Museum dream stalled by dispute over 18-square-metre driveway
Chris Richards' plan to restore 1920s railway carriages into a disaster museum faces a legal challenge from Upper Hunter Shire Council.
Four weathered railway carriages from the 1920s sit on a Blandford property in a legal battle. Chris Richards is sole director of the company that owns them.
Richards wants to restore them into a railway disaster museum honouring the 1926 Murulla rail crash near Blandford. The 1926 Murulla rail crash killed more than two dozen people.
The council sued the company in the Land and Environment Court. They said the carriages needed development approval.
The twist is a tiny driveway crossing. Richards' proposed car park would sit on the same 18-square-metre strip that provides the only access to the council's rural fire brigade shed.
Richards says a development application would be automatically rejected because of this conflict of interest. Court-ordered mediation failed in October.
Richards fears the carriages will be scrapped if forced off the site.
- Four from the 1920s
- Carriages age
- 18 square metres
- Driveway size
- 1926, killed more than two dozen people
- Murulla disaster
- Failed in October
- Mediation outcome
Why it mattersThe case shows conflicts between heritage preservation and local government power. This happens when property boundaries overlap with public infrastructure.
AustraliaThis NSW court battle could set a precedent for how councils handle heritage projects on rural properties with shared access issues.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 h ago
Open this story in InSnip →
