Museum breaks silence on servo feud
MEMBERS of Emu Park's Historical Museum Society want their side of the story heard.
The society, run by a small number of committee members who have been trustees of the land on the corner of Hill and Archer Sts, never wanted to see the nearby service station in a position where it's forced to close its doors.
Peter Castle is the committee's secretary/treasurer and yesterday he said the museum had tried to work with management of the Emu Park Service Station for a number of months to negotiate an alternative access for its diesel fuel trucks.
The station's owner Rob Devine took the society to court alleging his fuel tankers had been denied access across museum land to his diesel pump by the road.
On Monday a Supreme Court judge dismissed the application.
Peter said the land was reserved for historical purposes.
"Up until 2007 the trustee of the land was the Livingstone Shire Council, and when Bill Ludwig (then mayor) said people could use the land to park and drive through he was quite right," Peter said.
"But they have relinquished this and the position we're in now is that the land can only be used for historical purposes, and if we don't do this, we're in breach with DERM (The Department of Environment and Resource Management)."
The recent media attention has caused museum representatives to become the target of backlash in the community.
The group's 83-year-old president Ruby Cummins was verbally abused in the street.
Peter said DERM had advised the museum to erect a temporary fence; however the museum had been in negotiations with Mr Devine for the past three months, and even offered to sell part of their land, with DERM's approval, so he could use it to create a new access point.
It's understood Mr Devine also owns the land behind and beside the petrol station and it's claimed, in a previous meeting with the museum, he promised to remove a shed on this land, therefore making an access on his own land.
"We don't want to be bad neighbours and put people out of their jobs, and the solicitors said what we've offered to do is more than generous," Peter said.
One of the main factors in the court's ruling was it had no power to make any order over the land as it was held by the Crown.
"There is a viable solution, but we're getting a bad name in the community," Peter said.
Efforts by The Morning Bulletin to contact Mr Devine yesterday were unsuccessful.
