Heritage weak-ened

The old Nissen Hut at Glen Road Ourimbah has featured much entertainment over the years. It had a projection booth for the flicks, and hosted live shows, touring theatrical performances, parties, functions and dances - all the sorts of things you do in a small town's big hall - but now it's gone. Demolished - its fate sealed by the University of Newcastle, who, it would seem, had little interest in preserving this Central Coast local heritage building.

17 May 2023

 

LONG before Ikea, Nissen huts were the original flat-pack.

 

Skinned in corrugated iron, and assembled in as little as two hours as temporary housing or army barracks, they ended as permanent homes to for migrants and miners living in communities dubbed silver cities and pommy towns.

 

Designed by British engineer Peter Nissen in 1916 to house troops, the huts also use pegs and wire to anchor the structure in the ground and hold them up.

 

Because the Nissen huts were designed to be transportable, they used the minimum amount of material necessary to support the structure, including the roof, which held the building together.

 

Once widespread across Australia, and common as tool sheds and scout halls, these industrial relics that look like a tin of Campbell’s soup chopped in half are now disappearing or being altered beyond recognition. And now Ourimbah's heritage listed 'soup can' has been lost to the community.

 

Member for The Entrance, David Mehan, has expressed his disappointment following advice that the University of Newcastle has failed to successfully salvage the local heritage listed Nissen Hut at Ourimbah.

 

“The University claims the Nissen Hut was unsalvageable, despite the DA requirement aimed at dismantling, preservation and storage of the structure,” said Mr Mehan.

 

“I’m disappointed the structure couldn’t be salvaged and particularly concerned that the university didn’t contact me or community representatives until after the demolition had occurred."

 

The Nissen Hut was a World War II period structure and was used as a community hall before being donated to The University of Newcastle by the Ourimbah School of Arts in the 1990s.

 

Since then, the Nissen Hut was neglected by the University and was eventually boarded up and abandoned.

 

The University and Central Coast Council are yet to determine the outcome of the now vacant site.

 

The community has called for the land to be returned for community use but are concerned not only at the prospective loss of public amenities, but by the removal of the hut itself.

 

“It’s disappointing that during National Heritage Week, an historic structure like the Nissen Hut, couldn’t be preserved," Mr Mehan said.

 

“I appreciate the community’s consistent support through this matter, and I will continue to campaign for the existing land to be returned to the community.”

 

The Ourimbah Region Residents Association (ORRA) is also pushing for public retention of the land.

 

President Di Willard said there is great concern within the community that the only public toilet in close proximity to the Ourimbah shops will be permanently closed.

 

"This property was given to the University by the people of Ourimbah and ORRA believes that the University and Council should come to some arrangement so that this site remains in public hands," Di Willard said.

 

Now that the Nissen Hut has been demolished there is a moral obligation for the University to return the land to the people of Ourimbah so that it can be utilised as appropriate community land, such as public recreation green space. It should not find its way into the hands of developers so that the University can benefit financially.