Pub demolition protest

A TASMANIAN pub owner says he will chain himself to the steel posts of his historic balcony if local government authorities move in to demolish it.

“Others have said they will join me. All we need is time to repair the one beam that needs replacing,” Hunters Hotel owner Ralph Wildenauer said yesterday as a demolition order deadline loomed.

“The balcony is not going to fall down. I would happily jump up and down on it all day.”

Last month, the West Coast Council issued an emergency order giving Mr Wildenauer and his wife Renata 28 days to repair the balcony. That deadline is Tuesday. Yesterday, the council issued the engineer’s report which formed the basis of that order and a statement to try to calm the situation in response to online abuse.

The council said there had been intense public interest in the fate of the balcony.

A GoFund Me campaign kicked off to help the Wildenauer’s raise the $35,000 needed to repair the structure has raised almost $5500.

The couple bought the hotel, which had sat silent in a state of disrepair for 20 years in Queenstown’s main street — in 2016.

Mr Wildenauer said he had planned to open up some of the hotel’s renovated rooms this peak tourist season but the emergency order had put paid to that money-making exercise.

“We have been working really hard over the past two years to restore the hotel,” he said.

“We have a draftsman working on it. After that an application has to go to the engineer then to Heritage Tasmania and then be submitted to council before work can even start.”

A council spokesperson said: “Upon consulting with the owners it was determined they would supply an engineer’s report to council to obtain the extent of the damage and determine what action needed taking to ensure public safety.

“As the owners did not supply [the] report the council sought an received an expert opinion from a structural engineer. The report highlighted the significant risks associated with the structure and determined the most effective way to make the area safe was to dismantle the balcony.”