I think a set up like the Rocks Markets in Sydney down by the lake would be great… maybe not in winter though…

“lack the historical or architectural value to warrant listing on the Heritage Register”

What BS.

Money, money, money…

Standard Stanhope. Flog it off as soon as possible.

While looking at the foreshore buildings from across the lake this morning I thought how nice the historic Canberra buildings fitted within the development. It will be a real shame when the bus depot is razed…as Honest John’ comments make it abundantly clear it will be. Wonder what sort of donation…nah, shouldn’t go there.

Hmm Markets like this tend to work as they re-purpose an existing but disused structure, I suspect a “purpose built” markets will feel like a part-time shopping mall and end up being run the same way.

The Rocks Market works but not sure if that open air approach would work in that locale. Nor can I imagine there being an appropriate streetscape being built for it

Lets be honest its a blatant money grab for the land. Can’t see it any other way really.

Sigh.

Is it someone’s job in ACT govt to find stuff that actually works and that people like, and to ruin it?

EG – Tharwa Primary, Griffith Library, now the bus depot markets.

phototext said :

“lack the historical or architectural value to warrant listing on the Heritage Register”

What BS.

Yes, that sort of thing appears to not worry this government…

It’ll be good to see the markets put out to tender properly, and a proper “locals, crafts” type regime, rather than the faux-enviro import products of exploited third-world labour on the “local craft” stalls … I have no problem with markets, but this gig was set up as a special government-enabled deal to support local makers – and never fulfilled its charter. Looking forward to the honestly private Yarralumla woolshed Handmade market …

Fisrt the Engineers workshop next door got taken down, now the old bus depot..
The powerstation facade remains, but its pretty much dead to me as well now..

Where will it all end ?

It is a pity that this town knows no heritage value in 99% of eligible old buildings.

All this whil emy mates old girl has to initiate a paperchain 2 years long to erect an awning on her “Heritage Listed” house in reid…. Go figure.

I’m a market junkie. I started my business at the Bus Depot markets, now I pick up new products to stock in my shop by finding local makers at markets. My faves recently are Handmade, Rose St in Fitzroy, and the Rocks. Canberra needs a weekly craft market in a sheltered space – Rocks is fine but there’s a couple of months that would be too cold and windy in Canberra for otheir outdoor setup. It needs to also be in a location that is nice to walk around – by the lake has been great for the Bus Depot. Move it to a spot with no nice views or no nearby cafes and the market will be dead. Looks like a land grab for money to me.

Nice work Mr Stanhope, trying to destroy what is one of Canberras finest attractions.

sepi said :

Sigh.

Is it someone’s job in ACT govt to find stuff that actually works and that people like, and to ruin it?

EG – Tharwa Primary, Griffith Library, now the bus depot markets.

That’s got to be the coolest job in the world.

“Now, to my secret jungle laboratory to identify new things that are working, and destroy them! Bwahahahahahahaha!”

How horrible, what a crap idea Stanhope you tool. All those awards the markets have won and tourists they attract can be moved along so some ministers PA’s can have double sinked bathrooms – what a crock.

Not too fussed about it. The markets are fine, the bus depot is a bit of a dump. I wouldn’t be spending money (or foregoing it) to save the buildings.

Canberra doesn’t have a lot of old buildings because its such a young city. Lets keep some middle aged buildings long enough for them to get old and interesting. That also means to spend some cash in their upkeep but its an investment in our city retaining and developing some character.

Canberra doesn’t have a lot of old buildings because its such a young city. Lets keep some middle aged buildings long enough for them to get old and interesting. That also means to spend some cash in their upkeep but its an investment in our city retaining and developing some character.

Exactly, heritage has to start somewhere and I would suggest that those 1940s bus depots are perfectly suited to adaptive reuse and conservation. And given that they are the only example of this sort of building in Canberra should be conserved. I’m sure I could come up with a statement of significance and a conservation plan if I had the time.

I wonder who the numpties are in the Heritage Council that recommended that it be bulldozed.

First Stanhope wants to let the Tharwa bridge collapse because it will cost money to fix, and bugger the historical and cultural significance of it, and now he’s happy to flog off the bus depot because some developer has got into his ear about how much money he can make from the sale.

I think it’s a little unfair to lump stanhope going to hell with the idea of saving the old bus depot building.

I for one couldn’t care less about the building but would still like to see stanhope go to hell.

Lets not forget people that we’re talking about the building, not the markets. The markets can be held elsewhere once the building is gone.

Like this,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Creek_Homestead

Gold Creek Homestead (1) 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.[1] 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 and will evitably be demolished

Yes, demolished. Just like the bus depot.

No history? My dad worked in there for years, and he was one of the culprits for the teabags on the ceiling. Thats history. This government are just money grubbers.

I’m all for saving interesting pieces of history, but you can’t save everything just because they happen to be more than 50 years old.

I remember the excuse for not adding the Bus Depot was that Canberras Public Transport History can be shown in other places, however
-The original Caretakers Home from Ainslie Depot is set for demolition
-The two sites that the Ainslie Depot was on have had homes built on top
-Woden Depot has been shortened
-Kingston Depot is set for demolition
-Belconnen Interchange has gone
-Higgins Interchange has gone
-Woden Interchange is also set to be altered in the next few years
-We have only one example of Canberra’s ex bus types.

