Dear Wesfarmers/Coles

We are outraged at your plan to demolish the historic Darling Range Hotel in Bellevue WA to make way for a Coles Express service station. The Horace St/ Great Eastern Highway intersection already has 2 modern petrol stations - why destroy our built history for another? ‘Down, down’ is fine for grocery prices but not precious buildings!

The Darling Range Hotel is a much loved landmark and is an entry statement to the historic town of Midland. The Hotel was built in 1903 in free Federation style and was the local “watering hole” for WW1 diggers stationed at nearby Blackboy Hill. Trashing this pub is trashing the memories of many young men who left for war and never returned.

The Hotel has other important connections to the community. It is sited opposite the now demolished Helena Vale Racecourse and was fancy enough to appear on the itinerary of Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation Tour in 1953.

It is too easy to discount the historic worth of the Darling Range Hotel on the basis of its current appearance. Without its verandas and wrought iron lace, the building is undeniably plain. But don’t be fooled, many of the Hotel’s original features are still intact and the Darling Range Hotel could be beautifully restored as a community asset and successful business.

Please don’t take advantage of the City of Swan’s oversight in not yet placing this historic building on the municipal inventory. This is an error that needs correcting-it certainly does not mean that the building is of little heritage value.

Of course, you can’t save everything, but so much history has already been lost in Midland, including five other historic hotels. The Darling Range Hotel is the last hotel still standing at the east end of town. While it is listed as a heritage place by the State Heritage Office, it currently has no formal protection. That is why we need Wesfarmers/Coles and the owners of the site to step up and do the right thing.

 Perth has only in the last decade seen some of its heritage buildings and those of surrounding areas rescued and reinvented. The buildings along William Street and Wellington Street in Perth, and locally, The Guildford Hotel, Midland Dome, Midland Workshop buildings and the Bellevue Primary School are examples of what can be achieved when attention to heritage value is given and buildings are given fresh life. 

Ironically, this demolition proposal comes at a time when Bellevue is on the cusp of being revitalized. The Bellevue East Land Use Study (BELUS) was adopted by the City of Swan in 2013, with a key objective to improve the residential amenity of the suburb. Under this, a Neighbourhood Centre is planned for the site where the Darling Range Hotel stands-not another service station (currently there are already 6 within 2 kms!). Demolishing the Darling Range Hotel for a service station is the antithesis of what the BELUS recommends and would severely undermine the history and amenity of Bellevue, and the BELUS plan itself.

So please, please, Wesfarmers/Coles, choose another more appropriate site for your Coles Express service station. Destroying the Darling Range Hotel will forever destroy the opportunity for the Hotel to be restored as the anchor point of the planned Neighbourhood Centre. It will also forever damage your reputation in the community. Already many people are saying they will never shop at Coles again and would boycott any petrol station built on the site. The Darling Range Hotel is a precious physical and visual connection of the history of Bellevue, Midland and Western Australia-do not consign this to the scrap heap.

PS: For further information, including some great old photos, see the Save The Darling Range Hotel Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/963017287154708/