3.3 the garden beds - description, role, and significance · • the important role of these garden...

ROSSER’S HOUSE GARDEN • CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN & ACTION PLAN

CATHERINE BROUWER LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS 34

3.3 The garden beds - description, role, and significance 3.3.1 Introduction

Rosser’s House gardens are assessed here as the separate garden beds and lawns, for the purpose of;

• understanding the content and character of each garden bed, and • the contribution each garden bed makes to the garden as a whole

The Garden Beds delineated are:-

North entry gardens - “the back yard” A The garden along the north of the house. B The garden at the house west of the entry. C The planting between the house and the shed. D North orchard garden. E Gardens along the east side and the lawn.

East gardens - the front garden F and G The garden beds along the east of the house. H and I Garden beds alongside the lawn entry path.

South gardens J Garden bed along the south of the house. K Upper shrubbery. L Eastern shrubbery. M Lower shrubberies, ponds and lawn. N Lower garden perimeter.

West gardens - “Gene’s forest garden” O and P Gardens at the west house edge, Q Western garden, S Compost and orchard area, R Lower, south-west woodland area.

Friends of the Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens T GCRBG nursery, These garden beds are indicated on Figure 5 on the following page. Refer to Figures 2, 3 and 4 above for locations of individual elements. The latter three figures are combined in Figure 6 at the end of this report.

In this section each garden bed is briefly described and analysed, including the role of the garden, and preliminary assessments of heritage significance and conservation considerations are indicated.

733rd Council Meeting 28 March 2017 City Planning Committee Meeting 15 March 2017

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3.3.2 North entry gardens - “the back yard” A The garden along the north of the house. B The garden at the house west of the entry. C The planting between the house and the shed. D North orchard garden. E Gardens along the east side ,and the lawn.

Garden A - The garden along the north of the house

Table and seats on the lawn in the trees’ shade

Description This garden extends all along the house from the doorway to the house corner. At the Castanospermum australe (black bean) tree the underplanting extends out from the house a couple of metres while further to the west the garden narrows to about a metre wide. A Phoenix roebellini (date palm) is a feature just west of the tree. Orchids in pots are supported on timber planks along the west half as several years ago the garden was moved away from the house to allow for aeration and termite inspections.

Role of the garden Much of the garden is directly outside the living room window and provides an attractive outlook and garden edge for this room. The plants also semi-screen the visitors view into the house.

Aspects for heritage significance assessment • The continuity of this garden through the house history. • The amenity of the garden as viewed from the house. • The long term attention to this garden.

Preliminary conservation considerations • Maintenance of the spread of some individual plants. • Retention of the pot plants in the future. • Maintenance of the native bee hives.


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Garden B - The garden at the house west of the entry

Description This garden extends along the house from the doorway east to the house corner.

Role of the garden The garden, in association with garden area A, presents the house within a richly planted garden, contributing to the overall garden character. The plants semi-screen the water tank and the side entry to the kitchen from the visitor’s view on approach to the entry door.

Aspects for heritage significance assessment • The continuity of this garden throughout the house history. • The amenity of the garden as viewed on approaching the door. • Additions in the Gene Rosser period.

Preliminary conservation considerations • Maintenance of the diversity of plants, the pot plants and decorative items over the long term. Garden C - The planting between the house and shed

Description There are several beds here as there are pathways through to the shed and the garden east of the house. The main features are the Schotia tree with many hanging baskets and epiphytes over the branches, and the old frangipani tree. Orchids are stored here in the shade on a tiered timber shelf unit.


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Role of the garden The garden provides a frame to the lawn, and separation of the northern open sunny garden area from the tree canopy shaded eastern gardens. The garden extends up to, and in front of, the now disused shed partially screening and integrating it into the garden’s character.

Aspects for heritage significance assessment • Garden C has two old trees -the frangipani reputedly from the Muir period and the later Schotia brachypetala (parrot tree). • The collection of hanging plants and epiphytes in the Schotia is unique in its extent.

Preliminary conservation considerations • Conservation of the frangipani and the Schotia tree with its collection of hanging plants and epiphytes. • Restoration of the garden in particular the low plants and lawn edges. Garden D - The orchard garden north of the garage Description This garden has a small ‘orchard’ group of trees and herbs and vegetables underneath. A small wire mesh enclosure against the perimeter fence has troughs for vegetables. Weed matting has been spread over part of the area to assist maintenance, however it is unattractive and can be slippery at times.

Role of the garden The garden provides a foliage semi-screen to the perimeter fence and the Friends of the GCRBG plant propagation and nursery activities which have extended directly outside the fence.

Aspects for heritage significance assessment • The garden has old trees with associations with the Rosser family. • It was once part of the Rosser’s yard and is still part of the north yard setting.

Preliminary conservation considerations • The mulberry was planted by John Rosser. • Restoration of the garden if/when removal of the weed mat and tank. The northern lawns

Description The lawn extends over the level area north of the house. Specimen trees setting off the edges include the mulberry tree planted by John Rosser, and the tulip tree next to the house. The clothesline extends over the lawn.

Role of the garden The lawn serves the laundry needs of the clothes line, as it did throughout the place history. It also serves as the driveway to the garage building and as a


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turnaround and car park for visitors. The lawns provide a relaxation place at the table and chairs in the shade, and openness to view the house and garden planting.

Aspects for heritage significance assessment • The open lawns represent the open yard area the Rosser’s used for their beekeeping and other farm utilitarian needs, for the childrens’ play and house utilitarian needs.

Preliminary conservation considerations • Moderate maintenance only required. • Conservation of aspects of the historical character of the open utilitarian lawn. Garden E - Ashmore Road buffer garden

Description Along the Ashmore Road side of the northern lawn garden and extending north alongside the Botanic Gardens fence is a wide, mass planted garden. This area is planted on soil mounds parallel to the road with mixed trees and shrubs primarily of native species.

Role of the Garden The role of this garden bed is to screen the house and lawns from Ashmore Road.

Aspects for heritage significance assessment • The planting is not an appropriate character for the Rosser home garden. Its extent into the lawns and the plants style in parts are intrusive on interpretation of the overall garden character and significance.

Preliminary conservation considerations • Rejuvenation of the screening role of the garden bed with pruning of the plants and additional planting. • Reduction in part of the extent of this garden planting into the former yard space.


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3.3.3 East Gardens - the front garden F and G The garden beds along the east of the house. H and I Garden beds alongside the lawn entry path. Gardens F and G - The garden beds along the east of the house

Description Area F is the garden south of the house entry, area G is to the north.

Role of the garden The garden role is as an immediate planted surrounds for the house to be enjoyed both on approach and from the verandah. These narrow gardens present the house as nestled within a luxuriant garden. There appears to have been garden beds alongside the entry from the time of the garden’s establishment by John and Essie Rosser. The gardens are a traditional way to screen the space under the raised verandah and they provide amenity for users of the verandah and those strolling around the gardens

Aspects for heritage significance assessment • The important role of these garden beds in presenting the house in a garden setting, and the relationship between house and garden.

Preliminary conservation considerations • Retention of a space around the timber house for aeration and termite inspections. • Maintenance of the plants in the ground and the pot plants amongst them.

Garden H - Garden bed south of the lawn entry path

Description The garden bed along the southern side of the long grass path between the house and the former Ashmore Road gate.

Role of the garden The garden has always been part of the frame of the path and vista from the house.


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Aspects for heritage significance assessment • The important role of these garden beds in presenting the lawn pathway which is a major part of the garden design and the presentation of the house in a garden setting.

Preliminary conservation considerations • Maintenance of the traditional plants to represent the historical garden character.

Garden I - The eastern garden

Description This garden edges the 40 metre long lawn pathway which forms the historical vista between the street entry and the house. Alongside the lawn the bed comprised a flowering garden border though this is now much diminished in plant variety. The now mature trees within the garden provide an extensive area of shade in which the sub-tropical low foliage plants flourish and form a luxuriant display. Unpaved, narrow paths wind amongst these plants, and closer to the Ashmore Road east side, a lawn pathway links the lower entry path lawn to the shed area up the slope.

Role of the garden A large garden bed or zone which frames the entry path and is a major part of the presentation garden formed by the Rosser family. It is a valued part of the outlook from the kitchen and front verandah. Essie Rosser had a propagation area under the northern mango tree.

Aspects for heritage significance assessment • The important role of this garden bed in framing the lawn pathway and presenting the historical flower display garden. • The strolling garden features of the curving paths and island planting.

Preliminary conservation consideration • Reconstruction and maintenance of the diversity of the historical plants including annuals and perennials.


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3.3.4 South Gardens J Garden bed along the south of the house. K Upper shrubbery. L Eastern shrubbery. M Lower shrubberies, ponds and lawn. N Lower garden perimeter.

Garden J - Garden bed along the house south

Description This garden edges the house outside the south facing living room.

Role of the garden This garden bed and the wisteria vine covered trellis frame the large window, bringing the foliage to edge the room from where it can be closely appreciated, and presenting the house nestled in a richly planted garden as viewed from the lawn.

Aspects for heritage significance assessment • The important role of this garden bed in presenting the house in a garden setting, and as part of the unique house design with large windows for views.

Preliminary conservation considerations • Retention of a space around the timber house for aeration and termite inspections. • Maintenance of the wisteria vine structure and the vine to continue to frame the window. • Rejuvenation of the plants and character of the garden bed. Garden K - Upper shrubbery

Description This garden is along the upper east edge of the southern lawn.

Role of the garden This garden bed is appreciated from the lawn as part of a walk around the gardens.

Aspects for heritage significance assessment • The important role of this garden bed as part of the South Gardens area.

Preliminary conservation considerations • Retention of the Essie Rosser planting, in particular the Azaleas. • Rejuvenation of the small plants and overall character of the garden bed.


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Garden L - Eastern shrubbery

Description This garden is at the east edge of the southern lawns and extends to the garden along the lawn path to the former Ashmore Road entry.

Role of the garden This garden bed is appreciated from the lawn. The flowering small plants and shrubs form a display along the lawn edge. It is an important part of the strolling and plants display style of garden as a whole.

Aspects for heritage significance assessment • The important historical role of this garden bed as part of the South Garden area and of Essie Rosser’s flowering annuals and shrubs displays.

Preliminary conservation considerations • Retention of the remnant Essie Rosser planting, in particular the bulbs and perennials around the lawn edge. • Rejuvenation of the plants and character of the garden bed including removals of intrusive trees and plants.

Garden M - Southern lawns, fringing shrubberies and ponds

Description The lawns sweep across the slope below the house and east towards the wide garden bed alongside the Ashmore Road boundary. At the lower edge of the lawns just within the shrubbery are two lily ponds. The western pond is directly in the vista from the living room to the landscape setting. In the shrubbery to the east the Rosser’s formed winding garden paths, and built the stone wall to grow and display orchids and bromeliads, the stone edged beds within the paths, and the raised stones known by the Rosser children as “Pop’s stones”.

Role of the garden The open lawns provide open space for the house outlooks and presentation of the shrubberies and flowering plants. The lawns are used for strolling and enjoying the garden as a whole and the details of trees, plants and flowers and the ponds.


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Aspects for heritage significance assessment • This is a highly important garden for its long history with the Rossers and their house, and for its fine proportions and composition as seen in historical photos.

Preliminary conservation considerations • Maintain good condition of the shrub borders, in particular the azaleas and camellias. • Maintenance of the lawns - the important centre of the garden space. • Maintenance of the two ponds which have particular and sometimes high maintenance needs. • Restoration and maintenance of the middle shrubbery part and the stone features there including the orchid wall, the edging, and feature stones. Garden N Lower garden perimeter

Description This is the area below and fringing the beautiful southern garden which comprises the lawns and ponds and shrub borders below the house (gardens J, K, L, M). The garden is primarily a secondary and background area. It extends from the entry from Ashmore Road (garden I) alongside the boundary fences, to the rear of the pond on the southern vista from the house. The tops of the Callitris (Bribie Island pines) along the Rosser property boundary, and the Araucaria pines (bunya bunya pines) in the GCRBG, are seen from the house above the garden shrubs and small trees. These trees shade the area and have caused the deep leaf litter over the ground.

Role of the garden This part of the garden is generally not used, rather it serves as a backdrop.

Aspects for heritage significance assessment • This is an important part of the garden as its trees and shrubs form a backdrop to the lower, southern garden as enjoyed from the lawns.

Preliminary conservation considerations • Maintaining gardener access for clearing debris when required. • Protecting and restoring historic plants planted here by the Rossers. • Rejuvenation of the plants and character of this garden area.


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3.3.5 West Gardens - Gene’s forest garden O and P Gardens at the west house edge. Q Western garden. R Lower, south west woodland area. S Compost and orchard area. Gardens O and P - Gardens at the west house edge

Description These garden beds extend around the west and south west sides of the house. At the west end of the house a water tank is supported on a traditional, timber stump stand. The tap on the tank is a hose point for garden watering and other yard needs.

Role of the garden This garden serves as a traditional edging garden to tie the house into the garden. The grass pathway is the only access path around the south west of the house.

Aspects for heritage significance assessment • The important role of this garden bed in presenting the house in a garden setting.

Preliminary conservation considerations • Retention of a space around the timber house for aeration and termite inspections. • Rejuvenation of the plants and character of the garden beds. • Maintenance of the grass path with the increased shading from the nearly mature trees.

Garden Q - Western garden

Description This garden is about 20 metres wide between the lawns and the western boundary fence to the GCRBG. A gently curving pathway links the lawns and a gate in the fence for access to the Botanic Gardens. It is about 30 metres up the


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gentle slope from the gate to the compost area at the fence corner. This whole area is shaded by the tree canopies and the black bamboo clump (Bambusa sp). It is mass planted with sub-tropical, understorey foliage plants. The garden has a forest character. A clearing off the path around the house has seats and decorative items and pot plants. This garden area as it appears now was substantially established by Gene.

Role of the garden This area provides shelter from the west for the house and the southern lawns and gardens. Before this rainforest style garden was planted by Gene, the large canopy of the historical ficus tree served as a similar screen and provided shade for family play and relaxation times. The garden has pathways amongst the massed, subtropical understorey plants for the gardener and visitors. It provides a shaded, cool-in-summer, forest retreat garden experience.

Aspects for heritage significance assessment • This is an important garden area for its association with Gene managing and extending the garden.

Preliminary conservation considerations • The trees and bamboo require periodic specialist assessments, and maintenance skills.

Garden R - Lower, south west woodland area

Description This lower corner garden is essentially a continuation of the wooded character of the adjacent garden areas, both the western garden (garden Q), and the lower garden perimeter (garden N). Two large bamboo clumps are a feature of this area.

Role of the garden This part of the garden is not generally used. The trees and space provide an important frame to the southern gardens and the garden as a whole.

Aspects for heritage significance assessment • The important role of this garden with its tree grove in sheltering the house and garden and presenting the house in a garden setting. • This garden has an important role as a framework or edge to the garden as viewed from the house and lawns and as a visual buffer of the GCRBG.

Preliminary conservation considerations • Maintaining gardener access on unobtrusive paths for clearing debris when required. • Protecting and restoring historic plants planted here by the Rossers. • Rejuvenation of the plants and character of this garden.


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Garden S - Compost and orchard area

Description Between the house and the fence to the west are a few fruit trees and a banana clump which has been there from the Rosser’s early days forming the garden.

Role of the garden The tree and shrub foliage provides a screen from the adjacent GCRBG and an enclosure for the house and garden here. Part of this area is used for garden waste temporary storage and compost and is referred to as the “snake habitat” by Gene. The septic tank is still used.

Aspects for heritage significance assessment • The garden character and buffer screen role as adapted by Gene from the earlier garden. • The important role of this garden in representing the utilitarian area of a garden in a semi-rural or outer suburban context.

Preliminary conservation considerations • Rejuvenation of the trees, plants and character of the garden. • Maintenance of the traditional, unstructured compost form. 3.3.6 Friends of Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens

Garden section T - GCRBG nursery area

Description The north west corner of the property is a separated, fenced area formed of two terraces comprising two sheds and an uncovered plant nursery for propagation and growing on plants. This area is no longer part of the Rosser garden. It is used by the Friends of the GCRBG. There is access off the Botanic Grounds on the north through a vehicular gate. North of the garage there is a vegetable and herb garden now mainly looked after by the Friends group.


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Role of the garden The Friends of the GCRBG undertake plant propagation here, store plants and materials and use it as a base and casual meeting place for their activities associated with the Botanic Gardens.

