber structure. However, if the structure is built with wood again it is highly likely that eventually the white ants will return once more.

Angaston Railway Station is another local heritage item that is suffering from severe white ant damage.

This building is no longer used at all so there is a great temptation for white ants to have an absolute uninterrupted feast for years to come.

Trying to preserve a building once it is white ant affected can be a real challenge and usually it is the older type buildings with structural problems that allow white ants to set up camp in the first place.

Barossa on the food map

Monday night’s television series, Master Chef has given the Barossa a real boost with the publicity generated from two local foodies, former contestant, Mr Colin Sheppard and Mrs Tracy Collins who has now left the show.

Both are now pursuing their new found careers in cooking and the series has given the Barossa a great deal of wonderful publicity with such personalities as local restaurateur, Mrs Maggie Beer also providing her support of the show.

Mr Callum Hann, a previous contestant, has also gone on to become quite a famous food ambassador.