Heritage sandstone and bricks from the Fitz Roy Iron Works was most likely destroyed according to Mittagong local, Raymond Hirst.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Hirst said during a beautification project in the laneway next to his Mittagong home last year, a conversation with two council workers dashed any hope he had that the relics were still stored at the Reviva Centre in Moss Vale.
“Two council workers had come to plant trees and one of the guys admired the sandstone I had featured around them. I mentioned it was a pity that I couldn’t get some original Mittagong sandstone, that there’s a whole pile of heritage sandstone and bricks and such at the recovery centre,” Mr Hirst said.
“He said: ‘Oh no, there isn’t. I was there when the order was given to ‘get rid of all that stuff’,” he said.
A spokesperson for Wingecarribee Shire Council confirmed a stone crusher was hired every few years at the recovery centre to crush materials to be used as road base.
The spokesperson further confirmed that one had been hired in 2015, but stressed that an internal investigation was still active and ongoing.
“Our internal investigation is coming up with multiple theories; we receive calls daily from people who claim to know what happened to them. We will be doing another site inspection, we are still looking into the matter,” they said.
He said: ‘Oh no, there isn’t. I was there when the order was given to ‘get rid of all that stuff’
The investigation was mentioned at the November 14 council meeting where Councillor Larry Whipper sought assurances that councillors would be kept abreast of the ongoing investigation.
Mayor Duncan Gair said that all avenues were being explored and further information would be presented to councillors as it arose, quipping that “no stone will be left unturned.”
The relics had been stored on pallets at the back of the Reviva Centre since 2006 when they were handed over, in trust, to council by the developers of Highlands Marketplace.
Historian Dr Leah Day OAM was last informed of their whereabouts in March 2015 when she received an email confirming the sandstone was still at the Reviva, but the bricks were missing.
Read more:
“We have not seen the bricks for some time. I do remember they were moved some years ago as the pallets were unstable and collapsing, but have not been able to locate these on site,” the email read.
By year’s end, however, both the bricks and sandstone were no longer at the centre as operations had been handed over to Resource Recovery Australia.
The company confirmed to the Southern Highland News that no sandstone or bricks were anywhere on site by that time.
Sign up for breaking news and a weekly newsletter delivered straight to your inbox…