Aspects for heritage significance assessment • The area has some heritage significance as it was part of the Rosser house grounds, and before that part of the Muir farm. Potential archaeological significance has to be considered if any development is undertaken. • The area has an important role as the north west space of the garden’s setting.

Preliminary conservation considerations • Retention of a space around the Rosser house garden which is undeveloped above the single storey height of the garage building and the mulberry tree as viewed from the house and northern lawns.

4 ASSESSMENT OF HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE

4.1 Assessing heritage significance

The Burra Charter, defines cultural (heritage) significance as follows: ‘Cultural significance means aesthetic, historic, scientific, social or spiritual value for past, present or future generations. Heritage significance is embodied in the place itself, its fabric, setting, use, associations, meanings, records, related places and related objects.’ 27

Heritage significance is a concept which helps in estimating the value of places. The places that are likely to be of significance are those which help an understanding of the past or enrich the present, and which will be of value to future generations.

The approach to assessing the nature and extent of the significance of a place is based upon an assessment of

• the existing and past fabric of the place, which provides evidence of the origin, use and value of place, • the associations of the community with the place, and • the physical qualities and relationships of the elements of the place and its setting.

4.2 The Gold Coast Local Heritage Register (GCLHR)

Rosser’s House and Gardens is entered in the GCLHR (LHR0070). The heritage significance of Rosser’s House and the Garden is set out in the following GCLHR citation:

Criterion (a) the place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Gold Coast’s history ;

‘Rosser’s house and gardens, established by John and Essie Rosser in the early 1920s, is historically significant in demonstrating the early to mid 20th century phase of residential development in Benowa. The house is an example of a 1920s timber and iron building, adapted over time to meet the changing needs of the family. This adaptation resulted in the house becoming an innovative and early example of sub-tropical building design. The gardens include examples of significant historic mature trees planted in the late 1870s by the Benowa Sugar Mill manager, Robert Muir.’

27 - The Burra Charter 2013. Article 1 2.


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Criterion (b) the place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Gold Coast’s cultural heritage ;

“The house is one of the earliest dwellings in Benowa still remaining on its original site. Development pressures, which have transformed the Benowa area into a suburban environment, have resulted in this type of timber and iron house with a substantial mature garden now being rare.”

Criterion (e) the place is important because of its aesthetic significance; ‘Both the house and the garden were designed to take advantage of the views over the floodplain and hinterland. Today the house, within its secluded and picturesque mature garden setting and with its important view lines, has aesthetic significance.‘

Criterion (h) the place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Gold Coast’s history;

‘The place has a special association with John and Essie Rosser who made a notable contribution to the Gold Coast city through their generous donation of a significant parcel of land for the purpose of a botanical garden.’

4.3 Comparative assessments

As part of the assessment of the heritage significance of Rosser’s garden, a comparative assessment of similar heritage places in Queensland is of benefit to understand the historical context and relative value of this place.

Greenmount Homestead This 1915 homestead with a garden environs is entered on the Queensland Heritage Register (QHR) No. 60987. It is located ten kilometres west of Mackay, and has been owned and managed by the Mackay City Council since 1984. The house contains all the furniture, fittings and homewares of the Cook family who built the current homestead on Mackay’s first cattle run in the district. It is open to the public as an historic house museum. The original homestead garden was modified slightly in form and fully replanted in the mid 20th century to better cope with the climate and reduced maintenance of modern times. The house and garden together serve as an historical record of the early to mid 20th century life and garden style of the two periods of heritage significance.

Greenmount Homestead has a Friends of Greenmount who: “· Encourage awareness of the history of the Mackay district. · Help with programs and special events that promote Greenmount Homestead. · Take school tour groups through the Homestead and grounds. · Interact with tourists and local visitors to enhance their understanding and enjoyment of this part of our local history. · Assist with the conservation and indexing of the collection. · Participate in all the planning of activities. · Actively involved in the preservation of our Heritage gardens. · Regularly interact with other local museums and history groups in the region.”28

This place is a good contextual example to inform the assessment and interpretation of Rosser’s House and Garden.

Bankfoot House The grounds of Bankfoot House (QHR No. 602702) on Old Gympie Road Glass House Mountains are predominantly those formed in the mid 28 Mackay Regional Council 2016. Greenmount Homestead.

http://www.mackay.qld.gov.au/community/council_facilities2/historical_centres/greenmount_homestead


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20th century by the descendents of the pioneering Grigor family who established a Cobb & Co. coach stage and an accommodation building. The house and reduced lands are owned by the Sunshine Coast Council. The house contains much of the original family’s furniture and fittings and is open for small group guided tours. The garden is open at all times to visitors however there is a much reduced garden content and character. The Friends of Bankfoot House are based in the Grigor Centre within the grounds and they informally ‘supervise’ the grounds from there. This place is a good example to inform the assessment and interpretation of the Rosser house and garden.

Mayes Cottage Kingston Mayes Cottage (QHR No. 600662) is an 1872 - 1887 timber getters house, and later a dairy farm, at Kingston in Logan City. It is a house museum and the grounds are open to the public. There was no extensive garden and there is very little of the physical remains the farming that occurred close to the house including the dairy activities and pineapple growing. ‘The house and grounds have aesthetic value as part of a prominent and picturesque site, situated at the crest of a hill surrounded by open ground and mature trees.’29 Some of the mango trees of the mango orchard remain. A car park has been formed within the grounds. Mayes Cottage is leased by the National Trust from Logan City Council.30 This place provides a contextual example for the Rosser garden and indicates the value of the Rosser garden.

Summary The Rosser house garden is uncommon in Queensland as a large and finely designed and planted early and mid 20th century garden, which extends fully around an historic rural house. It has been in the ownership of one family and now is in local government ownership.

4.4 Family associations with the garden The garden was a vital part of the Rosser family throughout the children’s lives and later for Essie and John Rosser through their last years. It has had ongoing importance for Gene through the years since.

For Essie, gardening, included all the propagation she undertook, was something regularly done, even daily, after her working day with John in the beekeeping business. It was her relaxation. While Essie was the gardener most of the time John also made contributions vital to the garden formation and developments, including building the fences and gates, the ponds, the stone wall and stone edging with Essie, composting and other of the ‘heavier’ garden tasks including mowing the lawns.31

The place the garden held as a key part of the home is seen by: the use of the garden for photos at significant family times, the many picnic lunches or work breaks held in the garden, the inclusion of the two ponds, the children’s play all around the garden, that visitors were taken around the gardens, the garden was enriched with decorative items of particular attachment and improvised plant containers such as the troughs from the bee works, logs and stumps. This role for the home garden is not uncommon in Australia of the 1950s and 1960s, however, it was not always customary. Fabric and documentary evidence of such strong attachment to the home garden in extant historical gardens today is uncommon.

29 DEHP 2016. Queensland Heritage Register: Mayes Cottage Significance Criterion E. 30 DEHP 2016. Queensland Heritage Register: Mayes Cottage History. 31 Personal communication Gene Rosser 2016.


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4.5 The garden design and type Garden Design The garden design and character are a fine achievement of Essie and John Rosser, and later by Gene Rosser. The design must be understood from the historical photos as well as the current situation as key aspects of the design have been diminished with the changes and reduced maintainance over time. Important design aspects are: the design layout with the terrain and the existing mature trees (of the Muir period) and the disposition of lawns, garden beds, pathways and features such as the ponds, the inter-relationships between the house and garden including views and vistas, the regard to the wider landscape context and views to that setting, and, the planting throughout the garden contributing to the character.

It is a highly accomplished design comparable to a standard of well designed gardens of the same periods. These design standards are evidenced in books of the mid to late 20th century, however, in Queensland there are few gardens of these periods and content remaining intact to the degree of the Rosser garden.

Garden Type The Rosser garden encompasses two types or stylistic periods of garden design. The older, Esssie Rosser garden design has a basis in the an English romantic strolling garden adapted to Australia in the early and mid 20th century. This style of garden, primarily of the Rosser’s garden east and southern areas, has similarities to the Edwardian garden (without the built features which are seen in these gardens at suburban villas), and some aspects of the gardenesque in the detailed plantings of the flower beds (since diminished in their richness of species). There is also the style of the Australian rainforest garden type of the 1970s and 1980s in the western garden as implemented by Gene. Both of these garden types have been implemented with technical accomplishment to a high degree of quality.

Kate Heffernan in her 2011 Rosser garden report identified the garden as a Queenslander garden with mixed shrubberies and referred to Maurice Wilson.

“The Queenslander garden . . . is very social, and not in the least pretentious or prim. Plantings are to be shared with neighbours and allowed to overlap the footpath. Excessive fussiness and control are to be abhorred.”32

The Rosser garden is not a Queenslander garden as described by Maurice Wilson, however, this aspect of casualness of the plantings and the social aspect of the garden are also relevant to interpretion and management of the garden.

4.6 Additional assessments of heritage significance The GCLHR citation outlines the heritage significance of Rosser’s House and Garden as it was assessed at the time the entry was prepared. Additional and detailed assessment in this CMP indicates further heritage significance. These assessments are outlined here.

The Garden Design Criterion (e) the place is important because of its aesthetic significance. The garden design, in particular the picturesque arrangement of the lawns and garden beds, and the relationship between the house and the garden and its setting, formally arranged with vistas, is distinctive and accomplished. The tree planting throughout the garden is a sizeable collection of Australian and exotic trees, many of which are not present or not of similar age in other Gold Coast, or even Queensland gardens.

32 Wilson M. C. 2003. The Evolution of the Queenslander Garden. Queensland Review 10 (2): 135.


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The historically planted trees, both from the Muir and two Rosser historical periods form a significant arboreta for the climate zone and the extent of this planting is uncommon in a private garden in the Gold Coast.

4.7 Curtilage assessment The boundary of the place on the GCLHR is the lot on plan boundary. This area is a reduction of lands that were part of the original Rosser property as outlined in chapter 2.0. Rosser’s house garden is historically contiguous with the hillside part of the GCRBG. The historic and aesthetic significance of those adjacent features of both land shaping and trees appear to be currently conserved in the GCRBG. Extension of the boundary of the place on the GCLHR is not necessary.

4.8 Relative significance of areas and elements The relative level of significance of areas and elements within the garden has been assessed in this CMP using the following classification system. Plants are considered as elements for this assessment and table.

table - 4.8 Relative heritage assessment and conservation

Heritage

level Heritage assessment parameters Conservation thresholds and

measures

A

Areas and elements of exceptional significance for the contribution to the heritage significance of the place. This fabric is highly important to an understanding of the place.

These areas and elements should be preserved and maintained. They may be subject to conservation actions including restoration and reconstruction where appropriate.

B

Areas and elements of considerable significance for their contribution to the heritage significance of the place. This fabric is important to an understanding of the place, however, may be able to accept some minor change if unobtrusive and limited in extent.

These areas and elements should be preserved and maintained. They may be subject to some minor development change sensitively applied over a limited extent.

C

Areas and elements of some significance, but relate to few of the criteria for heritage significance of the place and are not original, rare or remarkable within the heritage context and/or due to loss of integrity do not contribute to the heritage significance of the place.

These areas and elements should be conserved if possible, but may be modified, or removed, if there is no alternative to doing so in developments which otherwise conserve the place and are necessary for its continued use and conservation.

D

Elements of little or no heritage significance.

These elements are neither significant nor intrusive. They need not be conserved, and removed as required.


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Intrusive components • Structures during City of Gold Coast period. Refer appendix C. • Water tank at north end of garage. Conservation management considerations • Retention of a space around the Rosser house garden undeveloped above the single storey height of the garage building and the mulberry tree which are at the garden edge as viewed from the house and northern lawns.

4.10 Built elements significance Reference should be made to the report Rosser’s House CMP for assessments of the house and sheds on the site. The individual elements of the garden areas have been listed and assessed for their relative heritage significance. This serves as a useful indicator in planning and management where changes are under consideration, and for conservation through the maintenance of the gardens. Refer to appendix C Gardens built elements schedule and the pots and moveable items schedule.

4.11 Vegetation significance The trees and other plants in the garden have been listed and assessed for their relative heritage significance. Refer to appendix D Trees and vegetation schedules. A detailed tree assessment and inventory undertaken by an arborist is a highly useful management tool, and to inform any tree succession planting strategy.

4.12 Potential state significance Having regard to the discussions and assessments of this CMP, the Rosser garden appears to have the potential to meet the criteria of state significance under the Queensland Heritage Act 1992 and thus to be entered on the Queensland Heritage Register. Consideration should be given to further investigations to ascertain if nomination to the Queensland Heritage Register should proceed. Information that would assist includes: - a title search and state archives research of the lands around the garden to ascertain the Muir plantation and homestead locations, and history relating to Robert Muir in this locality and the sugar cane history of the Gold Coast region; - plans of the Rosser’s property prior to subdivision with the beekeeping business sheds and tanks, the orchard, and the terracing now in the GCRBG.


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5 THE GARDENS MAINTENANCE & CONDITION

5.1 Current garden maintenance (2016) Management of Rosser’s House and Garden is currently a shared arrangement between the City of Gold Coast and Gene Rosser. City of Gold Coast maintenance: The Rosser garden is included in the GCRBG maintenance schedule. The lawns are mown and edges brush cut, generally once per month, or as can be managed in that schedule with available staff. Other maintenance tasks such as necessary pruning or removals and some watering are undertaken subject to available staff time. Maintenance is generally the equivalent of 1.5 gardening staff for a day per month. Gene Rosser Maintenance: Gene waters the gardens near the house -primarily garden beds A and B.

5.2 Condition and conservation management considerations The overall condition of the fabric of the garden areas is outlined here. For each area there is also a general, qualitative condition assessment for the garden beds within those areas. The condition assessment is an indicative assessment based on the author’s visual appraisal of the garden areas as they have developed in 2016, not as the garden was developed by the Rossers to its historical peak condition as seen in photos from the 1930s to the 1970s. It is a general guide only. Condition is assessed on a four point scale: Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor.

Table - 5.2 Condition assessment scale Assessment Condition parameters

Very Good Plants in good health and growth condition. None or few plants overgrown. No weeds or grass in the beds. Edges and paths generally defined and as planned.

Good Majority of plants in good health and growth condition -few pests. Few plants overgrown. Some plants requiring some pruning and /or reduction in extent. Few weeds. Edges and paths mostly defined and as planned.

Fair Plants in poor form due to pests and /or long periods /years with no pruning. Many plants overgrown -either size or extent, plants growing over /smothering others. Weeds present, grass growing in parts of the beds. Edges and paths poorly defined and overgrown.

Poor Several plants in poor health or part dead. Many plants overgrown and /or wider in extent than planned, plants smothering others. Weeds present. Grass growing widely in the beds. Paths and edges not defined /plants grown beyond planned bed, and paths not obvious.


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Refer to appendix C Gardens built elements schedule and the pots and moveable items schedule, and appendix D Trees and vegetation schedules, for condition assessments of the garden elements and planting. North Entry Garden - the back yard The garden area is in a Good to Fair condition with the part closer to the house and shed in a Good condition. This area requires garden maintenance, some removals and restoration to achieve good conservation condition.

Garden A The garden appears in Very Good condition with healthy growth. Some pruning and reduction in Bromeliad spread required. Garden B The garden appears in Good condition with healthy growth. Some pruning, reduction in Bromeliad spread, and edge work required. Garden C This area is generally in Fair condition. The old frangipani is in Good - Fair condition. Vines pruning required. Garden D This area is generally growing well and in Fair condition. The fruit trees are in Good condition for appearance (not fruiting). Garden E Fair in appearance, the garden is in Fair condition. Some plants are healthy, however minimal maintenance has led to this garden having gaps and poor presentation for its type. Pruning, edge definition, infill plants and plants maintenance are required. Lawns The lawns are in Good condition.

East Garden - the front garden This area overall has a Fair condition. The garden beds have little of the character and content of annuals and perennials of the Essie Rosser period of gardening. Essie’s, and Gene’s later additions and planted character, have been modified by some of the past City of Gold Coast gardening activities. The garden beds have overgrown plants, self sown plants, some weeds and plantings of inappropriate trees and shrubs.

Gardens F & G The gardens are in Fair to Poor condition. Edge definition, infill plants and plants maintenance are required. Gardens H & I In 2016 the gardens appear to have had a diminishing of quality in the past 5 years due to reduced watering and shrub pruning. Garden H The garden is in Fair to Poor condition. Pruning, edge definition, infill plants, restoration of bulbs and perennials, and all plants maintenance, are required. Garden I The garden bed is in Good condition. Lawn edge definition, removals, trimming and fertiliser of azaleas, and plants maintenance are required. Lawns The lawns are in fair to Poor condition.


