A PROPOSAL to preserve the historic Mortlake flour mill and build a residence on the site has won the backing of the Mortlake Community Development Committee (MCDC).
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The MCDC has selected the proposal as its preferred bid from four expressions of interest to buy the 158-year-old bluestone mill.
MCDC president Kelvin Goodall said the bid selected at the committee’s meeting on Monday night was “the clear winner” and “by far the most acceptable”.
The successful applicant had the best capacity to preserve the mill, Mr Goodall said.
The sale was in the hands of selling agent Nick Allen from Charles Stewart Western Victoria and the name of the successful bidder might be made known when the contract was signed, he said.
The selection of a preferred bid was the latest step in a three-year process by the MCDC to give the heritage-listed mill a secure future.
The MCDC bought the mill in 1996 from a private owner but decided, after public consultation, to put it up for sale because it did not have the funds to maintain it.
The mill, in Mill Street, has three floors plus an attic, an attached annexe and tall chimney.
Selling agent Mr Allen said the mill had attracted 1500 internet inquiries, 54 genuine person inquiries, 12 inspections and the four expressions of interest.
The mill was originally powered by canvas sails but was converted a few years later to steam power.
It was built to grind cereals to flour to feed the great influx of miners on the Ararat goldfields. It continued to operate as a mill until the 1940s.