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Saving Quong Lee's Grocery Store

[Please note: views expressed here are the author's only and do not necessarily represent views held by other people associated with the Kate Kelly Project.]

One of Forbes' last material links with its Chinese past, Quong Lee's Grocery Store at 161 Rankin Street, where Kate Kelly almost certainly shopped in the 1890s, is threatened with demolition to make way for twenty extra spaces in a shopping mall car park.

Quong Lee's store (more recently Beryl & Bert's Music Store) at the corner of Rankin and Browne Streets in the 1890s or early twentieth century, with proprietor Quong Lee and Margaret Ah Foo and her daughter Maude. Photo from the Forbes local history book 'Forbes, NSW', edited by Jeanette Hildred, 1997, p. 300.

Google map of site >>

Forbes Shire Council authorised the destruction of Quong Lee's in 2008 by approving a development application from the building's new owners, AusPacific Property Group, for a shopping mall and parking lot, against all its expert advice, and against the advice of its own planning department. As well as the historic Chinese corner store, the proposed mall site includes No. 1 Browne Street, where Kate Kelly's in-laws, the Foster family, lived for up to eighty years, and where Kate Kelly herself may have lived briefly in the late 1880s and/or 1890s.

The Forbes Advocate published an article on the proposed mall before Christmas in 2007 (Retail Plans Revealed, 20 December 2007) after the development application was submitted to Council, but unfortunately I was otherwise occupied, so didn't see it at the time and didn't lodge an objection.

Quong Lee's Store (Beryl & Bert's) as it stood in December 2008. Photo by Merrill Findlay.

Council received other objections, however, but none of them referred to the heritage significance of Quong Lee's Store - even though a number of locals were, like me, aware of the building's rich history. A photograph of Mr Quong Lee on the veranda of his shop (above) was published in a 1997 local history book by the Forbes History Book Committee, for example, and the building's heritage was referred to in oral history recordings made by Forbes Shire's Heritage Advisory Committee, notably in an interview with the late Dave Mathias, a much loved blind folk musician, whose family purchased the property in the early C20th. The building was also recognised as worthy of preservation in a 2006 State Government's Heritage Office report [more >>], as Dr Ian Jack, President of the Royal Australian Historical Society, reminded Council in October 2008. And, of course, Council's own Heritage Adviser, David Scobie, briefed Council on the building's significance.

Quong Lee's Store was not listed on any statutory heritage register, however, and nor was it given any other protection under Commonwealth or State heritage legislation; nor even was it recognised as a significant site under local government planning codes. Indeed, the developers themselves claim that they were told by Councillors that there would be "no problem" with heritage on the site and that, had they known about the heritage values of 161 Rankin Street, they would not have proceeded with the purchase.

So what was going on here?

A SECOND OPPORTUNITY TO OBJECT TO THE DEMOLITION
Now, twelve months after the first development application was presented to Council, AusPacific has submitted a revised proposal "for the demolition of existing buildings and the construction of a shopping centre comprising a supermarket, specialty shops and carpark". This new DA gives locals, and anyone else concerned about regional Australia's cultural heritage, a second opportunity to object to the demolition of Quong Lee's, and to make alternative recommendations for the building's future.

See the full revised Development Application notice, as published in the Forbes Advocate, 18 December, 2008, p. 17 [pdf 1.31 MB] >>

Objections may be lodged in writing with Council staff until 22 January 2009.

But it might be better to appeal directly to the directors of AusPacific Property Group, Peter Haxell and Richie Steinert, and design director Paul Allinson, urging them to 'do the right thing' by retaining at least part of this historic building and integrating it into their proposed mall as a heritage feature ... because, according to Forbes Mayor, Councillor Phyllis Miller, who inherited this debacle at the last local government elections, nothing can be done to 'undo' Council's earlier approval of the demolition of Quong Lee's.