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South Garden This area overall has a Fair condition, There is some deterioration of the condition and form of the remaining historical shrubberies and flower parts, with a diminishing of quality in the past 5 years due to reduced watering and shrub pruning. There is overgrowth of garden pathways and built garden features, and the ponds require additional maintenance.

Garden J The garden is in Poor condition. Edge definition, pruning and plants maintenance are required. Garden L In 2016 the garden appears to have had a diminishing of quality in the past 5 years due to reduced watering and shrub pruning. The garden is in Poor condition. Edge definition, removals of intrusive plants, restoration of bulbs and perennials, pruning and all plants maintenance are required. Garden M The garden appears in Fair condition. Maintenance would improve the presentation and display of the plants. Removals of intrusive plants, restoration of bulbs and perennials, pruning and all plants maintenance are required. The ponds require maintenance and measures to keep the waterfowl away. The paths are obscured by overgrowth and debris to be cleared. Garden N Fair condition. The past low planting appears diminished in extent. This area is impacted by the leaf drop and overgrowth (2016). The paths are obscured by overgrowth and debris to be cleared. Lawns The lawns are in Good condition.

West Garden - Gene’s forest garden This area is in Good condition, however requires remedial maintenance. The garden has overgrown plants, some of which are smothering other desirable plants, and the garden paths are less obvious due to encroaching plants. The bamboo groves require considerable reduction in their extent and removal of leaning canes and some internal thinning.

Gardens O & P The gardens are in Fair condition. Edge definition, pruning and general plants maintenance are required. Garden Q The garden appears in Good condition. Maintenance would improve the presentation and display of the plants. There is overgrowth of some plants to the detriment of others more important to the planned appearance. The bamboo clumps require reduction in extent. The paths are obscured by overgrowth and debris to be cleared. Garden R The garden area is in Good condition. This area is impacted by leaf build up and overgrowth of the low plants. Garden S The area is in Good condition. Some maintenance of the ground covering plants would improve the presentation.

Friends of the GCRBG Nursery Garden T From external inspection only, this area appears in Good condition for its role.


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6 ISSUES & OPPORTUNITIES, GARDEN USE

6.1 Development in the garden and statutory requirements 6.1.1 City of Gold Coast Planning Scheme Context Rosser’s House and Garden is entered in the Gold Coast Local Heritage Register (GCLHR 601205), and the provisions and regulations of the City of Gold Coast are applicable in regard to any development and management practices. Rosser’s House and Garden is subject to the following Gold Coast City Plan Version 3 codes: - the Open space zone code which provides for local, district, and regional scale parks, and, - the heritage overlay code which deals with the conservation of places identified as having local or state heritage significance.

Approval must be obtained before carrying out development, building or landscape work in the garden. Reference should be made to the City of Gold Coast Heritage Unit for current information regarding works and approvals. 6.1.2 State Heritage Provisions The Queensland Heritage Act 1992 (QHA) and the Queensland Heritage Regulation 2015 (QHR) are applicable to places on the Gold Coast Local Heritage Register. The QHA provides for the identification and management of places of local heritage significance by local heritage significance by local governments. The QHR includes Schedule 2 Code for IDAS which applies to all development on a local heritage register place identified in a local government local heritage register. Under the QHA development means development as defined under the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 where most changes proposed to heritage places are regarded as development and require approval before work is undertaken.33

6.2 Contemporary use of garden and regulations

Contemporary garden usage and standards for design, construction, and maintenance exposes the different requirements between current and past standards that existed when an item, tree or plant with heritage significance was installed or planted.

Management decisions on the retention or modification of culturally significant items that do not meet current safety requirements must consider both the heritage value and the contemporary concern, and consider the best way the heritage value can be retained when changes are required. For example, uneven paths due to tree roots could in some instances be modified or surfacing materials changed, rather than cutting the roots or removing a tree.

6.3 Heritage garden maintenance 6.3.1 A sound base for the Rosser garden future The Rosser garden will require a particular set of maintenance work methods, materials and recording procedures due to its historical character and heritage significance. This will be a requirement irrespective of the future uses of the house and garden if the place is to retain the heritage significance as part of the City of Gold Coast’s historic identity.

33 Queensland Government 2016. Heritage places https //www.qld.gov.au/environment/land/heritage/


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In addition in the initial phases of management there are remedial restoration and maintenance works required to bring the garden to a condition and character that is both safe and attractive.

6.3.2 Physical condition and restoration The heritage significance of each of the garden areas that together make up the garden remains always with that area, its garden beds, the built elements or the plants irrespective of their physical condition. Where there is heritage significance there generally arises the need and obligation on the owner/manager to maintain that area or element in good condition to ensure a maximum life and optimum conservation of the heritage values. Issues • There are situations in Rosser’s house garden where restoration of significant areas, such as the flower beds (areas H and I) alongside the eastern lawn path to the former gate, will require a few phases of gardening works before they are stabilised to a good base for ongoing routine maintenance. • Restoration of the flower beds as gardened by Essie Rosser may not be feasible with available resources for ongoing renewals and maintenance. A modification and representation of her many annuals and perennials may present the character of wider beds while her plant palette is grown in a smaller section only.

• An historical garden such as this, in particular the areas nearer the house now over 70 years old, requires skilled maintenance by horticultural staff with some expertise or experience in maintenance of old or uncommon trees, shrubs and perennials. Heritage significance necessitates that traditional materials and planting, which are now rarely, if ever, encountered in contemporary gardens, are required to be conserved. Therefore, maintenance staff need to be skilled and have access to materials and plant stock as found in the garden now or in the photographic record.

6.3.3 Heritage maintenance and horticultural resources Issue • A continuity of gardeners and other maintenance staff for heritage gardens can ensure the appropriate monitoring and practices take place. Training of new maintenance staff in the appropriate methods and the points of difference in this garden would facilitate appropriate maintenance and repairs. Opportunities If resources become available in the future, the garden could be used for hortcultural training and education, as well as being a unique and attractive destination for the community.

6.3.4 Water storage for the garden The garden has limited opportunity for both stormwater harvesting and locations for an underground storage facility of a feasible size. Water storage is unlikely to be an option for the garden.

6.4 Issues and opportunities for the garden 6.4.1 Events in the garden Issue Temporary, large or moderate scale entertainment events can cause damage to the garden fabric, in particular to the lawns and vegetation. They are also potentially a large impact on the significant trees through compaction of the tree root zone. Opportunities • The Garden can offer a modest space for short-term, and small scale community events. The upper area of the GCRBG to the north has some larger


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area for the larger events, though vehicular and universal (disability) access are both limited there. The areas for events requiring a gathering space, subject to their scale and nature, include: the northern lawn, and the southern lawns. Planning and accommodating small scale events in the garden should only be a consideration if the heritage significance of the garden fabric is considered, including the protection of grounds surfaces, the lawns, vegetation, and the paths.

6.4.2 Key part of Gold Coast’s historic landscape Issue Through the late 20th century and early 21st century, Queensland has had very few, if any, historic garden restorations. Most of Queensland’s heritage gardens have been subject to a series of changes through time and different ownerships, and encroachments and additions of buildings, which have diminished the heritage fabric and distinct qualities of the garden. Part of the early European history of the Gold Coast is present in the remnants of the Muir sugar plantation and homestead on this land. Opportunities • The Historic Garden Rosser’s house garden offers the Gold Coast community an exceptional private home garden experience as one of the city’s finest heritage gardens with a strong historical association with the GCRBG. The garden is seen to be the place to appreciate the traditional plants and also to better understand the historic development of this part of the city.

• Outstanding Educational Value With some heritage restorations throughout the garden, rehabilitation throughout, and conservation maintenance, the garden would increase in value as an outstanding place for horticultural education, garden history study, historic garden maintenance training, and social history studies. The potential to develop an educational resource is considerable.

6.5 Uses for the garden There are two overall phases that must be acknowledged as the basis for the strategies and uses for the garden’s future.

Current Phase - A The current phase with the house occupied by Gene Rosser. Through this phase there may be opportunities to use the garden for small scale public events and public visits such as Heritage Week openings which would be subject to: • Gene Rosser’s agreement and approval, and • approval from City of Gold Coast.

Future Phase - B The future phase when Rosser’s House and Garden are exclusively managed by City of Gold Coast.

Table 6a Potential uses and conservation considerations, and Table 6b Uses in the house - associated with the garden, set out potential uses which would be compatible with heritage conservation, subject to the considerations and conditions noted, and the policies of both Rosser’s House CMP and this CMP.

The garden has the potential to serve as a regional level facility for the residents and visitors, as: • a unique destination garden, and • a distinct Gold Coast heritage garden experience with an educational role,

and a role as part of the city’s landscape identity.


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7 CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT POLICIES

7.1 Development of conservation policies

7.1.1 The conservation approach This CMP recommends that the best professional practices in conservation be employed in caring for Rosser’s House and Garden. Conservation is the process of caring for places to ensure that their heritage significance is retained. The Burra Charter The future conservation and development of the garden should be undertaken in accordance with the principles of the Burra Charter. The Burra Charter is the document recognised by local and state authorities and heritage professionals as best practice for works to places of heritage significance.

The Burra Charter states: “Places of cultural significance enrich people’s lives, often providing a deep and inspirational sense of connection to community and landscape, to the past and to lived experiences. They are historical records that are important as tangible expressions of Australian identity and experience. Places of cultural significance reflect the diversity of our communities, telling us about who we are and the past that has formed us and the Australian landscape. They are irreplaceable and precious. These places of cultural significance must be conserved for present and future generations”

The Burra Charter encompasses the following seven concepts: • The place itself is important; • Understand the significance of the place and its setting; • Understand the fabric and setting; • Significance should guide decisions; • Do as much as necessary, as little as possible; • Keep records; and • Do everything in a logical order.

7.1.2 Definitions The terms used in this CMP are consistent with the terms used in the Burra Charter. Refer to appendix B.

7.2 Conservation policies - general

7.2.1 Introduction The following statements of conservation policy provide clear directions for the conservation of the heritage significance of Rosser’s house garden.

The conservation policies are guided by the historical overview (Chapter 2.0), the detailed assessment of the place (Chapter 3.0), and the assessments of heritage significance (Chapter 4.0) and to a lesser degree the condition assessments (Chapter 5.0). Conservation policies are intended to guide future work at Rosser’s House and Garden so as to retain the place’s heritage significance. They also provide specific directions on the preservation of areas and elements of significance, whether they are representative of an evolution of history, have rarity, associations, distinct aesthetics and form, are a creative or technical achievement, have social and or cultural significance, or have the potential to yield further information.


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7.2.2 Policies in Rosser’s House CMP Rosser’s House CMP included conservation policies which relate to the garden. Those policies are included within the policies here in section 7.2.3, however, reference should be made to Rosser’s House CMP for the explanations. Conservation and management of the garden should be closely aligned with the house and this CMP should be used in conjunction with Rosser’s House CMP. 7.2.3 General Policies The following Conservation Policies are for City of Gold Coast’s management of the garden. Departure from these policies will require assessment of the impacts of proposed changes against this CMP. The conservation policies are generally preceded here by a précis of the information on which those policies are based.

Conservation practice POLICY P 1

The future conservation of Rosser’s House and Garden will be undertaken in accordance with the principles of the Burra Charter, City of Gold Coast City Plan, Queensland Heritage Act 1992 and the Queensland Heritage Regulation 2015.

Adoption of this plan POLICY P 2

This CMP should be adopted by City of Gold Coast. Copies of this CMP should be provided to the asset manager, officers involved in the care and maintenance of the place and the GCRBG.

Review of this Conservation Management Plan This CMP is a representation of known facts and history as at June 2016. It takes account of current garden circumstances, and is intended to guide the future care of the garden. POLICY P 3

This CMP should be reviewed, and revised preferably within five years, or earlier if needs and circumstance require, and the new version adopted.

Listing boundary The present listing boundary comprises one land title. POLICY P 4

The extent of the place on the GCLHR should be retained to encompass the full extent of the garden, as the whole of the place holds both exceptional and considerable heritage significance.

Ownership and leases The garden will be in the future a valuable area of public open space within a growing city and region. Residents of Gold Coast and the region derive significant value from the garden in association with the adjacent GCRBG with regards to landscape amenity, scenic qualities, civic identity and being a valued record of their shared history. POLICY P 5

Rosser’s House Garden should be retained in public ownership in its entirety, with no establishment of leases which could cause a separation of parts of the garden or involve substantial changes to the heritage significant physical fabric in any way.

The setting of the garden It is important for the retention of heritage significance and visitors’ interpretation of this historic house and garden that the setting of the place does not detract from the heritage significance through visually intrusive or distracting activities, structures, and plantings.


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POLICY P 6 The setting of Rosser‘s House and Garden should be conserved as a part semi-rural, and part naturalistic setting representing aspects of the historical landscape setting, with no prominent visible structures or new inappropriate plantings obtrusive in views from the house, the south lawns and the front garden lawn path.

Rosser’s House CMP policies34: Policy 9: Any work to the adjacent sites, including the Botanic Gardens and Ashmore Road, should be planned and executed in a way that is cognisant of the significance of the house and the site. No additional land should be resumed for road widening or kerbside parking. Policy 10: The surrounding fences, while of some detriment to the sites outward appearance, are appropriately clearly contemporary and may remain. Prevention of unauthorised access is a priority and the fences and gates should be regularly inspected and maintained.

Management principles Continuity of competent advice is important for the successful long-term implementation of a CMP. An ad-hoc approach to the management and use of the place would lead to inconsistent decision-making and damage to the garden’s heritage significance.

The Burra Charter identifies the importance of using all the knowledge, skills and disciplines that can contribute to the care and management of places like Rosser’s House and Garden. Relevant professional skills are available from:- • arborists and horticulturists; • heritage architects and landscape architects; • archaeologists, and other heritage professionals.

POLICY P 7 Those responsible for managing Rosser’s House and Garden, should be informed by the heritage significance of the place and the conservation policies in this CMP. This requirement to have managers and carers informed may involve the development of appropriate service levels and standards of maintenance practice, and heritage place inductions for new maintenance workers.

POLICY P 8 Workers suitably qualified and experienced in conserving, repairing and maintaining historic gardens, should be engaged as required to assist in the planning of future works in Rosser’s House and Garden. Initially, appropriate levels of service and maintenance practices should be developed including as required for specific matters including restoration.

Usage Rosser’s house garden, on a discrete land parcel, has been a private home garden throughout its 20th century history. This continuity of use over more than 90 years is of considerable heritage significance in demonstrating the history and type of Gold Coast garden and its use. POLICY P 9

The protection of the heritage significance of Rosser’s House and Garden should take priority when considering usage.

POLICY P 10 The use of the garden for small events, heritage landscape amenity appreciation, garden education, and casual passive recreation may be acceptable only if these uses retain the character of the place as a residence within its historic garden.

34 Ladlay A. 2011 Rosser’s House Benowa Gold Coast. A Conservation Management Plan. June 2011. p. 41.


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POLICY P 11

Proposals for uses which may substantially change the fabric and landscape character of the significant areas of the garden are not acceptable. Future changes of uses over time that may be considered for the garden must be compatible with the heritage significance of the place.

POLICY P 12 New uses that require large, long term, paved surfaces or sizeable, permanently fenced areas are not acceptable for Rosser’s house and garden.

Interpretation The history of Rosser’s garden may be of interest and considerable benefit to the Gold Coast community and visitors. There are strong associations between Rosser’s garden and the GCRBG, and with garden and horticultural developments in the Gold Coast through the history of the garden. POLICY P 13

The full extent of Rosser’s garden should be interpreted as an historical garden of a distinct and particular type, as evidenced by the historic documents and considerable remnant historical fabric.

POLICY P 14 The garden’s history to be made available in the public domain in the future through a range of appropriate means. The CGCC to provide opportunities for interpretation of the garden, including the significant associations with the Muir and Rosser families, and garden and horticultural developments over time. This interpretation may take the form of material on the Council website, in the GCRBG, and in the house.

Rosser’s garden does not contain signage. Interpretation of the unique garden style and character would be detrimentally impacted if signs were to be inserted through the gardens. Though the garden is adjacent the GCRBG it should not be interpreted in a similar way through signs on trees and other plants.

POLICY P 15 Informational and interpretation signs are not to be planned in the gardens except small directional and cautionary signs if considered necessary for safety or necessary guidance. Such signs are to respect the heritage character of the element and its setting by careful siting (not being too close to the subject), and kept at a minimal size and height so as to not be visually distracting in views of the fabric including plants.