The list just gets longer

I’m giving the chief minister the benefit of the doubt on this one because land alongside the lake where the bus depot markets would be relocated would be worth more to a developer than the existing bus depot site.

We still have the Farrer Terminus, despite the efforts of one particular toe-rag (name known)to blow the bejesus out of it.

My late, and lamented, father-in-law used to bicycle from Turner to Kingston at some stupid hour of the morning to swing the crank handle on the first bus out of the depot. In the middle of winter, he was a better man than I!

Having recently taken a cursory interest in the ‘redevelopment’ of the old power station into the Glassworks, I’m not too sure they have got it right. You don’t have to look too closely to see that the joint is still pretty run down, and a coat of paint has done very little. I would suggest that any treatment organised for the bus depot would be similarly halfarsed and underfunded.

The ACT Gov cannot afford to do it properly, so I am resigned to its demise.

Those ‘experts’ of heritage protection have a bad habit of authorising the demolition of a perfectly nice building and replacing it with something butt-ugly.

Where do we start? The Capitol Theatre, the Civic Theatre, the Hotel Civic, the original National Library – all were demonstrative of the distinctive Federal Capital architectural style. Now all gone.

Hell, I’d even bemoan the loss of the original houses along Torrens St and Fawkner St in Braddon (not that I ever saw them; but apparently they were planned and built according to Garden City principles). Now replaced with leaky, ugly, crowded apartment blocks.

phototext said :

“lack the historical or architectural value to warrant listing on the Heritage Register”

What BS.

Totally. And yet those horrible eyesores of Government housing on Northbourne avenue are worth preserving apparently.

What about its cultural value ?

Time to take it to the streets people !!! I sense petitions and protests. Pull on your knitted wollen hat, your Alpaca jumper and that hand-dyed silk scarf and FIGHT dammit !!!

Perhaps other states can learn from this brilliant plan. Paddie’s market in Sydney and the Victoria Markets in innercity Melbourne could both be bulldozed, and quick money made from a few blocks of units.

Oh – except Melbourne and Sydney actually pride themselves on having a bit of character.

sepi said :

Is it someone’s job in ACT govt to find stuff that actually works and that people like, and to ruin it?

EG – Tharwa Primary, Griffith Library, now the bus depot markets.

If Fyshwick mysteriously disappears one night, you’ll know you were right…

It’s an appalling idea to willy-nilly sell off asset, such as the OBD, that belongs to the people of Canberra.

But, other than Sunday Markets and some Saturdays for computer market, is the OBD accommodating any other activities? How much does it cost Canberrans to maintain this building?

Oh wait… update from Canberra Times: Govt backs away from depot plan

(ODB was) not in keeping with the high quality of development elsewhere at Kingston Foreshore

Mr Stanhope, do you have a reference to an expert or organisation who made that statement? Or are you just voicing your own personal opinion?

All you self interested anti-development posters give this site a bad name.

moneypenny2612 said :

Those ‘experts’ of heritage protection have a bad habit of authorising the demolition of a perfectly nice building and replacing it with something butt-ugly.
Where do we start? The Capitol Theatre, the Civic Theatre, the Hotel Civic, the original National Library – all were demonstrative of the distinctive Federal Capital architectural style. Now all gone.

In a city this young it’s a real shame that those buildings with a bit of character are gone And the potential of ones that are left is not being realised, eg the Sydney and Melbourne Buildings that sit on either side of the main road into town. The sections aren’t even the same colour!

cranky said :

Having recently taken a cursory interest in the ‘redevelopment’ of the old power station into the Glassworks, I’m not too sure they have got it right. You don’t have to look too closely to see that the joint is still pretty run down, and a coat of paint has done very little. I would suggest that any treatment organised for the bus depot would be similarly halfarsed and underfunded.

I thought maybe the run-down appearance was intentional, to preserve the echoes of the building’s past use and so on. It just made me wonder if anyone remembered to check the old bits of paint for lead?

Knock it down. It’s just a big ugly shed, and it’s empty six days a week. “Ooh, buses parked there once! You know – BUSES!” BFD.

What heritage attraction are we talking about exactly? its an old ass ugly shed…once used to fix buses…gee what a winter wonderland of fun and excitement…

I see the usual suspects using this as an opportunity to take a dump on Stanhope. *bitch bitch whinge whinge* (on repeat) To be honest I don’t know much about the man. I do know from direct personal experiencing he gave the green light to more than enough financial aid to the new caretakers of Tuggeranong Homestead to help restore the buildings/grounds and redirect alot of interest back into the heritage value of it. Im not stroking his ego, its just fact. Surely this act counts for something before you all condemn him to hell (on a side note what is with the lame ‘oh-so-edgy’ voting options)

Im pretty sure the same market goers will still attend the markets if a new building is approved.

Honestly I don’t think I would go there much if it was just in some modern shed. Part of the atmosphere is the big old building with the high ceilings and very open at the ends, and the nook underneath for the food stalls. You can’t just whip up genuine atmosphere in a building – not on the cheap anyway.