While this historic building is still standing, there is hope that something can be done to save it, however ... which is why the Kate Kelly Project will be submitting a visionary objection/counter proposal offering Council and the developers a win-win alternative to demolishing it.

Trying to save Quong Lee's puts the Kate Kelly Project in a delicate situation because Forbes Shire Council is a highly valued partner. But not protesting against the imminent demolition of this building, not offering an alternative to its destruction, would be even more compromising.

Hopefully, this new proposal to restore Quong Lee's and transform it into a valuable community amenity and tourist asset, will inspire 'all parties' to reconsider the demolition and find ways to preserve at least part of the buildng for the benefit of present and future generations ... because a restored Quong Lee's will be far more valuable, in the long run, than 20 extra spaces in a shopping mall car park!

Merrill Findlay
The Kate Kelly Project,
Forbes, NSW

More on the imminent destruction of Quong Lee's
Chinese Australia e-journal: Old Quong Lee Store in Forbes Under Threat >>
Forbes Advocate, 20 December, 2007, Retail Plans Revealed >>
ABC News, 21 December 2007, Forbes Developer Shrugs Off Litigation Concerns >>
ABC News, 24 Oct. 2008, Council Asked To Save Chinese Heritage Building >>
RAHS, 20 Oct. 2008, Statement by R. Ian Jack, President of the Royal Australian Historical Society, on the preservation of Quong Lee's >>
Merrill's appeal to the RAHS annual conference to help save Quong Lee's >>

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?

PLEASE CONTACT THE DEVELOPERS, AusPacific Property Group, and ask directors Peter Haxell and Richie Steinert, and design director Paul Allinson, to respect and embrace rural Australia's Chinese heritage by saving Quong Lee's Store and integrating it into their shopping centre. Please also offer them an exciting an economically viable alternative to demolishing the building.

[AusPacific's address is 4 Ponderosa Pde, Warriewood, NSW, 2102. Tel. (61 2) 9999 6494. Email information@auspacific.com]

PLEASE ALSO CONTACT Forbes Shire Council and urge Councillors to think a little more creatively and proactively about saving Quong Lee's and to do whatever is necessary to protect it, and the many other historic buildings in Forbes which remain unprotected.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO CONTACT the NSW Heritage Office, the Heritage Council and the NSW Minister for Planning, Hon. Kristina Keneally MP, urging them to issue an interim heritage order to protect Quong Lee's, an action which would give Council and the developers time to think again about the building's future and to find ways of funding its restoration.

More about regional Australia's Chinese heritage
Wing Long Store Museum, Tingha, NSW >>
Goldern Threads: the Chinese in regional Australia 1850-1950 >>
Australian Heritage Commission: Tracking the Dragon >>
Migration Heritage Centre: Mapping Chinese Heritage >>
La Trobe University: Chinese Naturalisation Database >>
Melbourne's Museum of Chinese Australian History >>
National Museum of Australia: Harvest of Endurance Scroll >>

And more about shopping malls and their inventor, architect Victor Gruen, from a rather literary perspective >>

GOOGLE MAP OF 161 RANKIN STREET, FORBES, NSW, 2817

URL for this page: http://www.merrillfindlay.com/projects/KateKellyProject_QuongLee'sStore.html

Page last revised 16 January, 2009.

KATE KELLY PROJECT (KKP)

More about the project >>

Report on the Kate Kelly Project to the RAHS annual conference in Forbes >>

RAHS President's statement on Quong Lee's store >>

Chinaman's Bridge restoration >>

Revegetation of Kate's Creek >>

Inquest into Kate Kelly's death in 1898 >>

The Kelly Family: a brief introduction by Kerry Neaylon >>

Kate Kelly goes to Gooloogong >>

Stage 2 of the Kate Kelly Project is supported by the Regional Arts Fund, an Australian Government initiative
supporting the arts in regional and remote Australia.

RAF Press Release, 18 December 2008: Regional Arts Fund delivers 22 major new projects to regional NSW >>