Tuesday 2nd November 2017 – Random House Rochester
Mr WALSH (Murray Plains) (09:41:08) – I again raise the concerns of the community of Rochester and the saga of what is Random House in Rochester. Random House is a heritage‑listed property under the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) and it has been allowed to go to rack and ruin by the Andrews Labor government who just do not seem to care about what happens in regional Victoria. I raised this issue as a constituency question back in August 2016. There has been a range of correspondence with the minister since including correspondence back in June this year when Minister Mikakos stated that she shared my concerns about the disrepair of the property that a review would be finalised in July 2017 that she would inform me of the department’s decision in relation to the property going forward and that it was her intention to make sure that it is actually maintained appropriately.
Nothing has happened at Random House since that time. It is overgrown with grass. There is a severe fire risk to the house and to the surrounding community. There are fallen branches of trees rubbing on the roof. It is just not good enough what is happening to this particular heritage‑listed house in Rochester and the community are very concerned about that.