Penshurst enjoys resurgence in a post-COVID world

The town was severed from the Hamilton-Koroit railway line back in 1891 after less than seven months of operation.

The Penshurst Magistrates' Court permanently closed in the 1980s, having not been visited by a magistrate in 10 years.

The town's golf club disbanded in 2002, just two years short of its centenary. The golf course no longer exists.

Southern Grampians mayor David Robertson said the shire had been receiving limited funding for years.

"We're in the forgotten land when it comes to state government," he told The Standard.

Towns like this tend to die a slow death. And yet, Penshurst is as busy as ever.

Amanda Wilson and her husband Cam opened the Penshurst Store in 2020 and sell a variety of baked goods and gifts.

"Through COVID we still managed to get quite a few people in, but it's probably been the last 18 months that it's really taken off," she said.

"The locals have always supported us from day one, we've been really lucky that way."

Mrs Wilson said there were plenty of visitors in town, even in the dead of winter.

"We are still flat out. We've had a lot of tourists, especially over the holidays," she said.

"It's become a bit of a destination too, we get a lot of oldies coming on a bus for the day."

Lifelong Penshurst resident Joseph Page said the town had been doing well in the past few years, with more people coming than ever.

"Having our pub back open is really good, I think that's something that everyone can agree on," he said.

The Penshurst Hotel has recently come under new ownership with operating hours.

"The previous owners were only open from 3.30pm-7pm or so on Thursday through Saturday. But now it's open all week except for Tuesday," Mr Page said.

It comes as Penshurst Takeaway opens its doors for the first time. Owners Adam Greer and Jodi and Brayden Dumesny held their grand opening on Saturday, July 1.

Ms Dumesny said the community had been incredibly supportive during their renovations of the 86 Bell Street property.

"Everyone's just so warm and welcoming and friendly, it's really like being part of a family," she said.

The trio weren't concerned about opening during the low tourist season.

"We're excited to be here and we're super grateful for the warm welcome, it's very humbling," Ms Dumesny said.

IN OTHER NEWS

The Southern Grampians Shire is nearing completion on landscaping around the Volcanoes Discovery Centre, which includes a new rock garden, native plants and shelter signs.

Cr Robertson said this project aimed to attract more visitors to Penshurst, but further development of the town was limited by its lack of a dedicated sewerage system.

As most of the town is built on rock-solid basalt, it's difficult to place full sewerage systems underground. Currently, Penshurst makes do with a small number of septic tanks.

To counteract this, the council has begun planning a trial project involving the use of very shallow pipes.

"The water will go into an area on council land which has pods. It will be stored and released over the summer period for plants to grow," Cr Robertson said.

"In the short-term, about 30 places will be joined up to it. If it all works, we'll connect the whole town."

Cr Robertson said this scheme would be the first of its kind in Australia if it functioned as intended.

"What that'll mean is that a lot more blocks of land would come up for sale if it was serviced by sewerage," he said.

Tourism remains a large part of the shire's plan, with a focus on long-term visitors as opposed to people that stop by for a day.

"Our strategy is for tourists to come along the Great Ocean Road and turn inland to come up through the volcanic plain, go to places like the Discovery Centre in Penshurst and on up to Hamilton and across to the Grampians," Cr Robertson said.

While the Southern Grampians boasts the fourth-largest volcanic plain in the world, the mayor said the region was underappreciated by political powers.

"We'll just hang out for an announcement from the state government that they know we are still in Victoria," Cr Robertson said.

"We are the number one agricultural producer in Australia and I think they've forgotten that they need to put something back into the community down here."

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