Preservation -garden areas and relationships The Garden’s areas and significant fabric have been assessed at levels of significance A, B, and C in sections 4.6 to 4.8 of this CMP. POLICY P 16

Elements of high heritage significance in the Garden as recorded in this CMP are to be preserved, thus supporting and continuing the primary heritage values regardless of the future uses of the Garden.

POLICY P 17 Existing significant visual relationships or views to and from the house, between parts of the garden, and between the garden and the landscapes to the south, west and north are to be retained.

Landform The Garden retains the original landforms and historical contours / topography. The exception is the soil mounded in the garden bed along the Ashmore Road boundary.


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POLICY P 18 Any minor modifications deemed essential to the garden landscape should be designed so as not to substantially modify the existing landforms and contours in the significant garden areas.

Restoration and reconstruction - new planting works Restoration measures will strengthen the garden’s historical identity, its attractiveness and unique qualities. New minor works may be acceptable where they do not remove, distort or obscure the heritage significance of the place, or detract from its interpretation and appreciation. POLICY P 19

Vegetation which holds heritage significance should be retained in place and conserved.

POLICY P 20 The historically significant plant locations, the garden form and character should be conserved including progressive restoration of lost plants, and diminished significant views.

POLICY P 21 Later accretions which confuse the heritage significance of the garden, including those elements and plantings assessed as Intrusive E in Appendices C and D, should be removed as soon as appropriate.

POLICY P 22 Garden reconstruction and other new planting should be of similar character to earlier planting as seen in the historical record or as used in gardens in the mid 20th century. This is subject to the shrub form not dominating the adjacent landscape spaces.

Adaptation - new buildings The original and later layers of significant fabric, and use of the garden as a home garden, are to be conserved. Some minor changes of planting and variation in garden uses may be acceptable as community needs change. POLICY P 23

Adaptation is to be undertaken only where all reasonable options to conserve the current fabric have been considered and found to be unacceptable. Adaptation may not significantly compromise the heritage significance of the place, characteristics and fabric of the garden, and should conserve the significant lawns, paths, and spaces, the historic landscape character, and the significant views and vistas of the Garden.

POLICY P 24 New uses proposed for Rosser’s House and Garden are to retain the framework, spatial qualities, elements and vegetation of the different parts of the garden with exceptional, and considerable heritage significance.

Rosser’s House CMP policy35: Policy 11: Any new building on the site should be confined to the location of the existing steel shed, and should be small in scale (i.e. smaller than the shed) and should not attempt to replicate the form and details of the house. No other buildings should be constructed. Alternatively, the shed may be removed, or it may be adapted to provide the required facilities and screened to reduce its visual impact.

Adaptation - compliance upgrades - universal access If it is necessary in the future to upgrade any parts of Rosser’s house garden, including the paths so they comply with regulatory codes, only solutions that have



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the minimum impact on the heritage significance of the path or adjacent garden element are acceptable. Such upgrades should take into account the heritage value of the paths, structures, garden form and character, and the plants. POLICY P 25

In any work to Rosser’s House Garden required to achieve statutory compliance with regulatory standards and codes, every effort to be made to apply solutions which are concealed or unobtrusive and which cause minimal alteration to significant heritage fabric and designed in such a way that they do not substantially reduce the heritage significance of original fabric.

On grade access to the house is available at the existing porch off the kitchen and living room doorways. POLICY P 26

A universal access ramp should not be constructed directly to the northern living room from the garden, nor directly to the eastern verandah from the garden.

POLICY P 27 A universal access ramp may be constructed to the western entry from the garden, if considered necessary after careful planning to try to accommodate all universal access to the north house entry.

Rosser’s House CMP policy36: Policy 17: Provision of facilities for disabled access should be carried out in a manner which considers their potential impact on the significant aspects of the building.

The entries, driveway and car parking The fabric and character of this garden has defined edges and limited access ways. Entries into the Garden are an integral part of the historical design and historical layers of modifications. New entries would bring change to the edges and alter the garden spaces and character, and internal and external relationships. POLICY P 28

New entries or exits to and from the garden are not acceptable.

Rosser’s House CMP policy37: Policy 12: No driveways or car parking should be built within the site apart from that required for limited service access, and in which case decomposed granite or gravel should be used rather than concrete or bitumen surfacing.

Perimeter gardens fence POLICY P 29

A fence should be maintained around the GCRBG boundary. The fence has no heritage significance and can be replaced.

POLICY P 30 No additional gates in the fence to the GCRBG should be established. The existing lower gate entry from the GCRBG may be widened to accommodate the maintenance vehicles, in association with a modification of the access way through the garden.

POLICY P 31 The gate on the north boundary may be used for vehicular entry to the garden, though no pavement driveway should be formed in the garden.

36 Ladlay A. 2011 Rosser’s House Benowa Gold Coast. A Conservation Management Plan. June 2011. p. 43. 37 Ladlay A. 2011 Rosser’s House Benowa Gold Coast. A Conservation Management Plan. June 2011. p. 42.


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POLICY P 32 A gate may be established on the Ashmore Road boundary in the approximate or closest location of the historical gate and in the same or similar design and materials as the historic gate.

Garden area master plan A garden heritage futures strategy can provide the guide for all garden planning and management. This is outlined in the CMP chapter 8 Action Plan. The garden heritage futures strategy includes: maintenance schedules reflective of accepted levels of services that set down the priorities and strategies for implementation. When major restoration or adaptation changes are proposed for the garden a heritage garden master plan is required. POLICY P 33

A heritage garden master plan, in particular for the north entry gardens of garage, nursery, and Ashmore Road garden area E, should be prepared prior to any developments. This heritage garden master plan be prepared to also include for approval: • conservation of the fabric of heritage significance; • any restoration and reconstruction proposals; • interpretation material, if any; and • The place proposed for universal, service and emergency vehicle access. • The construction area which would be required to be fenced for all the works, and the materials delivery, removals, and storage areas for any construction works.

Tree conservation Rosser’s house garden retains significant historical tree plantings. POLICY P 34

A tree inventory and management strategy for the trees in the garden is to be completed by a qualified arborist. The report should document recommendations on care, rehabilitation and pruning if necessary, and maintenance regimes for significant trees in the garden.

Moveable items in the gardens There are many plants in pots, ceramic items and other decorative items throughout the garden, in particular, at the garden bed edges of areas A, B, F, G at the entries, on timber planks in gardens A, S and on timber stands in garden Q. There are log sections both horizontally and vertically which have plants on them. POLICY P 35

All the moveable plant pots and similar containers, stumps, and decorative items should be maintained in place.

Hanging baskets and other plants in trees Many of the trees in the garden have hanging baskets or similar plant containers attached to the trunks and branches. POLICY P 36

The hanging basket plants, and other plants fixed in the trees as part of the garden should be retained and maintained in place.

There are also orchids and epiphytes planted in trees and attached to logs and stumps. POLICY P 37

The orchids, ferns, epiphytes and other plants grown in the trees and in the garden should be retained and maintained in place.

Lawn Edges POLICY P 38

Lawn edges should be located as close to the original, historical edge line as possible and maintained in that location. Herbicide treatment may be


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used to control lawn edges however the preferred treatment method to conserve the garden stye and heritage significance would be to contain the extent by use of a narrow sponge wand or similar. A small low stake or marker could be fixed in the ground flush with the lawn surface at corners and regular intervals along curves to which string lines can be attached temporarily to mark lawn edges for trimming.

Maintenance and repair Maintenance is fundamental to conservation and should be undertaken where fabric is of heritage significance and its maintenance is necessary to retain heritage significance. In 2016 the garden shows signs of good standards of maintenance and repair in parts and poorer maintenance in others. The gardens close to the house are in good condition with those further away in poorer condition. It is important for heritage elements to receive timely repair in order to protect their integrity. Items that should be addressed include the following: • Pruning and reduction of overgrowth in places, • Restoration and maintenance of historical plantings of shrubs, • Maintenance of the ponds, path and garden edges, in the historical form,

materials and method. Refer to the Action Plan Maintenance Schedule chapter 8.0. POLICY P 39

Maintenance works to be undertaken throughout the garden in an appropriate and timely manner.

Monitoring and ongoing appraisals A continuity of heritage focused maintenance, and an understanding of rates of decay and change or growth for the significant structures and plants over a reasonably long term period is important for a heritage garden. It is important to have a maintenance program in place, which includes monitoring, and regular assessment of the state of the garden. POLICY P 40

A regular system of monitoring of the condition of the built landscape elements, and the vegetation should be established when resources permit. A program of inspections and reports to identify any areas of repair, horticultural or other concern should be established and undertaken at regular intervals.

Record the tree and gardens works All works which change the garden beds content, other than regular landscape maintenance (such as weeding, fertilising, minor pruning, cleaning, and rubbish removal) should be recorded at least annually to ensure an ongoing documentation of the heritage place changes. Photographs should accompany written notes to enhance the usefulness of the record document. POLICY P 41

All permanent and noticeable garden changes, as noted above, on the heritage fabric, to be recorded when they occur if required or on an annual basis.

Minor facilities Service Elements eg hose taps The installation of service and maintenance elements may be necessary to the proper functioning of the garden in the future to meet user needs. Location and design, which takes into account the distinct garden historical character should be considered. Elements should be planned to be unobtrusive and located away from heritage structures where not directly associated with those structures.


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POLICY P 42 The planning, design, and siting of new maintenance elements, such as taps, power points and directional signs should be kept away from the lawns, garden bed edges, and significant views within the Garden including views of plants.

Lighting and power Rosser’s house garden was not designed with external light fixtures for evening or night use. Future users may wish to move through the garden at night, however, maintaining the heritage significance of the garden is of prime importance. Safe use of the garden at night may be supported by temporary lighting.

POLICY P 43 Any additional permanent lighting fixtures, for security and new future uses of the Gardens shoud be minimal and unobtrusive. Lighting should be fitted with light shields to restrict unnecessary light.

Items of minor or no heritage significance POLICY P 44

The garage building may be removed, however any replacement structure in this location should be no larger in footprint or height.

POLICY P 45 The driveway may be removed and a garden which screens the road and has no featured plants formed in this location.

POLICY P 46 The fences and gates may be replaced.

POLICY P 47 Garden E may be substantially modified in the edge extent and the planting. A garden should remain as a visual buffer to the fence and Ashmore Road.

7.3 Conservation policies - garden planting areas The following policies are in the CMP to ensure the heritage values of specific aspects of the separate garden planting areas are conserved and maintained. Refer to Figure 5 Garden Planting Areas section 3.3.1 for the delineation of these areas. The policies are grouped according to the garden area and each has a sequential number within that grouping, eg N 1 to N 3, E 1 to E 15.

North Entry Gardens - garden planting areas A, B, C, D, E POLICY N 1

Garden beds A, B, C to be retained as gardens over the same extent. POLICY N 2

The lawn to be retained with the existing edges at garden beds A, B, C, and D, and at the garage.

Rosser’s House CMP policy38: Policy 15: The concrete slab base to the north of the Ashmore Road fence, the small corrugated iron firewood shelter, and adjacent timber posts, the early timber fence post inside the boundary at the south-west corner, the clothesline, the garden arch and other remnant built elements should be conserved.

Pot plants on timber support -garden bed A POLICY N 3

The timber plank plant stand alongside the house should be retained, and replaced when necessary with the same dimension timber. The orchids in



ADOPTED REPORT 718



pots, or replacement plants, should be retained and maintained on the support.

East Gardens - “the front garden” - garden planting areas F, G, H, I POLICY E 1

The lawns should be retained and maintained with appropriate lawn care maintenance practices.

POLICY E 2 The entry lawn pathway should be conserved with the edges as straight lines interrupted only by any overhanging shrubs and flowering plants in the beds.

The stone wall POLICY E 4

The stone wall and environs should be restored as a garden feature. Guideline: Conservation and restoration measures may include careful removal of surrounding overgrowth, and thinning if required, to ensure retention of the walling and a full attractive display of plants.

The stone steps The stone steps were not part of the Rossers’ garden establishment, however, they are not an obtrusive element in the garden. POLICY E 5

The stone steps may be retained.

Timber stand The timber tiered stand with orchids is a temporary construct in the garden. POLICY E 6

The orchid stand should be removed.

The Ashmore Road entry arbour POLICY E 7

The former arbour over the entry gate may be reconstructed in the historical location using historical photos and site evidence to determine the location, size, materials and form.

Guidelines: The bougainvillea vine may be retained and managed with pruning or a new plant of a different species which gives similar luxuriant growth and flower display and requiring less maintenance may be substituted. South Gardens - garden planting areas J, K, L, M, N POLICY S 1

The southern vista over the pond should be re-established and maintained to the extent possible with tree growth on land beyond the garden, and the need for visual privacy for the house.

Guideline: The ginger plant should be progressively removed or reduced in extent across the vista and a replacement plant planted which can be maintained to fence height or below.

Establishment of lily ponds in private gardens has never been common, though the style of the ponds here was part of the design palette for the naturalistic garden style of the 1970s to 1990s. As they require regular maintenance the inclusion in a garden is an indication of the gardener’s care to form a beautiful garden and dedication to its maintenance. The two ponds are beautiful features in the garden and are uncommon in historical gardens, and of high significance. POLICY S 2

The two ponds should be conserved, including the stones at the edges and maintained with water and plants within.


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POLICY S 3 The ponds floating plants may be removed if maintenance is difficult to achieve, however, water lilies and other plants in the pond should be retained.

West Gardens - ‘Gene’s forest garden’ - garden planting areas O, P, Q R, S POLICY W 1

This garden area should be retained as a mulched planted garden with narrow pathways winding through unobtrusively and in the current locations.

Guideline: The path to the gate in the Botanic Gardens fence can be modified to allow the use of small electric maintenance vehicles. The path should wind so that it is not seen for its whole length from the lawns. POLICY W 2

The bamboo clumps should be retained though reduced in extent to conserve the scale originally envisaged for the garden.

Guideline: The clumps should be reduced in width at the base to approximately two thirds their 2016 width at about 2 to 3 metres, and maintained at this dimension through regular maintenance.

Friends of the GCRBG - garden area T POLICY F 1

The shed buildings and nursery structures have no heritage significance and may be removed in whole or in part.


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8 ACTION PLAN & MAINTENANCE SCHEDULES

8.1 Action plan basis The CMP chapters 3 and 4 set out the heritage significance of the garden areas, the built elements and the vegetation. Chapter 7 sets out both general and specific conservation policies to conserve and enhance heritage significance. This Action Plan is a guide for implementation of the CMP.

8.2 Action plan - garden management strategy Rosser’s House Garden has a unified character due to the central position of the house amongst the garden and the mature trees. A strategic, heritage based approach should be established to plan for the future usage and changes.

The Heritage Based Garden Management Strategy A heritage based management strategy for the Rosser’s house garden should be prepared, as a whole or progressively in parts. It should include:

- Reference to Rosser’s House CMP and this CMP for requirements, - The Garden Heritage Futures Statement, - Maintenance and Restoration Works, - House & Garden Usage Options - a feasibility study, - A Heritage Master Plan for the North Garden Area, - Future Studies & Inventories.

These components are as follows: The Garden Heritage Futures Statement This outlines the objective to manage and maintain the garden areas with the CMP as the basis for decisions on uses, planning and design. It sets out the general objectives for the garden based on the conservation of the heritage values to restore, reconstruct and reinforce heritage features and plantings.

This statement distinguishes the unique characteristics and needs of the Rosser’s house garden and serves as a mission statement to those working on the garden.

Maintenance and Restoration Works The works required to conserve the garden are of different types over stages from initial rehabilitation, to stabilisation and progressive restoration with varying maintenance throughout. These are detailed in the folowing section.

House & Garden Usage Options The options for the future uses of the garden as set out in Tables 6.5a and 6.5b for phase A, and the subsequent phase B, need to be assessed by the managers of the place, and their feasibility and program investigated.

Heritage Area Master Plan - North Garden Area This conservation based master plan design should translate the two CMP policies to physical implementation. The master plan should address conservation, restoration or reconstruction as appropriate, minor upgrades and heritage enhancements. Additional heritage area master plans could be prepared for other areas of the garden, where changes are likely to be required.

Future Studies & Inventories The CMP has revealed further information that would be beneficial for the ongoing management and maintenance of the garden.

• A heritage tree inventory with management guides prepared by a qualified arborist.