There is a difference between trash and treasure at Jamison, tuggeranong homestead markets, Albert Hall homemade markets and Kingston markets, and the locations are a big part of that.

(Jamison were in danger of losing their spot recently too I think – is anything happening with that?)

May I please point out that the current building that houses the “Bus Depot Markets” was NOT and NEVER was the bus depot at all.
Those who were in Canberra way back around 1996 may remember that the original Bus Depot Markets were first housed in the actual Old Bus Depot, (opp Cnr Wentworth and Giles). We owned a small business within those premises, under the auspices of the Canberra Business Centre. As the building was slated for demolition by the Carnell government, the building was closed and demolition was complete by about 1997 to make way for the Kingston Foreshore development.
The Nazi Gals (OBDM) were offered their pick of replacement sites at a nominal price (it used to cost them about $40 per weekend back then as I remember) chose the current premises and took the name Old Bus Depot Markets with them.
The current site was actually originally a storage/ workshop facility for the Electricity Department. Lets hope the rent has increased,
Point worth noting, no offer of alternative accomodation was made to the light industrial buinesses within the old Bus Depot, and maby simply packed up and closed, with the exception of the Rock Climbing Business which is still succesfully operating out at Mitchell, I hear.
RIP Bus Depot, but you’re all about 12 years too late unfortunately.

I’m all for saving interesting pieces of history, but you can’t save everything just because they happen to be more than 50 years old.

Totally. And yet those horrible eyesores of Government housing on Northbourne avenue are worth preserving apparently.

Argggg enough with Heritage listing everything… Give it 100 years and everything will be heritage listed, in other words old, decrepit and utterly useless. Just like the houses on the highway to Cooma.

As for the OBD, its a shed. An eyesore and a dump. Knock it down fast !

dusty said :

The Nazi Gals (OBDM) were offered their pick of replacement sites at a nominal price (it used to cost them about $40 per weekend back then as I remember) chose the current premises and took the name Old Bus Depot Markets with them.

It’s probably worth mentioning that I understand they are former ACT Government employees, or the partners of such … Does anyone know their story and whether that’s true? I expect the govt files are marked commercial-in-confidence.

Argggg enough with Heritage listing everything… Give it 100 years and everything will be heritage listed, in other words old, decrepit and utterly useless. Just like the houses on the highway to Cooma.

Go for a walk around Canberra. Not much stuff older than about the 1970s. Which is why we need to hang onto whatever heritage we have. Once it is gone, it’s not coming back.

Thumper said :

Argggg enough with Heritage listing everything… Give it 100 years and everything will be heritage listed, in other words old, decrepit and utterly useless. Just like the houses on the highway to Cooma.

Go for a walk around Canberra. Not much stuff older than about the 1970s. Which is why we need to hang onto whatever heritage we have. Once it is gone, it’s not coming back.

with our birthday coming up soon, wouldn’t our mighty leader want to have some old buildings around to show the stages that canberra has gone through to become the city it is now? or is it all about bigger buildings, darkened paths and no soul?

Yet another profit driven idea from Stanhope – kill anything that has a creative edge to it & build more ugly, leaky apartments. The Old Bus Depot Markets without the Old Bus Depot is just yet another bunch of people selling stuff we dont need. I frequent the OBDM regularly and really love it! I’ve taken many out-of-towners to the OBDM, who have been over the moon to find Canberra does have a creative, artist high-quality market located in a historic building. That’s a big deal for Canberra – why is that so difficult for Stanhope to understand?? Surely there’s enough room in this town to keep the OBDM and have Lake side markets on Saturdays, during summer or special occasions too?

Thumper said :

Argggg enough with Heritage listing everything… Give it 100 years and everything will be heritage listed, in other words old, decrepit and utterly useless. Just like the houses on the highway to Cooma.

Go for a walk around Canberra. Not much stuff older than about the 1970s. Which is why we need to hang onto whatever heritage we have. Once it is gone, it’s not coming back.

If a building is old and falling down and unlivable like some other places they heritage list around the country – whats the point !? Yay old feral building that the spiders live in.

Last time I looked it was very structurally sound…

And being used.

Ugly, leaky apartments = bad. But the BDM could hardly be accused of having a creative edge — more an excellent commercial opportunity well taken by its enterpreneurs, who have in turn enabled a whole bunch of stallholders — from great to lousy, and from creative to crass – to make a living.

Now, if they wanted a creative edge, they could host a fringe festival…

Who cares? Demolish them. Heck, demolish everything in Canberra.

So the building was never a bus depot, seems silly to want to preserve a shed with no character that is hardly compatible with health and safety standards.

Whereas the old powerhouse next-door is a building with character.

This could be a perfect opportunity for a fresh new weekly market!

Sigh again.

Having only been in Canberra 18 months, now regulars at old bus depot markets. Stanhope there’s plenty of room for expansion or a modern addition to the building.

We need to have somewhere with atmosphere and character/charm to go to. Please don’t ruin it – just to develop more residential.

Canberra needs all the character and older buildings it can get!