Plans to rebuild historic huts burnt down in the Kosciuszko National Park are now on the table for further discussion with hopes that construction of Broken Dam and Delaney's huts will be completed before winter next year. A total of 19 historic huts were either destroyed or severely damaged during the 2003 fires but recent changes to international conventions regarding the management of historic heritage opened the way for huts that were destroyed to be rebuilt.The Kosciuszko National Park Huts Conservation Study has recommended the rebuilding of 7 huts, (Broken Dam, Delaney's, Paton's, Brook's, O'Keefe's, Pretty Plain and Boobee) as a way of retaining social and cultural landscape significance. The rebuilding of destroyed heritage items has not been a routine practice in public land management agencies. The concepts behind the Conservation Strategy and that of hut rebuilding are at the forefront of heritage practice. Godden Mackay Logan, with input from NPWS staff, prepared guidelines to assist in the selection of an appropriate location and design for huts that are proposed to be rebuilt following destruction.Delaney's hut was thought to have been built around 1905 by James Thomas Delaney. The timber for the hut was cut at the Sawmill at Connors Hill. Significant attributes of the old hut include one of a small group of huts associated with pastoral use prior to World War 1, typical example of a cattleman's hut and landscape values. The old hut was destroyed by the 2003 bushfires. The new Delaney's hut will also look similar to the old hut with a weatherboard archetypal form with corrugated iron roof and will have steel piers.The new huts are proposed to be built near but not on the existing sites, as the ruins of the old huts were also regarded as significant attributes. Each of these huts are proposed to be built about 10 metres to the north and in the same alignment of the old huts allowing interpretation and research of the extant ruins.The plans for Broken Dam and Delaney's will be on exhibition on the NPWS website and at Queanbeyan, Jindabyne and Tumut NPWS offices for 4 weeks Members of the public are invited to comment on these plans. Submissions should be in writing and lodged on the NPWS website or forwarded to The Project Officer, Hut Rebuilding Exhibition, NPWS PO Box 472 Tumut NSW 2720 by 15 October, 2007 or for additional information, contact the Service's Tumut Office by phone on 02-6947 7000.Documents to downloadThis plan of management is available in two versions. Hut rebuilding exhibition plans (PDF - 4.7MB)Public consultationThis document was on public exhibition from 10 September 2007 to 15 October 2007. All submissions received during this period will be taken into account as we prepare a final version of the document.