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• An annotated historical photo library of the garden and the former Rosser

property. • A heritage garden induction guideline, prepared by a heritage

professional, for volunteers and workers in the garden. • A survey of the garden - to facilitate recording of works and plantings. • A plants inventory, in parts: plants in ground, hanging baskets, plant pots. • Services investigations: septic /sewer, power to north grounds /GCRBG,data to house / environs. • Traffic, access and parking investigations. • A Friends of the Rosser garden group - role and options for establishment. • An interpretation plan - including investigation of options. • An oral history from Gene Rosser of the garden development and plants.

8.3 Action plan - works and maintenance 8.3.1 Actions for garden areas, built elements and vegetation The Rosser’s House Garden requires three types of works to conserve this asset: Maintenance Works - first 3 year stage refer table 8 - 1 These works comprise removal of intrusive and overgrown plants and elements, and priority maintenance works to stabilise and halt detrimental effects on some heritage and character aspects of the garden. Restoration and Reconstruction Works refer table 8 - 2 These works comprise changes to restore the garden in form and content, and reconstruct garden aspects only evident in the documentary record. Priority assessment The works /actions priorities have been assessed on a three point scale as follows:

Priorities for tables 8 - 1 & 8 -2 maintenance works first 3 years High H within 1 year actions for heritage

significance levels A, B, or C. Moderate M within 2 - 3 years actions for heritage

significance levels B, C, D. Lower L 3 years actions for heritage

significance levels C or D. Maintenance Works refer tables 8 - 3 and 8 - 4 Maintenance works comprise two types: i) overall and routine tasks to facilitate the garden to flourish in the appropriate character - refer table 8 - 3, and ii) works for particular garden beds and elements - refer table 8 - 4.


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F 2 Flower garden plants = Plant in part 2 per year

F

Garden Bed G

G 1 Edging lilies = Thin and contain spread as required -1 per year

G 2 Flower garden plants = Plant in part 2 per year

G

Garden Bed H

H 1 Flower garden plants = Plant in part 2 per year

H 2 Bulbs at edge -lift, cultivate and improve soil and replant -1 per year

H 3 Bromeliad clump = Reduce in extent

H

Garden Bed I

I 1 Azaleas = Spray 6 per year, - Fertilise 3 per year, Prune 1 per year

I 2 Bulbs at edge -lift, cultivate and improve soil and replant -1 per year

I 3 Flower garden plants = Plant in part 2 per year

I 4 Bromeliad clumps = Reduce in extent

I

Garden Bed J

J 1 Prune shrubs - 2 per year

J 2 Stone edge = Weed & trim at mowing times

J 3 Strelitzia clumps = Reduce in extent 1 per year

J

Garden Bed K

K 1 Azaleas = Spray 6 per year, - Fertilise 3 per year, Prune 1 per year

K 2 Edge trim at mowing times

K 3 Bulbs at edge -lift, cultivate and improve soil and replant -1 per year

K

Garden Bed L

L 1 Ponds = Reduce /maintain water plant monthly in summer

L 2 Edges weed and trim at mowing times

L 3 Bromeliad clump = Reduce in extent

L


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Garden Bed M

M1 Ponds = Reduce /maintain water plant monthly in summer

M2 Edges weed and trim at mowing times

M3 Jasminum clumps = Prune 3 per year

M4 Camellias = Prune 1 per year

M

Garden Bed N

N 1 Paths through = Maintain cleared of fallen branches & spreading ground covers

N 2

Garden Bed O

O 1 Prune shrubs bi-annually or as needed

O 2 Edges weed and trim at mowing times

O

Garden Bed P

P 1 Prune shrubs bi-annually or as needed

P 2 Edges weed and trim at mowing times

P 3 Bromeliad clump = Reduce in extent

P

Garden Bed Q

Q 1 Paths through = Maintain cleared of fallen branches & spreading ground covers

Q 2 Tradescantia and other spreading plants = Remove new /spreading branches 2 per year

Q 3 Bromeliad clump = Reduce in extent

Q

Garden Bed R

R 1 Paths through = Maintain cleared of fallen branches

R 2 Bamboo clumps = Remove new canes / and /or some old leaning canes annually

R 3 Ground cover plants = Maintain extent

R

Garden Bed S

S 1 Bananas clump maintenance (Refer table 8.2)

S 2 Compost = Add small / medium sized organic ‘waste’, - maintain moist, - turn regularly


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S 3 Shrubs = Trim to maintain form & remove dead /poor parts

S 4 Ground cover plants = Maintain extent

S


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8

Protasparagus aethiopicus /densiflorus

Planted in garden A only - Maintain one plant only. Monitor extent and record size. Maintain extent. - Cut off flowers and berries regularly /as seen.

9

Trees & Palms - self sown - Syagarus romanzoffianum Cocos palm - Cupaniopsis anacardioides tuckeroo - Cinnamomium camphora camphor laurel tree

Remove all - Cut off at ground - Poison trunk / stem with herbicide / tree poison

10

Tradescantia sp -various - planted

Retain plants only where documentary evidence (photos or Gene’s advices) indicates were earlier. - Remove other plants and spread of plant by hand. - Ensure all leaves and stems are removed and place all removed plant parts in bag. - Remove bag of ‘rubbish’ to land fill or efficient compost off site.


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REFERENCES • Andrew Ladlay Architect. 2011. Rosser’s House, Benowa: A Conservation

Management Plan. City of Gold Coast Council, Gold Coast.

• Australia ICOMOS Inc. 2013. The Burra Charter: the Australia ICOMOS charter for places of cultural significance. Australia ICOMOS.

• Heffernan, K. 2011. Rosser House Garden Report. City of Gold Coast Council, Gold Coast.

• Marquis-Kyle, P. & Walker, M. 2004. The Illustrated Burra Charter. Australia ICOMOS.

• The Bailliere’s Queensland Gazetter and Road Guide 1876.

• Wilson, M. C. 2003. “The Evolution of the Queenslander Garden” Queensland Review 10 (2): 133-140. University of Queensland Press, Brisbane.

BIBLIOGRAPHY • Aitken, R. & Looker, M. 2002. The Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens.

• Brouwer, C. 1994. “Garden.” In Queensland House: a roof over our heads, edited by Rod Fisher and Brian Crozier, 89-100. Queensland Museum, South Brisbane.

• Herbert, D. A. 1958. Gardening in Warm Climates. Angus & Robertson Ltd., Sydney,

• Holmes, K., Martin, S. K. & Mirmohamadi, K. 2008. Reading the Garden. Melbourne University Publishing Ltd., Carlton.

• Johnston, C. for National Trust of Australia (Victoria). 1987. Assessing Gardens - Review and recommendations on methods of assessing the cultural significance of gardens, Conservation Bulletin 1.1, based on a workshop sponsored by the Victoria Garden History Society.

• Looker, M. & Patrick, J. 1987. Understanding and maintaining your historic garden, Ministry for Planning and Environment, Victoria & Historic Buildings Council.

• National Trust of Australia (New South Wales). Parks and Gardens Conservation Committee. 2003. Interwar gardens : a guide to the history, conservation and management of gardens of 1915-1940 / The National Trust of Australia (NSW) Parks and Gardens Conservation Committee. The Trust Sydney

• Timms, P. 2006. Australia’s Quarter Acre: the story of the ordinary suburban garden. Melbourne University Publishing Ltd., Carlton.

• The National Trust of Australia NSW 2003, A Guide to the History, conservation and management of gardens 1915 - 1940, Parks and Gardens Conservation Committee - Australian Interwar Gardens. Oxford University Press.


ADOPTED REPORT 732



APPENDICES A Chronology B Burra Charter Definitions C Rosser Garden Built Elements Schedule D Rosser Garden Vegetation Schedules E Kate Heffernan Garden Report Extracts


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APPENDIX A

Chronology

Date Event

1870 - 1880

Robert Muir homestead and sugar cane plantation established.

1918

Central sugar mill Benowa (formerly Robert Muir’s mill) closed.

1922

John and Essie Rosser purchased 7 acres of land at Benowa, part of the Parbury Subdivision

1924

Rosser house built

1928

Gene Rosser born

1930s (late)

Rosser house extended

1940s

Rosser house extended

1969

John and Essie Rosser donate 2.75 hectares of their land to Gold Coast Council.

1980s (late)

Gene Rosser returns to live at family home with parents

1980s - 90s

Gene Rosser in residence and gardening, & member SGAP

1988

John Rosser dies (1893 - 1988)

1991

Essie Rosser dies (1897 - 1991)

1994

Ashmore Road widened and part Rosser land acquired.

1995

Shed replaced by Council with current garage shed.

2010

Council acquired remaining lot from Gene Rosser

2010-11

Kate Heffernan’s Report for CGC

2011

Rosser House CMP by Andrew Ladlay for CGC

2011 + 2012

“Skilling Queenslanders for Work” program - 4 teams undertook garden maintenance and planting -following K Heffernan’s report.


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APPENDIX B BURRA CHARTER DEFINITIONS Definitions

The following terms used in this CMP are consistent with the terms used in the Burra Charter:

• Adaptation means modifying a place to suit the existing use or a proposed use.

• Associations means the special connections that exist between people and a place.

• Compatible use means a use, which respects the cultural significance of a place. Such a use involves no (or minimal) impact on cultural significance.

• Conservation means all the processes of looking after a place so as to retain its cultural significance.

• Cultural significance means aesthetic, historic, scientific, social, or spiritual value for past, present, or future generations. Cultural significance is embodied in the place itself, its fabric, setting, use, associations, meanings, records, related places, and related objects. Places may have a range of values for different individuals or groups.

• Fabric means all the physical material of the place including components, fixtures, contents, and objects.

• Interpretation means all the ways of presenting the cultural significance of a place.

• Maintenance means the continuous protective care of the fabric and setting of a place, and is to be distinguished from repair.

• Meanings denote what a place signifies, indicates, evokes, or expresses. • Place means site, area, land, landscape, building or other work, group of

buildings or other works, and may include components, contents, spaces, and views.

• Preservation means maintaining the fabric of a place in its existing state & retarding deterioration.

• Repair involves restoration or reconstruction. • Restoration means returning the existing fabric of a place to a known earlier

state by removing accretions, or by reassembling existing components without the introduction of new material.

• Reconstruction means returning a place to a known earlier state and is distinguished from restoration by the introduction of new material into the fabric.

• Setting means the area around a place, which may include the visual catchment.

• Use means the functions of a place as well as the activities & practices that may occur at a place.


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Description Pot stand - timber log/sleeper

Condition / Comment Fair

Heritage Council Period

Assessment C


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B 2 Schedule of Pots, Hanging Baskets & Moveable Items Garden Description Assessment

Condition Good

A Hanging baskets on trellis wires - 21 No., Ferns x 4, Zygocactus x 6, Orchids x 2

Heritage E & Gene Rosser Periods A

Condition Good

A Hanging baskets in tree -orchid

Heritage E & Gene Rosser Periods C

Condition Good

A Bee Hives - 2 No Native bees - One on brick stand - One in timber log on shelf at house

Heritage Gene Rosser Period B

Condition Good

A Bird bath - ceramic, round, on metal stand


Condition Good

A Plant pots

Heritage Gene Rosser Period C

Condition Good

A Hanging Baskets in Tree in Lawn -3 No. 1 x Zygocactus, 1 dead

Heritage E & Gene Rosser Period C

Condition

B Plant pots & 2 old tea pots


Condition Good

C Hanging baskets in Schotia tree 16 No. - Zygocactus x 2, Ferns x 3, Orchids, Tillandsia x 2 Heritage

E & Gene Rosser Period A

Condition Good

C Pots - jade x 2, Crassula, fern, Ctenanthe.


Condition Good

C Pots - at base of frangipani


Condition

D Log 1.2 metre long

Heritage Gene Rosser Period D

Condition E no items present

Heritage


ADOPTED REPORT 749



Condition Fair

F Plant pots


Condition Fair

G Plant pots


Condition Good

I Plant pots under mango tree -lower


Condition I no items present

Heritage

Condition Good

J Bird Bath - ceramic glazed, on stand - seen from living room


Condition Good

Q Plant pots


Condition Good

Q Ship’s tank lid - used as a bird bath


Condition Good - Fair

Q Hanging chair

Heritage Gene Rosser Period D

Condition Good

Q Chairs -metal



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D 2 Plants Schedule

Garden A Heritage

E & J Rosser Period On trunk tulip tree: staghorn central & 1 on rear trunk, Dendrobium. Beaucarnea near door, Adiantum fern at base, orchids & bromeliads attached, begonia in fork, Madonna lilies x 2, Spathyphyllum clumps Camellia, Buddleia to west Eucharis lilies (removed Council period)

A

Gene Rosser Period On trunk tulip tree: Bromeliads in lowest fork, Bromeliads on west branches Stephanotis on east post of trellis, Hoya on west post, Thunbergia mysorensis over top of trellis. Spathyphyllum along house rear of bed. Malvaviscus mollis, Massed bromeliads & fern between bird bath & entry. Centre: Bromeliads, NZ hare’s foot fern, Asplenium x1, Phoenix roebellini x 1, Salvia (red), Draecaena near house, Asparagus sprengeri. At base of small tree in lawn: Crucifix orchid, Liriope Stripey, Agave,

B

Gene Rosser & Council Period Wisteria sinensis Shiro-Kapitan at garage x 4, + Wisteria Shiro-Kapitan

D

Garden B Heritage Significance

E & J Rosser Period Tibouchina, Bromeliads

A

Gene Rosser Period Bromeliads, Philodendron on Tibouchina tree, Monstera, Brazilian cherry, Schefflera -Tillandsia on trunk Nephrolepsis cordifolia, Ficus from pot

B C D /E

Gene Rosser / Council Period No plants by Council

C /D

Garden C Heritage Significance

E & J Rosser Period Cyperus sp, Poinsettia, Bromeliads under frangipani, Crassula at west shed, Pentas, Bromeliads, Murraya behind shed Petrea vine mid shed & on east corner. Psidium cattleianum behind shed

B A

Gene Rosser Period Bromeliads at shed corner, Tillandsia - 2 varieties, hibiscus, Garden under Schotia tree: cardamon ginger clump, Dichorisandra, ferns, Cyperus, Bryophyllum Bromeliads on trunk Grevillea Callistemon at rear

C D E

Gene Rosser / Council Period no plants added by Council

Garden D Heritage Significance

Gene Rosser Period Bromeliads at base of mulberry

B

Gene Rosser / Council Period Herbs and vegetables in troughs inside and at outside edges of wire enclosure.

