It would be nice to suggest there’s no skulduggery afoot at the troubled heritage water race to the old bluestone Barwon Paper Mill at Fyansford.

It might be a bit naïve, though.

The giant burned tree stump blocking the race is one thing. The missing plaque commemorating the race’s restoration in the 1980s, ripped from a stone cairn above the start of the near 150-year-old structure is another.

Then there’s a 10-metre hole blasted in the race wall from what seems a home-made bomb, in June 2021.

I was walking along the river beside the breach shortly afterwards when a bloke on the cliff above bellowed out claiming it was a good thing. Too much water taken out of the river, didn’t flow fast enough before going over the papermill cascade, adversely affecting wildlife.

 

Trees pushed the into race; missing commemorative plaque for race repairs in the 1980s.

That was how I understood him, until he suggested, rather darkly: “Lot of people unhappy. Wouldn’t be surprised if that wall was blown up.”

Highton Rotary, which runs tours around the mill, the Barwon and the race, says an environmental study it commissioned found a broad section of river at the race’s start, frequented by local platypus, has been seriously degraded by algae and stagnation.

Others reckon the jury’s still out.

The Rotary protagonists for restoration of the 1260-metre channel, the only one of its kind in Australia and sited on Crown land, are happy to finance a rebuild — given the State Government refuses, even though its Department of Environment acknowledges “the significance of the bluestone water race wall and environmental values of the site”.

Government won’t give it a planning okay, either, but a petition is calling for such. Western Vic MP Bev McArthur’s pumping that after telling Parliament:

The breech in the race wall.

“The repair will not only save an important piece of Australian heritage but will add to the tourist value of the site … The upgrades will return this truly historical site to its former glory, and also protect the habitats of native Australian fauna which are currently disrupted as a result of the collapsed mill-race wall. There are all pros and no cons to giving these repair works the green light.”

In the other camp, opponents are ramping up their concerns on local Facebook pages arguing the rest of the river environment has been suffering because of water loss to the race.

The debate has deteriorated into arguments about pre-settlement vegetation, as old paintings, photos and written records of a comparatively bare landscape are rolled out.

Meanwhile, the wall hole is a glaring testament to bureaucratic inertia. The race is a sad, sorry affair, the river at a virtual standstill and overgrown with thick green grass. The banks are a tinderbox of dirt and desiccated trees and vegetation.

Hardly a glowing reference for Geelong’s clever and creative credentials, contemporary or historical.

In fact, the place looks like it could seriously do with another bomb ­– a rain bomb – before some nuffy sets off another cracker.

This article appeared in the Geelong Advertiser 2 April 2024.