THE imminent sale of historic Macquarie on the O'Connell Road will again shine a light on the great disparity between the public's desire to see our heritage retained and the government's desire to pay for it.
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It appears certain the State Government will remain sitting on its hands when bidding starts on the historic homestead on July 5 but there is an undeniable case for bringing it into public ownership.
The Macquarie homestead and adjoining convict barracks were built by convict labour on 1000 acres of land granted by Governor Lachlan Macquarie to William Lawson for his role in crossing the Blue Mountains with Gregory Blaxland and William Charles Wentworth in 1813.
It is a remarkable link to the early days of European settlement in this country and to the father of modern Australia, Governor Macquarie.
Macquarie remained in the Lawson family until 1918 when it was sold to the McKibbin family. Paul and Bonny Hennessy became just the third owners of the property in 2012 when they bought it with a commitment to restore it to its former glory and they have done a remarkable job in such a short time to do just that.
The barracks, in particular, would likely have crumbled to the ground if not for the Hennessys' determination to save them.
They have now been restored and offer a unique learning experience for visiting students and school groups.
If the Hennessys know how much they have spent restoring Macquarie and the barracks then they are not saying, and that's their business alone.
They call it their contribution to this region and its history and our community owes them a debt of gratitude.
It's probably unlikely they could recoup their costs when the property is sold on July 5 but even more devastating would be for their hard work to be forgotten.
There is still some restoration to be completed at Macquarie and the new owner will need to keep spending even after the hammer falls on July 5.
That is an awful lot for a community to ask of a private buyer for the sake of preserving our shared history. The government - using our money - must have a role to play in this.
Bathurst is proud to be inland Australia's oldest European settlement and Macquarie should be an important part of that history.
And the state government should be proud to own it for all of us.