D


ADOPTED REPORT 755



D 2 Plants Schedule continued

Garden E Heritage Significance

Gene Rosser / Council Period Mackay cedar, Banksia integrifolia, Callitris, Leptospermum, Xanthorea, Lomandras, citrus x 2 in centre, Phyllanthus, Grevillea sp (shrubs) citrus x 2 in centre,

C D

Council Period From gates north: Melaleuca, Brachychiton acerifolia, Eucalyptus ptychocarpa, Cordylines, Acacia, Callistemon, Banksia collina, Ficus (over machine shed), Banksia integrifolia, Callitris, Leptospermum, Xanthorea, Lomandras, South of Drive: Schefflera, Leptospermum x 7, Syzygium sp x 2, Bachousia citriodora, Cupaniopsis,

D

Garden F Heritage Significance

E & J Rosser Period Hymenocallis littoralis, Liriopes, Hibiscus, Ctenanthe, Bromeliads, Draecaena, Macrantha

A

Gene Rosser Period

B

Garden G Heritage Significance

E & J Rosser Period Hymenocallis littoralis, Liriopes

A

Gene Rosser Period

B

Garden H Heritage Significance

E & J Rosser Period Iris germanica, Hemerocallis, Tibouchina x 3 Petrea on trellis, Ixora, Codiaeum, Malphigia, Hypericum patulum, Liriope, Azalea indica eastern edge, Hymenocallis littoralis Plants in photos & as advised by Gene: Hemerocallis, Iceland poppies, Alyssum, Calendulas, stocks, blue larkspurs, Gladiolis, Gypsophyllum, Marigolds, red poppies, Zinnias, Iris germanica, Ranunculus, Anemones

A

Gene Rosser Period Syzygium wilsonii, Lomandra, Leptospermum, Austromyrtus

C

Gene Rosser / Council Period

C /D

Garden I Heritage Significance

E & J Rosser Period staghorn on mango trunk, orchids on metal bracket, Bromeliads at base. Bromeliads & Neomarica gracilis mixed and spreading, Ctenanthe (green), Cliveas, Begonia, Crassula spreading /east side, Barleria. Brazilian cherries between mango and cypress, Tradescantia, ferns, Dichorisandra on north side of grass path, Rosa Countess Bertha x 1 Azaleas along grass path, Camellias x 2, Belaperone (yellow) Plumbago

Fence side between mango trees: Camellia x 2, Crassula spreading over bed, Plants in photos & as advised by Gene: Hemerocallis, Iceland poppies, Alyssum, Calendulas, stocks, blue larkspurs, Gladiolis, Gypsophyllum, Marigolds, red poppies, Petunias, Pansies, Snapdragons, Zinnias, Iris

A A A A B A


ADOPTED REPORT 756



germanica, Ranunculus, Anemones Gene Rosser Period Ctenanthe clump (purple), Cycad x 1, Pleomele, Dichorisandra, Bromeliads several varieties in various parts of garden, cane Begonia pink x 2 Cordyline green, rubra, varieg. Belaperone (brown)

Lomandra in island bed, Bougainvillea on mango tree Aralia x 1

B D C

Gene Rosser / Council Period Jacaranda (young) mid mango & cypress, Between mango trees at fence side: Ottocloia sp. in patches, Poinsettia seedlings, Syzygium x 3, Alex palm, Brazilian cherry x 2

D D E


Garden J Heritage Significance

E & J Rosser Period Wisteria sinensis -over trellis at house, Camellia sasanqua Plants no longer present as advised by Gene: daffodils, snowdrops, bluebells Hippeastrum

A

Gene Rosser Period Strelitzia reginae x 2

B

Garden K Heritage Significance

E & J Rosser Period Azalea indica x 7 +, Iris germanica

A

Gene Rosser Period No planting by Gene

Garden L Heritage Significance

E & J Rosser Period Azalea indica -several, Iris germanica

A

Gene Rosser Period

B


C /D

Garden M Heritage Significance

E & J Rosser Period Camellia sasanqua ‘hedge’ on west side, Aloe near pond, Agave, Crucifix orchid,

Poinsettias, Hibiscus rosa sinensis(pink), Salvia, Gerberas, Catharanthus, Crassula, Dietes

Jasminum mesnyi behind west pond, Gordonia (died & Gene planted new one), storm lilies Strelitzia reginae Bougainvillea on Schotia tree behind pond east

A B A B D

Gene Rosser Period Gordonia Grevillea, Callistemon, Alpinia speciosa, Lantana montevidensis

B C


C /D


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Garden N (to be checked) Heritage Significance

E & J Rosser Period no extant shrubs

Gene Rosser Period No planting by Gene

Garden O (to be checked) Heritage Significance

E & J Rosser Period

A

Gene Rosser Period

B

Garden P Heritage Significance

E & J Rosser Period Aspidistra elatior, Malvaviscus mollis, Dichorisandra,

A

Gene Rosser Period Dichorisandra thyrsifolia

B

Garden Q Heritage Significance

E & J Rosser Period Malvaviscus mollis-east edge, Coffea arabica, Brunsfelsia, Crassula Macrantha, fan palm

A

Gene Rosser Period Montanoa bipinnatifida tree daisies, Tradescantia sp spreading Ctenanthe spreading, Graptpophyllum, Asplenium, Alpinia sp, Syzygium wilsonii white flowers -rare, loquat Evodiella meulleri near gate to BG

Bambusa lako Strelitzia nicholai Nandina domestica

B B C B B D

Garden R Heritage Significance

E & J Rosser Period

A

Gene Rosser Period Bambusa chungii - 2 No clumps

B

Garden S Heritage Significance

E & J Rosser Period Musa sp bananas

A

Gene Rosser Period

B


ADOPTED REPORT 758



APPENDIX E HEFFERNAN REPORT EXTRACT This is an extract from the Heffernan 2011 Rosser Homestead Garden Report:

Plant List (in the garden)

INFILL Genus species/CV Common Name Agapanthus praecox Agapanthus Alchornea ilicifolia Native holly Allamanda neriifolia Shrub Allamanda Alpinea caerulea Native ginger Alpinea zerumbut Shell Ginger Alstroemeria pulchella Archontophoenix species palm

Arctotis hybrids Ardisia crenata Coral berry Argyranthemum frutescens Marguerite daisy Aspidastra elatior Cast Iron Plant

Austromyrtus Copper Tops' Copper Tops Austromyrtus dulcis Midyim berry Banksia spinulosa Hairpin Banksia Banksia robur Swamp Banksia Barleria cristata Phillipine violet Begonia coccinea Belaperone guttata Yellow Shrimp plant Calathea Zebrina' Camellia species Chrysanathemum cultivar Clivea miniata Kaffir Lily Cordyline species Cordyline Pink foliage CV Pink Ti Cotoneaster species Cotoneaster

Crinum asiaticum Pink crinum Crinum moorei? pink form Ctenanthe species Dianella species Flax lily Dichorisandra thyrsifolia Purple ginger Dombeya species Doryanthes excelsa Spear Lily Dracaena deremensis Dracaena marginata Dracaena

Epidendrum species Crucifix orchid Euphorbia leucocephala Snowflake Euphorbia pulcherirma Poinsettia Eupotorium megalophyllum Purple mist flower


ADOPTED REPORT 759



Gardenia augusta CV Gazania species Gerbera species Gladiolus hybrids Gladioli Grevillea Honey Gem' Hakea 'Burrendong Beauty' Hedychium coronarium White scented ginger Hemerocallis hybrids Day lily Hippeastrum cultivars Hymenosporum flavum dwarf CV Dwarf native frangipani Iris species Jasminum mesnyi Yellow Jasmine Justica carnea Pink Justica Justicia botanica White shrimp plant Justicia brandegeana guttata Shrimp Plant Leea indica variegated Bandicoot Berry

Leucanthemum x superba Shasta daisy Ligustrum lucidum Privet Lillium candidum Lillies Lomandra species Matt rush Malphigea coccigera Miniature holly Monstera deliciosa Monstera

Murraya paniculata Mock orange Nandina domestica Sacred Bamboo Neomarica gracilis Walking iris Orthosiphon aristatus Cats Whisker's Pavetta species Pavetta Pedilanthus tithymaloides Zig Zag or Jacobs Ladder

Pelargonium Red geranium Philodendron species self heading type Plumbago capensis Cape Plumbago Pontaderia cordata Blue Pickerel Portulacaria afra Small leaf Jade Rhododendron indica variegated Azalea Rhododendron kurume hybrid Rosa Salvia gregii Red Salvia 'Purple Majesty' Spiraea cantoniensis White May Spiraea 'Anthony Waterer' Pink May Sterlitzea reginae Bird of paradise Strelitzea nicolai Giant white bird of Paradise Syn. Belaperone guttata Tecomaria capensis Cape honeysuckle Tibouchina species and CV's Lasiandra Tradescantia zebrina Inch Plant Zantedschia aethiopica White Arum Zebrina pedula Wandering traveller Zephyranthes grandiflora syn rosea Pink storm lily


ADOPTED REPORT 760



TREES Genus species / cultivar common name Aphananthe philippensis Rough leaf elm Araucaria cunninghamiana Hoop Pine Backhousia citriodora Lemon myrtle Barringtonia calyptrata Mango Pine

Bauhnina syringifolia Crown of Gold Brachychiton acerifolius Illawarra Flame tree Callitris species Native cypress Carya illinoisensis Pecan Castanopsermum australe Black Bean Cinnamomum camphora Camphor laurel Citrus cultivars Lemon, orange and mandarin

Corymbia intemedia? Bloodwood Corymbia ptychocarpa Swamp Bloodwood Cupaniopsis anarcardiodes Tuckeroo Davidsonia pruriens Davidson's Plum Delonix regia Poinciana Diospyros kaki Persimmon Elaeocarpus grandis Blue Quondong Elaeocarpus reticulatus Blueberry ash Eriobotyra japonica Loquat Evodelia muelleri Little Evodia Ficus virens White Fig Franklinia syn Gordonia axillaris Fried egg Plant Grevillea robusta Silky oak Hibiscus tilaeceus Coastal hibiscus Hibiscus splendens Native hibiscus Hymenosporum flavum Native frangipanni Jacaranda mimosifolia Jacaranda Jagera pseudorhus Foam Bark Lagerstroemia indica Crepe myrtle Lepiderema pulchella Fine Leaf Tuckeroo Mangifera indica Mango Melaleuca irbyana Swamp Tea Tree

Melaleuca argentea Cadjeput Melaleuca quinquenervia Broad leaf paper Bark Melaleuca viminalis Weeping bottlebrush

Melia azederach White cedar Morus species Mulberry Musa cultivar Banana Nerium oleander Pink Oleander Nerium oleander White Oleander Pandanus species Screw Pine Paraserianthes toona Mackay cedar Plumeria rubra var acutifolia Frangipani

Prunus hybrid


ADOPTED REPORT 761



Schefflera arboricola Umbrella tree - small leaf Schefflera actinophylla Umbrella tree Schotia bractepetala Drunken Parrot tree Stenocarpus Forest Lace' Forest Lace Syn. Barklya syringifolia Syzygium luehmannii Small leaf lilly pilly Syzygium australe Lilly Pilly Taxodium distichum Swamp Cyprus Xanthostemon chrysanthus Golden Penda

FERNS Adiantum species Maidenhair Angiopteris evecta King fern Asplenium australasicum Birds nest Nephrolepsis cordifolia Fishbone fern Platycerium bifurcatum Elkhorn Platycerium superbum Staghorn Pteris species ANNUALS Allysum species Sweet alice Lobelia species Lobelia Papaver nudicale syn. croceum Iceland Poppies Ranunculus species Ranunculus Rhodanthe species Pink Everlastings Salvia splendens Red Salvia Tropaeoleum majus Nasturtium Viola species Viola / Pansy VINES Bouganvillea cv's Geitnoplesium cymosum Scrambling Lily Hoya australis Wax vine? Hylocereus stenopterus Red trailing cactus Passiflora unknown species Passionfruit Petrea volubis Purple Wreath Thunbergia mysorensis Bengal clock vine Wisteria sinensis Chinese Wisteria PALMS Chamaedora siefritzii Bamboo palm Chamaedora metallica Dypsis decaryi Triangle palm Archontophoenix cunninghamii Piccabeen Palm Livistona australis Cabbage Tree Palm BROMELIACEAE Aechmea species and CV's Billbergia species and CV's Guzmania species and CV's Neoregelia species and CV's Tillandsia species and CV's Vriesia species and CV's


ADOPTED REPORT 762


ADOPTED REPORT 763

The original cable hut at Southport (courtesy Telegraph Museum, Porthcurno, Cornwall).

SOUTHPORT CABLE HUT

CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN

FOR CITY OF GOLD COAST COUNCIL

JULY 2016

Attachment B (page 1 of 74)


ADOPTED REPORT 764

SOUTHPORT CABLE HUT

CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN

CONTENTS

EXECTUTIVE SUMMARY 1

1 INTRODUCTION 2

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Background

1.3 Summary of Conservation Policies

1.4 Limits

1.5 Methodology

1.6 The Study Team

1.7 Sources of Information

1.8 Acknowledgements

2 STUDY AREA 7

2.1 Location Details

2.2 Site Changes Over Time

3 BACKGROUND HISTORY 12

3.1 The Pacific Cable

3.2 Starting Point of the Cable – Southport

3.3 The Cable Hut

3.4 The Cable Station Offices and Residences

4 DESCRIPTION 22

4.1 Cable Hut Description

4.2 Cable Park Description

4.3 Condition Statements

5 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS 30

5.1 Cable Huts

6 CULTURAL HERITAGE SIGNIFICACE 32

6.1 Significance Criteria QHR

6.2 Significance Criteria Gold Coast LHR

6.3 QHR Boundary

6.4 Associated Heritage Significance

6.5 Relative Heritage Significance

7 CONSERVATION POLICIES 37

7.1 Policy Overview

7.2 Conservation Policies

7.3 Queensland Heritage Act 1992 – Heritage Compliance

8 APPENDIX 42

Appendix 1 Australia ICOMOS Burra Charter

Appendix 2 QHR 602611 Extract and QHR Boundary

Appendix 3 GCLHR LHR0013 Extract

Appendix 4 J M Pearce Architects Heritage Advice Plan

Appendix 5 Heritage Compliance Guidelines


ADOPTED REPORT 766

Southport Cable Hut

Executive Summary

The surviving Cable Hut is the second hut built in 1951 as a replacement of the

original constructed in 1902. The 1951 Cable Hut is constructed in face brick

and is located in the open space reserve named Cable Park. The Cable Hut is

entered in the Queensland Heritage Register as the surviving evidence of the

crucially important Pacific Telegraph Cable. The installation of the Pacific

Telegraph Cable line commenced at Southport in 1902 and following

completion across the Pacific Ocean to Canada operated for many decades

through both World War 1 and World War 2. The Cable Hut and nearby Cable

Station at Southport were closed in 1962.

This Conservation Management Plan provides a detailed history and outlines

circumstances supporting the cultural heritage significance. The Plan provides

information to assist with additional interpretation, conservation and

management of the Cable Hut and Cable Park for the custodian, the City of

Gold Coast.


ADOPTED REPORT 767

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

City of Gold Coast Council has engaged J M Pearce Architects heritage services, to prepare this

Conservation Management Plan (the Plan) which provides an updated history, cultural heritage

significance review and overview of the building fabric. The Plan provides conservation and

maintenance advice along with policies to assist with interpretation of the culturally significant

aspects and the future management of the park site and building. The Plan is intended to be an

integral management tool for the building custodians and occupants into the future.

1.2 Background

The Southport Cable Hut is of cultural heritage significance and is entered in the Queensland

Heritage Register (QHR602611) and the Gold Coast Local Heritage Register (LHR0013). The surviving

Cable Hut is the second hut built in 1951 as a replacement of the original hut constructed in 1902.

The Cable Hut is constructed in face brick and located in the open space reserve named Cable Park.

The Cable Hut marks the location of the junctions of several cables, at one time including the Pacific

Telegraph Cable (the Cable). The Cable was laid in a trench through the dunes near Narrow Neck

(Southport) in 1902 to the first Cable Hut on the beach which was eventually destroyed through

erosion and weather.

A connecting line from the original Cable Hut extended west and north skirting McIntosh Island and

the Nerang River to the Pacific Cable Station where the administration and management of the

communications line occurred. The administration buildings and Cable Station residences for

employees were located on a large riverside site along Bauer Street. The site was sold in 1960s and

redeveloped as a residential area in the 1980s. Two of the Cable Station buildings were relocated to

The Southport School nearby and are used as music rooms. These surviving relocated Cable Station

buildings are historically associated with the Cable Hut and are entered in the Gold Coast Local

Heritage Register (LHR0002).

A Conservation Management Plan to manage the Cable Hut has become important as the

maintenance of the brickwork due to deterioration and weathering is required.

1.3 Summary of Conservation Policies

The Conservation Policies (Policies) are intended to assist with the long term future management of

the site of the important Pacific Telecommunications Cable landing and the surviving infrastructure.

The Policies provide guidelines and information for those undertaking maintenance, adaptations or

new work on the Cable Hut or in Cable Park. The following summary provides an overview and

practical quick reference to the Policies.

POLICY 1 - Conservation Management Plan Adoption & Use

This Conservation Management Plan, inclusive of these policies is should be adopted by the City of

Gold Coast Council as the owner and custodian of the place.

POLICY 2 - Conservation Practice and the Burra Charter

The culturally significant elements, identified significant fabric and direct interpretations of the Cable

Hut, Cable Park and the path of the Telecommunications Cable are to be conserved in accordance

with the principles of the Burra Charter and its guidelines.


ADOPTED REPORT 768

POLICY 3 - Availability of Conservation Management Plan

This Conservation Management Plan is to be implemented by the asset owner and managers of the

place. Copies of this Conservation Management Plan is to be provided to all people who have

responsible roles in the use, maintenance or adaptive work at the Cable Hut and Cable Park and be

generally accessible.

POLICY 4 - Review of Plan

This Conservation Management Plan is recommended to be reviewed and if necessary revised, on a

five yearly basis from its implementation, and adopted for a further period.

POLICY 5 – Compliance with the Queensland Heritage Act 1992

The Cable Hut is entered in the Queensland Heritage Register (Place ID:602611). Development

meeting the definition under the Queensland Heritage Act 1992 will require assessment against the

Queensland Heritage Act requirements. Heritage advice or impact reports by qualified heritage

conservation professionals are recommended to accompany any development application

demonstrating that the Policies of this Conservation Management Plan are addressed.

POLICY 6 – Expert Advice

People skilled and experienced in architectural conservation are recommended to advise on

conservation work or adaptations in regard to the application of the Conservation Management Plan.

