Centre for Gippsland Studies director and history professor Erik Eklund has thrown his support behind the retention of Hazelwood’s iconic chimneys and suggested an independent study be undertaken to assess the benefits and disadvantages of both demolition and conservation of the stacks.
It comes after Latrobe City Council voted to support the retention of the chimney stacks, however, Hazelwood Power Station owner ENGIE said the stacks were “rapidly deteriorating” and would cost tens of millions of dollars to restore.
Professor Eklund said the region seemed to be losing its industrial heritage and Latrobe Valley residents should not be ashamed or embarrassed of their coal-mining heritage.
“The old Yallourn power stations that were demolished in the 1990s, Morwell [Power Station] is scheduled for demolition, Hazelwood is probably going to be demolished,” he said.
“We’ll soon get to a stage where we have very little left of a century of mining and industrial production of electricity.
“I also think the stacks themselves have become symbols of pollution and climate change, and the … environment movement was very successful in targeting the stacks as a symbol of climate change.
“In the late ’60s and ’70s, [the stacks] were a symbol of prosperity – they were symbols of wage, the modern age and electricity production and I think that it is obvious pollution is part of the story … but the stacks themselves have meant different things in different periods.”
Professor Eklund commended Latrobe City council’s stance on the issue, however, said he “could understand” ENGIE’s point of view.
“ENGIE’s strategy won’t always be the best for the community,” he said.
“What I’d say is we need to at least have an independent study which balances the costs of demolition versus preservation.
“Conservation is a legitimate form of remediation and the debate in the region seems to be that the only form of remediation we have is demolition.”
Professor Eklund said there were examples of the retention of industrial chimneys in Australia and across the globe, citing the Poolbeg Power Station chimneys in Dublin as a success story.
“That was quite controversial too when there was discussion about keeping the [chimneys],” he said.
“I think over the years Dublin has come to see the chimneys as part of the city-scape and almost an image on what Dublin is about.”
ENGIE was preparing a response at the time of publication.
