Walka Water Works is an engineering masterpiece built between 1882 and 1887. It improved the health of people in the Hunter, with the method of cleaning water not very different today and is used Australia-wide.

It was the first use of this technology in Australia.

Today, Walka stands quietly brooding over Oakhampton Heights, about a kilometre from the Maitland CBD. Most Maitland people have a connection with this State Heritage-listed remnant of the Victorian era.

However, many of us worry that this masterpiece of engineering is quietly falling into disrepair, when it should be touted as a tourist attraction, with funds allocated to fix this precious site.

The Save Walka Reserve Community Alliance has been working diligently over the past few years to raise awareness among governments at all levels that, without emergency funding for urgent repairs, there is a risk of a disastrous decline in the building structure.

We maintain that it will take only a fraction of what the NSW government spends on Sydney's heritage sites.

We are pleased that there is a Community Liaison Group (CLG) for Walka Water Works, supported by Maitland City Council, and that our concerns are being noted. However, the disintegration of the pump house chimney has reached the point where urgent repairs are needed.

CLG has met with representatives of the council and Ramboll, a Danish-based global sustainable change company that Maitland City Council (MCC) engaged as consultants to examine issues and explore options for the future of this Regional Heritage and Wildlife facility. The chimney restoration is urgent as its bricks are starting to dislodge.

Will it collapse before funding is found?

While we face this worrying dilemma in Maitland, many restorations have been funded in Sydney, while older, nationally important regional heritage sites are being neglected.

For instance, Cockatoo Island Power Station received $45 million for its restoration in May 2023, with $400,000 spent mainly on its pumphouse stack, completely renewing over one-third of it, we believe. Yes, Cockatoo Island is part of Sydney Harbour, and we acknowledge its importance, as well as the tourism and amenity it provides.

Callan Park Complex, on the banks of Sydney's desirable Iron Cove, has attracted $110 million to restore its public spaces and some heritage buildings. The Registrar General's Building in the Sydney CBD has had $50 million spent on its restoration to create a cultural hub for artists, which is no doubt well deserved.

These are just a few examples of funds allocated to Sydney's heritage assets, and there are undoubtedly many more instances of money spent on heritage restoration in the state's capital.

But what about regional state heritage assets? Let's compare where the funds are being spent.

Walka received $3 million for partial asbestos contamination clean-up, which will only open the pumphouse lawn, while the rest of the contaminated public spaces will remain closed.

What do tourists see when they visit Walka? Construction fences around the chimney stack, around the asbestos-contaminated public spaces. Not the architectural and engineering masterpiece that was once a major tourist attraction.

Another concern is that the other of Maitland's only two major heritage tourist attractions, Maitland Gaol, is also closed, awaiting funding. Our regional tourism rates have dropped significantly over the past year, resulting in and loss of tourism dollars to our local economy.

Maitland is one of the fastest-growing cities in NSW, but its natural spaces are being bulldozed to accommodate the constant urban sprawl required to meet NSW housing targets.

Maitland's infrastructure is struggling to cope with the rapid expansion; its tourist attractions, neglected and allowed to deteriorate, have been closed due to the point of collapse.

It beggars belief that funds are lavished on Sydney's heritage assets while those in regional NSW are neglected and crumbling before our eyes.

Repairing Walka Water Works would cost 'a fraction' of spend on Sydney sites