POLICY 7 – Cable Hut Use

The Cable Hut is a small service structure housing the remains of the Pacific Cable and other cable

terminations. It is recommended that the Cable Hut be maintained in its current state with no other

use imposed. The Cable Hut with its internal fixings should remain as an interpretive element marking

the important development of Trans Pacific communication.

POLICY 8 – Cable Park Development and Master Planning

The Cable Hut is recommended to remain as it currently exists however the surrounding Cable Park

may be refurbished or undergo limited re-development. It is recommended that a Master Plan for

Cable Park be developed.

POLICY 9 – Conservation of Significant Elements

Not all of the fabric on the site contributes equally to the cultural significance of the place. An

evaluation is provided in Section 6.5 of this Plan outlining the significance of the various elements

within the Park. The fabric of the Cable Hut along with the cabling and electronic devices within are

considered to be of Exceptional Level A significance due to the rarity of surviving evidence of the

Trans Pacific Cable Huts throughout the Pacific.

POLICY 10 – Urgent Maintenance

Fabric or structural material that is in danger of collapsing or is dilapidated may be replaced with

temporary material if necessary to maintain structural integrity. Any temporary material is to be

replaced with appropriate matching material as soon as practical. Work that prevents damaging

water penetration is also considered urgent and rectification to prevent water ingress is

recommended to be carried out as soon as practical.

POLICY 11 – Recommended Maintenance Cable Hut

Covers Brickwork and Mortar, Concrete Roof, Fixtures and surrounding landscape.

11.1 Brickwork and Mortar

Areas of the face brick walls are showing rising damp and salt attack damage. At the time of

inspection conservation works had been carried out to repair particularly deteriorated parts.

This work has been carried out appropriately. Additional repairs are to be carried out in

similar manner by an experienced brick conservation trades person. Ensuring water drains

away from the structure and no vegetation is planted near the walls in imperative to

protecting the brickwork.


ADOPTED REPORT 769

11.2 Concrete Roof

The Concrete roof requires cleaning to remove mould. “Wet and Forget” is an acceptable

product to clean the organic growths on the roof and is recommended to be used. The

concrete roof is recommended to be checked for soundness and confirm that it is watertight.

Concrete repairs may be required.

11.3 Plaque and existing interpretive elements

The existing external cast bronze sign and section of cable mounted on the east wall is

recommended to be conserved and protected. Should the sign become damaged a

replacement in matching material may be reinstated. Include a correction to the wording on

the plaque to note the Trans Pacific Cable terminated in Bamfield Canada, in any update to

the sign.

11.4 Vegetation and Finished Ground Levels

Shrubs have been removed from the western and southern side of the hut. No new shrubs

are to be planted within 2 metres of the Cable Hut to prevent dampness affecting the brick

walls. It is recommended that ground levels be modified to allow water to easily drain away

from the base of the hut.

POLICY 12 – Regular Maintenance Cable Park

Usual Park maintenance including mowing, tree care, garden bed control, repairs to fixtures and

paths are to continue as a part of normal park care.

POLICY 13 – Interpretation Policy – Signs and Elements

It is recommended that a Master Plan includes the development of an Interpretation Policy to guide

the display and communication of the culturally significant history and elements of Cable Park and

the Cable Hut.

POLICY 14 – Landscape

It is recommended that a Master Plan includes consideration to update and refurbish the landscape

design in Cable Park with recognition to the path of the cable entering from the east and heading

west. Retention of the significance elements as noted in section 6.5 needs to be considered.

1.4 Limits

Comments and recommendations are provided in the Plan regarding the building condition and

statutory compliance matters, however the report does not provide a structural analysis or an audit

of building systems.

The record is limited to a survey of the physical and historical investigation of the Cable Hut, the

architectural detailing to a level that is reasonably possible during site inspections and document

research. The Cable Station buildings associated with the Trans Pacific Cable are discussed but are

not covered in detail and are subject to separate consideration.

While archival and primary source material has been researched, additional material or information

may be discovered which may add or vary the information provided in this Plan.

1.5 Methodology

This Conservation Management Plan has been prepared in accordance with the philosophy and

definitions provided by the Australia ICOMOS, Burra Charter and its Guidelinesi and J. S. Kerr’s

procedures for the Conservation Planii. The guidelines provide the approach, methodology and

structure of the Plan that includes the following:


ADOPTED REPORT 770

A short history of the place,

An architectural assessment,

An analysis of the documentary and physical evidence,

Statement of heritage value, including relative significance of the parts of the place,

Conservation constraints and the requirements of the users and owner,

Conservation policies for the place including appropriate adaptation, planning issues related

to the place. Management issues including priority of works, funding, and maintenance,

Drawings and photographs

This Conservation Management Plan is organised in the following manner:

Part 1 provides the general introductory items and description of the approach in which the report

has been carried out.

Part 2 provides an overview of the site, its context and establishment.

Part 3 provides a historic background that has been established at this point from documentary and

archival records.

Part 4 provides an architectural description of the elements of the place as it currently exists.

Part 5 provides a comparative analysis.

Part 6 assesses and describes the cultural heritage significance of the place and defines relative

significance of various elements.

Part 7 provides for the conservation management recommendations and policies that are the result

of consideration of the preceding information. The Policies recognise the cultural heritage

significance and provide guidelines for the foreseeable demands of future users, future development

needs, recreational demand, event requirements and general operational practices.

Part 8 provides the appendix.

1.6 The Study Team

Those involved in provision of the Conservation Management Plan included:

J M Pearce Architects

Jacqueline Pearce

Buchanan Heritage Services

Robyn Buchanan

1.7 Sources of Information

Information has been obtained via site inspections, the historic background research and from

interviews with people connected to the place. Investigation into the currently extant physical

elements, structures, signage, and facilities have been provided.

Robyn Buchanan has carried out the detailed historic research in this report. Information and

reference has been obtained from the following documents:

Southport Cable Hut (former) Queensland Heritage Register entry (QHR 602611)

General Records File Southport, Erosion at Cable Landing National Archives of Australia

(C5498, 53/0595)


ADOPTED REPORT 771

General Records File Southport, Cable Reserve, National Archives of Australia (C5498,

52/0242)

Johnson, G, (Ed), 1903, The All Red Line; The Annals and Aims of the Pacific Cable Project,

James Hope and Sons, Ottowa.

Other records and publications were consulted as recorded in footnotes.

The authors provide information from their own records and site photographs with historic

photographs provided as referenced.

1.8 Acknowledgements

i Kerr, James Semple, January 2013 The Conservation Plan, National Trust of Australia (NSW), Edition 7, ii Marquis Kyle, Peter and M Walker, 2004 The Illustrated Burra Charter, Australia ICOMOS

We are grateful for the valuable support and assistance provided by Jane Austen of the City of Gold Coast Heritage unit for the provision of the research information held and internal photographs. We also thank Bill Burns, (of the Atlantic Cable website) for his assistance with the early photograph of the Cable Hut. The Gold Coast Historical Society is also appreciated for their assistance.


ADOPTED REPORT 772

Current View of Cable Park and the Cable Hut from the intersection of

Cable Street and Main Beach Parade.

Cable Park is a 1281m2 reserve containing a line of mature Norfolk Pine trees and assortment of

coastal shrubs in a grassed setting. The Cable Hut is located close to the northern boundary along

Cable Street and a short distance in from the Main Beach Parade frontage. A galvanised pipe rail

and chain wire fence is provided on the southern and eastern boundary. Low, simply supported

timber log buffers line the northern boundary.

2.1 Site Changes Over Time

1915 Real Estate Map for Pacific Ocean Estate.

John Oxley Collection State Library of Queensland 185601


ADOPTED REPORT 775

Survey Plan 1952, shows a formalised cable reserve area being two portions of land, the larger to the

east fronting the ocean and the smaller reserve area to the west of the road and adjacent to Cable

Street.2 Note Red pen markings may indicate previous cable hut location.

National Archives Australia, NAAS C5498 52.0242, Southport Cable Reserve Box 63, p20

1955 Telegram advising of extent of erosion.

National Archives of Australia NAA: C5498, 53/0595, p13.

2 Survey Plan, 1952 extracted from NAAS C5498 52 0242, Southport Cable Reserve Box 63


ADOPTED REPORT 777

3. BACKGROUND HISTORY

Note: Section 3.1 of this history is an extract from the entry in the Queensland Heritage Register for

“Southport Cable Hut (former)” QHR 602611. The remainder of the history section adds further detail

about the Southport part of the operation and about the buildings. References are provided for all

additional information.

3.1 The Pacific Cable

Telegraph communication developed in the mid-19th century as a result of many years of

discovery and experimentation in electrical communication culminating in the work of Samuel

Morse. The rapid long distance communication provided by telegraph systems had a major impact

on society. The telegraph was quickly utilised by news services; Associated Press and Reuters press

service were founded to take advantage of the technology. Telegraph companies soon offered

financial services, providing the facility to send money orders via the telegraph.

In Australia the telegraph helped to alleviate the isolation of the colonies. New South Wales,

Victoria and South Australia were connected by telegraph by 1860. Queensland's first telegraph

connection was made in 1861 between Brisbane and Ipswich. Brisbane was linked to Sydney the

same year.

The first telegraph link between Australia and Britain opened in 1872. The link was via the Eastern

Cable Company's network. It was routed through Singapore, India, Suez and Gibraltar. It was

initially proposed to make landfall in north Queensland. However, the South Australian

government successfully negotiated for the link to connect with Adelaide via Port Darwin and an

overland route through the centre of Australia.

Before the Pacific Cable was opened, the Eastern Cable Company and its associates maintained a

monopoly over international telegraph traffic with Australia. As a result, the cost of communication

between Britain and Australia remained very high and beyond the means of most people.

Sandford Fleming, Chief Engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railway, was an early advocate of an

alternative cable route between Australia and Great Britain via Canada and the Pacific Ocean. He

expressed his views as early as the Colonial Conference of 1887. A major advantage put forward by

Fleming and other proponents of the Pacific route was that it would be more secure in times of

war. The existing link passed through countries that were not part of the British Empire. It was

proposed that the Pacific Cable would pass only through British dependencies.

The high cost of telegrams through the Eastern Cable Company's system provided further

motivation for a competing route. The proposed Pacific Cable would break the Eastern Cable

Company's monopoly and lower the cost of communication between Britain and Australia. When

the Pacific Cable opened, the cost of telegrams reduced to less than half the former rate. The

ability to communicate directly with the United States and so access more trade opportunities was

another argument in favour of the Pacific Cable.

By the mid-1890s, agreement was reached that the cable should be laid. However debate about

management of the cable laying project and ownership of the completed cable continued for

some years. Finally, it was agreed that funding should be shared between the governments of

Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. A committee named the Pacific Cable Board was

formed made up of members from each of these countries. The Pacific Cable Act (1901) gave this

board responsibility for managing the project and operating the completed cable.


ADOPTED REPORT 778

The route selected for the cable linked Southport, Norfolk Island, Fiji, Fanning Island, and

Vancouver. A branch connected to New Zealand. Since cartographers of the day traditionally

coloured member countries of the British Empire in red, the route became known as the All Red

Route. The laying of the Pacific Cable was a major technical feat for the time, costing about two

million pounds.

Map Extract from “The All Red Line: The Annals and Aims of the Pacific Cable Project” 19033

3.2 Starting Point of the Cable - Southport

In 1901, the ship Britannia carried out a survey of the proposed route of the Pacific Cable using

gear for sounding and sampling the sea bed. The ship arrived in Brisbane in May, also bringing

with it the materials and equipment for a “testing house”. This was unloaded at Pinkenba and

transported to Southport on the steamer Maid of Sker. A position with “a good shelving beach”

was selected and the small cable test hut was erected in three days. A representative of the Pacific

Cable Company held discussions with the Federal Postmaster General and settled details relating

to the Queensland end of the cable project. Britannia then departed to carry out the survey and

build cable houses at each of the intermediate landing places.4

The actual cable-laying was to be carried out by two other ships, Anglia and Colonia. The latter was

a new vessel and had been specially built to lay the long section from Vancouver to Fanning Island

in one continuous length. Colonia was not ready in early 1902 so the first cable-laying of the

project was carried out by Anglia at Southport.

Preliminary work for a cable station had already begun. Temporary office premises were obtained

and tenders were called for the permanent station buildings in Bauer Street. Preparations for

receiving the cable itself had begun by digging a trench from the beach to the cable test hut. A

cable line was installed from the hut along a cleared track, across the Nerang River skirting

McIntosh Island to the town side and through a patch of scrub to the temporary office.5

Anglia left London in January and arrived off Southport in March. Journalists who were invited on

board were fascinated by the project and provided detailed descriptions. The Anglia contained a

3 Johnson, George, Ed , 1903 Image appears in All Red Line: The Annals and Aims of The Pacific Cable Project James Hope and Sons,

Ottowa 4 Brisbane Courier 22 5 1901 p4; 28 5 1901 p5; and 12 10 1901 p9

5 Brisbane Courier 14 3 1902 p4


ADOPTED REPORT 779

considerable amount of technical equipment and had huge circular tanks in the hold containing

miles of coiled cable. Big blocks with drums were on the bow and stern to handle the cable.6

The cable was described as a thin line, about one inch (2.54cm) in diameter. The core was

composed of seven thin copper wires covered with gutta percha7 and encased in brass tape to

prevent damage by borers. Outside this was a layer of jute, then a sheath of iron wires, then yarn

(presumably tarred). Near the shore where damage was more likely from anchors or wave action,

two extra sheaths were added, making the cable larger in diameter.8 A section of early cable is held

at the Gold Coast and Hinterland Historical Museum, along with other artefacts.

Cable coiled in a tank on a cable ship. (This image was not of Anglia, but would have been similar.)

From The Journal of Electricity, Power and Gas Jan 1903 9

Landing the end of the cable on shore was a difficult manoeuvre and the first day was a

disappointment. A boat carrying a line from the Anglia came in as far as the first line of breakers

and was to have been met by a surf boat to collect the line and bring it ashore. The surf boat was

late and when it arrived, was undermanned. The boat attempted to go out through the bar, but

the breakers were too daunting and the attempt was abandoned. A suggestion that the boat could

be carried to the main beach and launched there was turned down by the boat crew.10

On the second day, a crowd of spectators again gathered. The surf boat and crew arrived and two

more attempts were made, again unsuccessfully. Anglia then tried a different approach. A light line

was tied to a barrel and allowed to drift ashore with the tide. One of the telegraph staff waded out

up to his neck in turbulent water to bring the barrel ashore. Spectators then volunteered to help


7 Gutta percha is a rigid natural latex substance from the sap of trees of the genus Palaquium.

8 Telegraph 11 3 1902 p5

9 This photograph appeared in McArdle, Alexander “The Laying of the American Trans-Pacific Cable” The Journal of Electricity, Power

and Gas Jan 1903 Viewed online on 23 6 2016 at http //atlantic-cable com//Article/1902-JournElec/



ADOPTED REPORT 780

haul on the light line which was attached to progressively stronger rope and then attached to a

steam winch to haul in the end of the cable along a line of barrels.

When the cable was finally connected, messages were exchanged. It was noted that the ship was

only a kilometre away, but the message had travelled through the entire length of cable for the

Southport to Norfolk Island section - 1287km. Anglia then departed for Norfolk Island.11

Photo - left: Hauling the cable through the trench, 1902. Image courtesy City Libraries, Local Studies

Collection LS-LSP-CD1118-IMG001 . Right: onlookers. Image courtesy City Libraries, Local Studies

Collection LS-LSP-CD129-IMG0005

The speed of cable-laying was surprising - the ship operated at 8 knots (14km per hour) and

reached Norfolk Island in 4 days.12 She then left to lay the cable from Norfolk to Auckland, returned

to Norfolk and set out for Suva in Fiji. On this leg, she encountered a cyclone and her rudder was

damaged. After completing the section, Anglia sailed to Sydney for repairs, then returned to

England, loaded more cable, returned to Fanning Island to lay the Fanning Island to Fiji section.13

Colonia started laying cable from Vancouver in September and completed her work for the

exceptionally long 6000 km section to Fanning Island in October.14

The completion of the project was marked in Southport by a celebration at the cable station in

November 1902. The Postmaster-General of the Commonwealth, J.G. Drake had invited a crowd of

dignitaries who inspected the station, sent messages then adjourned to the Southport Hotel for a

luncheon.15 The cable was opened to public traffic in December 1902.

