GOODWOOD SAWMILL SITE

MULLUNGDUNG STATE FOREST, SOUTH GIPPSLAND HIGHWAY DARRIMAN, WELLINGTON SHIRE

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Victorian Heritage Register

H02011 goodwood sawmill site

Statement of Significance

• Additional Place Information

  • History

    GOODWOOD SAWMILL SITE - History

    By the late nineteenth century the Gippsland yellow stringybark had come to be regarded as a strong and durable timber and the closest Victorian substitute for West Australian Karri.  The Victorian Railways soon accepted the timber as bridge and sleeper material.  By the early twentieth century a number of small mills cutting yellow stringybark were established on the western and southern fringes of the Mullungdung Forest in South Gippsland.

    The forest attracted the attention of the Kalgoorlie and Boulder Firewood Company, a West Australian firm experienced in the use of tramways for timber transport.  By early 1910 work was underway on plans to install a large sawmill 32 kilometres north-east of Port Albert.  A tramway to the port provided outlets by both rail and sea, with the first load of timber dispatched over the line in July 1910.  By 1913, three locomotives operated on the tramline.  A workshop for maintaining the locomotives was built at the mill and staffed with experienced fitters.

    A new company, the Goodwood Timber and Tramway Company, was incorporated in February 1912 to take over management of the mill and its tramway system.  The Company gave its name to the mill and its settlement.  The mill plant was enlarged and output increased dramatically.  Despite an initial setback after the declaration of war in 1914, the following years were successful for the Company, which sold the vast majority of its output to government departments, especially the Victorian Railways.

    By 1912 the company employed either directly or on contract 145 workers.  Around thirty of these worked at the mill, with the rest employed either in the bush or on tramway operations.  A substantial settlement grew up around the mill and included at its peak two boarding-houses, a recreation ground, tennis courts, general store, tobacconist and a Post Office.  In addition, a community hall served as a venue for schooling, church services and entertainment.  The initial cluster of bark huts and tents was quickly replaced by a small township of neatly constructed sawn timber houses with extensive vegetable and flower gardens.  Several of the ‘streets’ also acquired names.  Many of the men and their families had come with the Company from Western Australia and this may have added to the strong sense of community at the mill.

    The intensive nature of operations in the Mullungdung Forest rapidly depleted the available timber resources.  By 1917 the Company had started to wind back its operations.  The mill was closed in March 1920, with the mill machinery and tramways dismantled and relocated to a fresh area at Noojee.
     
    Goodwood Timber and Tramway Company mill

    Permit Exemptions

    GOODWOOD SAWMILL SITE - Permit Exemptions

    General Exemptions:

    General exemptions apply to all places and objects included in the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR). General exemptions have been designed to allow everyday activities, maintenance and changes to your property, which don’t harm its cultural heritage significance, to proceed without the need to obtain approvals under the Heritage Act 2017.

    Places of worship: In some circumstances, you can alter a place of worship to accommodate religious practices without a permit, but you must notify the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria before you start the works or activities at least 20 business days before the works or activities are to commence.

    Subdivision/consolidation: Permit exemptions exist for some subdivisions and consolidations. If the subdivision or consolidation is in accordance with a planning permit granted under Part 4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and the application for the planning permit was referred to the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria as a determining referral authority, a permit is not required.

    Specific exemptions may also apply to your registered place or object. If applicable, these are listed below. Specific exemptions are tailored to the conservation and management needs of an individual registered place or object and set out works and activities that are exempt from the requirements of a permit. Specific exemptions prevail if they conflict with general exemptions.

    Find out more about heritage permit exemptions here.

    Specific Exemptions:

    General Conditions: 1. All exempted alterations are to be planned and carried out in a manner which prevents damage to the fabric of the registered place or object. General Conditions: 2. Should it become apparent during further inspection or the carrying out of alterations that original or previously hidden or inaccessible details of the place or object are revealed which relate to the significance of the place or object, then the exemption covering such alteration shall cease and the Executive Director shall be notified as soon as possible. General Conditions: 3. If there is a conservation policy and plan approved by the Executive Director, all works shall be in accordance with it. General Conditions: 4. Nothing in this declaration prevents the Executive Director from amending or rescinding all or any of the permit exemptions. General Conditions: 5. Nothing in this declaration exempts owners or their agents from the responsibility to seek relevant planning or building permits from the responsible authority where applicable.

    EXEMPTIONS:
    * Preliminary Mineral Exploration work
    * Fire suppression duties
    * Weed and vermin control
    * Public safety
    * Rehabilitation, protective and stabilisation works
    * Information signage - for interpretation and prevention of public risk

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    Goodwood Sawmill