Southport was used for training and initially, 14 operators and 10 trainees were employed at the

station.16 Lynne McDonald, a descendent of two cable station employees, said that Southport

“became the training school for the young operators from the British Empire. There was a

gymnasium, tennis court, and library on site, which was close enough to town for the trainees to

venture out on social occasions – dressed in navy blazers trimmed with red embroidery, a red

crown on the breast pocket to indicate they were on imperial service.”17

The staff, particularly the young trainees, took part in community activities including sport, enrolled

as lifesavers and held social functions at the Cable Station.18



13 Telegraph 7 4 1902 p4; Brisbane Courier 8 5 1902 p4


15 Brisbane Courier 4 11 1902 p6 16 Brisbane Courier 4 11 1902 p6

17 Lynne McDonald Pacific Highways Griffith Review 43, viewed online 23 6 2016 at https //griffithreview com/articles/cable-stations/

18 Examples Cricket Brisbane Courier 17 11 1904 p7; Lifesaving Queensland Times 25 8 1950 p2 “Obituary of Mr Robert Elliott”; dance

Brisbane Courier 4 1 1907 p7


ADOPTED REPORT 781

Staff at work at the cable station. Image courtesy City Libraries, Local Studies Collection LS-LSP-

CD264-IMG0032

Cables arrived at Southport and were then sent to Brisbane and re-transmitted throughout

Australia. Sydney was initially connected only by a land-line but transmissions were still fast. Cable

station staff were proud that cricket scores for an Australia-England test in 1904 took only 3½

minutes to reach London.19

However the overland connection from Brisbane to Sydney was unsatisfactory because it was

prone to interruptions. In 1912, a cable was laid from Auckland to Sydney and for a period after

this, Queensland cables continued to go to Southport but traffic for the southern States went via

Auckland to Sydney.

During World War 1, the Southport Cable Station was considered an important strategic facility and

was guarded.20 However there was a break in transmission in November 1914 when a German

cruiser Nurnberg landed a raiding party on Fanning Island. The cable was cut and equipment and

machinery were damaged. No staff were injured. The cable ship Iris was in Fiji at the time and was

able to sail to Fanning Island and repair the damage.21

The cable ship Anglia did not survive the war. It had been sold and renamed Itonus and in late

1916, was on its way to Australia when it was torpedoed in the Mediterranean near Malta. Five crew

were killed and the Captain was taken prisoner.22

In 1923, an undersea cable was laid from Southport to Sydney; Southport then became a repeater

station - messages were not received and re-transmitted by Southport staff but were automatically






ADOPTED REPORT 782

relayed to Sydney. The number of staff required at Southport was therefore reduced. Further

improvements and duplications were made.

During World War 2, the cable station was again guarded and declared a prohibited area - no

unauthorised people were allowed in the vicinity and no photographs were allowed.23

Recorder 3 offshore laying cable, 1959, photographer Bob Avery. (Image courtesy City Libraries, Local

Studies Collection LS-LSP-CD544-IMG0001)

In 1948, the cable ship Recorder (Iris renamed) laid a new shore-end of cable as a precaution

against damage. The ship grappled for the old cable on the ocean floor, then spliced on the new

section.24 This was the first repair of this end of the cable since it was first laid.

A break near Norfolk Island stopped transmissions for 4½ months until it was repaired by a New

Zealand ship Matai.25

In subsequent years, further repair and maintenance work was carried out at various times. This

included work in 1959 carried out by Recorder, but this time a later ship of the same name.26

In October 1962, the Compac Cable between Sydney and Vancouver was completed. The original

Pacific Cable was rendered redundant and the Southport cable station was closed permanently.

The Southport station had been operated by the Pacific Cable Board until 1932. Management was

then taken over by Cable and Wireless Limited until 1946 when, after the Australian Government

passed the Overseas Telecommunications Act, responsibility passed to the Overseas

Telecommunications Commission (OTC).

23 Courier Mail 29 9 1939 p2

24 Courier Mail 10 5 1948 p3 (illustrated article)

25 CM 26 7 1951 p6

26 South Coast Bulletin 12 8 1959


ADOPTED REPORT 783

3.3 The Cable Hut

The original cable hut at Southport (courtesy Telegraph Museum, Porthcurno, Cornwall.27

The original cable hut or “test house” was located close to the beach. As already stated, the

materials had been brought from England on the ship Britannia in 1901 and the hut was erected by

members of the ship’s crew. It was described in 1902 as a small corrugated iron building on piles,

filled with cable-working and test equipment.28

Erosion was a recurring problem from as early as 1903 when a storm threatened the hut.29 A severe

storm caused heavy erosion in 1950 and virtually demolished the old cable hut, leaving the

underground vault. Early the following year, 1951, heavy rain again caused erosion along Main

Beach; this was so severe that homes had to be moved back from the beach front. A cyclone in

March brought further heavy rain and flooding.30

As well as threatening homes, the 1951 beach erosion threatened the cable reserve. The total

reserve at this time was nominally 3 acres 35.8 perches in extent and was described as neglected

and “a wilderness of lantana and other dense undergrowth”. The storm of 27 January had eroded

10 metres of beach, placing the cable terminus vault in a precarious position. Erosion was also

occurring on the river side. As more erosion was likely, the Station Manager reported that after

various inspections and discussions, it had been agreed that a new cable hut should be built 60

yards (55m) west of the existing structure, in the part of the reserve on the western side of the

Pacific Highway (now known as Main Beach Parade). The new hut would be required to house

pressure equipment for a new multi-core landline from the beach to the Cable Office and the

recommended size was 8ft by 6ft by 8ft high with cavity walls to resist damp. (The existing cable

hut is 2.4m square and 2.7m high.) An un-named local contractor was ready to start work at a cost

not to exceed £100.31

27 Viewed online on 23 6 2016 at http //telegraphmuseum org/news/2015/11/05/a-snapshot-into-the-past/



30 Courier Mail 30 1 1951 p3 (illustrated article); 19 3 1951 p1 31 Information summarised from reports and correspondence in National Archives of Australia NAA C5498 52 0242 “Southport Cable

Reserve”


ADOPTED REPORT 784

The OTC Acting General Manager sought permission to move the vault from the Managing

Director of Cable and Wireless Ltd in London. However the situation was so urgent that the PMG

was asked to supervise the work and make the necessary new connections as soon as possible. A

telegram was then sent to London notifying them of the action taken “in anticipation of their

approval”. The new brick cable hut had been completed before 6 June 1951. The area around the

new hut was cleared and a suitable fence was built, but vegetation was left in the eastern section to

help resist erosion.32

Erosion continued to occur in the eastern section over the next few years and after king tides, a 7

metre cliff formed on the beach. Cables were exposed and had to be frequently re-covered. A

proposal was made to dump concrete blocks to help stabilise the beach front. A barbed wire fence

was also erected to stop people scrambling across the cable positions to access the beach,

contributing to erosion.33

Plan M.738.3 showing original position of the Cable Hut, in the eastern part of the Reserve. (Plan held

in files of EHP).

The Cable Station closed in 1962 and the cable hut became redundant. The western part of the

reserve is now a park known as “Cable Park” and it still contains the 1951 brick cable hut.

A cast metal plaque with basic information was attached to the hut as part of beautification

works in 1998, although it is a little misleading as it states that the cable linked Australia to

America (rather than Canada). A short length of cable was attached above the plaque. Some

paving work was also carried out at this time.34

A circular plinth with an etched metal map in the centre was placed in the park to mark the

centenary of the cable in 2002. The brick hut apparently had a timber floor originally. This was

32 Information summarised from reports and correspondence in National Archives of Australia NAA C5498 52 0242 “Southport Cable

Reserve

33 Information summarised from reports and correspondence in National Archives of Australia NAA C5498 53/0595 “Southport -

Erosion at Cable Landing”

34 Information provided by Gold Coast City Council


ADOPTED REPORT 785

still extant in 2002 when a former employee, inspecting the hut with local councillors, fell

through the floor.35

3.4 The Cable Station Offices and Residences

The Southport Cable Station buildings in 1914, Bauer Street Southport, Image courtesy City Libraries,

Local Studies Collection LS-LSP-CD081-IMG0041

Tenders had been called in March 1902 for cable station buildings which had been designed by the

office of the Government Architect. The successful tenderer almost immediately withdrew and the

contract for an office, two superintendent’s quarters and outbuildings was eventually awarded to

Edward Boyle. The buildings were described as hardwood on brick piers with corrugated iron roofs

and internal partitions of pine. By the time the contract was completed, it had been decided that a

second superintendent’s quarters was unnecessary and instead, the building would be extended

and used for general staff. The buildings were ready for use by the time the cable had been

completed.36

In 1933, Council was approached to take over the cable station reserve as a park. Council accepted,

stating that it could be used as a children’s playground and picnic ground. 37

In December 1935, part of the cable station site was put up for auction, consisting of 5 vacant

allotments, manager’s residence and mess quarters. By this time, the site was described as being in

“one of the best residential areas in Southport”.38 It is not clear whether the auction was successful

at this time.

When the Cable Station closed in 1962, the site at Bauer Street was sold to De La Salle Brothers

who operated a community youth centre there. In the early 1980s, the buildings were removed,

35 Information in a newspaper clipping (undated but mentioning the centenary so sometime in 2002) held by EHP (Department of

Environment and Heritage Protection)

36 Telegraph 3 3 1902 p2; Brisbane Courier 6 9 1902 p11; and 13 12 1902 p4

37 South Coast Bulletin 3 3 1933 p9 and 15 9 1933 p9

38 South Coast Bulletin 27 12 1935 p6


ADOPTED REPORT 786

two of them to the Southport School where they continue to function as music rooms. One is said

to have been taken to Mudgeerabah as a house 39

The Southport Cable Station buildings c1920. Federation Stylistic influences are evident in the

building design. Image courtesy City Libraries, Local Studies Collection LS-LSP-CD777-IMG0005

Jubilee Bridge and the Broadwater from the air, Southport in 1955. Cable Station and residences

located in treed area along Bauer Street, Cable Hut location not shown in image. (State Library of

Queensland. Image no: 8035-0001-0009)

39 Gold Coast Sunday Bulletin 12 9 1982


ADOPTED REPORT 787

4. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

4.1 Cable Hut Description

Cable Hut East and North Elevations, March 2016.

The Cable Hut constructed 1951 is a simple 2.4m square plan, face brick structure with a concrete

floor. The Hut is approximately 2.7m high and is protected by a flat, off-form concrete roof. The

concrete roof over hangs the brick walls approximately 200mm. An entry door, plain faced and

painted that is secured with a barrel bolt and padlock, is located at the centre of the north

elevation and is set approximately 300mm above the external ground level. A deep concrete lintel

supports the door opening. The walls in stretcher bond appear to be double or cavity brick and

each elevation contains four terracotta air grilles.

The Cable Hut is set in a level grass covered area. A clay paver surface is provided to a foot path

that extends partly around the hut and towards the east connecting with the concrete footpath

along Marine Parade. Shrubs had been placed around the west and south sides of the Cable Hut,

however the plants have recently been removed.

A bronze plaque with raised lettering and short length of cable wiring are fixed to the eastern

elevation providing interpretive information. It is unknown whether the cable displayed is an actual

section of the cable that was laid in 1902 or its later replacement. The plaque reads:

“CABLE PARK”

“CABLE PARK” WAS SO NAMED IN MEMORY OF THE VITAL ROLE

THIS SITE PLAYED IN AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS.


ADOPTED REPORT 788

IN 1902 THE TRANS-PACIFIC UNDERSEA CABLE WAS LAID

LINKING AUSTRALIA TO AMERICA VIA FANNING ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND, SUVA AND

NORFOLK ISLAND.*40

THE CABLE TERMINATED IN A HUT ON THIS SITE AND

A LAND LINE WAS THEN RELAYED ALONG CABLE ST

ACROSS THE NERANG RIVER

AND INTO THE CABLE STATION AT BAUER ST.

SOUTHPORT BECAME THE RECEIVING STATION FOR ALL

INTERNATIONAL MESSAGES AND PLAYED A CRUCIAL PART IN

OVERSEAS COMMUNICATIONS DURING BOTH WORLD WARS

BEFORE CEASING OPERATION IN 1962.

Bronze Plaque with interpretive information, March 2016.

Section of inner cable mounted of the Bronze Plaque, noted to be part of the undersea cable.

40 This line is misleading as the Pacific Cable terminated in Bamfield Canada


ADOPTED REPORT 789

West and South elevation, March 2016.

Gauge Detail, Image: City of Gold Coast

Tag Detail, Image: City of Gold Coast


ADOPTED REPORT 790

Internal wall showing cable ends still fixed in place. Image: City of Gold Coast

Internally the walls are unfinished and covered with cement slurry. The floor is constructed in

timber. A pine skirting has been installed, and appears of more recent origins.

On one wall opposite the door, the ends of various cables, lines and connections remain fixed.

Tags identify some of the lines. The tags on the left lines note “N. I. LINE” (Norfolk Island Line) and

the tag on the right notes “RIVER CABLE GREEN”. A Pressure Gauge fixed to the wall is fitted with a

galvanized pipe that extends below ground with the central cable. The Gauge measures pounds

per square inch. The condition of the surviving parts of the cable fixtures is weathered and

becoming deteriorated but sound.


ADOPTED REPORT 791

4.2 Cable Park Description

Cable Park from Marine Parade March 2016 image

Cable Park, as the reserve of land has become known, is a rectangular allotment located on the

corner of Cable Street and Marine Parade. The grassed park consists of a random arrangement of

assorted elements. The Cable Hut is off centre of the allotment with the path extending eastwards

in the direction of the buried section of the Trans Pacific Cable heading towards the beach. The

clay paver path breaks at a cylindrical concrete plinth featuring an etched stainless steel map on

the top surface. A footpath continues in concrete around the map plinth and to the east meeting

up with Marine Parade in exposed aggregate finish.

Metal etched plaque 2002

The etched plaque shows a hemi-spherical map of the Pacific Ocean and traces the path of the

wTrans Pacific Cable, identifying the landing locations across the Pacific Ocean. The wording

circulating the plaque outer rim notes “TRANS PACIFIC UNDERSEA CABLE” and lists the landing

locations and distances. “SPT Southport 837 nm (nautical miles)/1550 km NI Norfolk Is 981


ADOPTED REPORT 792

nm/1816km SUVA Fiji 2043 nm/3783km FI Fanning Is 3458nm/6404km BAM Bamfield”. On a

second, inner ring of text is etched a quote from Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream,

"I'll put a girdle around the earth in forty minutes". Continuing in the rim are the initials of each

location and a diagrammatic line providing a representation the undersea heights and depths the

cable makes between each landing.

In addition the park contains two aluminium bench seats, one at the east and one at the western

end. A slatted timber bench seat is located adjacent to the concrete plinth. The garden

arrangement is informal with a random clumping of shrubs and trees along the south boundary

and a separate similar area at the west. A line of mature Norfolk Pines adds a more formal aspect

along Cable Street frontage. The north and east park boundaries are divided from the footpath

area by a row of low, simply supported treated pine logs. A tall pole light is located centrally.

Cable Park, Cable Street at left facing east, March 2016 image.

4.3 Condition Statement

Cable Park is in a maintained condition and while garden beds are in a fairly natural, informal

condition the trees appear in sound condition, the seating and structures are sound and the park

area is generally made good for public access.

The grass covered surface undulates gently and localised areas fall towards the Cable Hut and

towards the river at the west. The layout and interpretive elements in the Park are placed in an

apparently random manner and the arrangement has a casual atmosphere. The placement of the

cylindrical plinth is somewhat unsympathetic although it may be located to recognise the path of

the submerged Cable Line however this is not obvious. The scale and proportion of the plinth is

thought to be somewhat unsympathetic.

The Cable Hut is generally sound and level but contains areas of significant deterioration. Recent

specialist conservation work has addressed the most urgent areas of deterioration. This repair work

has been carried out according to the methodology recommended by the Burra Charter and

included provision of matching mortar and brickwork. The concrete roof appears heavily laden with

mildew and potentially allows water ingress. The fall of the ground levels around the structure

towards the building allow water to drain towards the base promoting further deterioration. The

lower external wall areas remain with some brick damage evident due to rising damp with some

bricks eroded to a depth of 20-30mm. Other bricks contain surface pitting damage and mildew

affects some areas. Efflorescence from salt carried to the brick surface through water evaporation is

evident around the lower courses of the southern and western elevations. A large extent of the


ADOPTED REPORT 793

3.3 the garden beds - description, role, and significance · • the important role of these garden...

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