CONSTRUCTION of Mansfield Car Museum is set to go ahead after the plans were approved at last week’s Mansfield Shire Council meeting.

The museum is to be located on Dead Horse Lane, with space for 48 cars and a café inside the complex, with allocation for parking for visitors and staff.

The museum and café are proposed to operate seven days a week from 9am to 5pm and could accommodate a total maximum of 30 patrons and three staff at a time.

There will also be the capacity for additional after-hours private functions to be hosted on an ad-hoc basis.

Behind the museum, 10 warehouses will also be built, with access provided through an anti-clockwise loop around the block of land.

Each warehouse will have a ground floor area of 210 square metres, including a bathroom facility in each and a 60 square metre office above.

Three carparks and a loading zone will also be provided for each warehouse.

The section of Dead Horse Lane which the museum will occupy is set to be upgraded as part of the Heavy Vehicle Alternative Route (HVAR) stage two works later this year.

Engineers have worked with the council to ensure the design will meet the new specifications of the road, including for stormwater drainage and essential services connections.

Five non-exempt native trees will be removed in the construction of the museum and warehouses as well as two existing sheds and used for general industrial storage.

During the July council meeting, it was explained the warehouses would be built first and the money raised by selling or leasing each one used to fund the construction of the museum.

“The rear warehouses are planned to be built which would then be either sold or leased and that financial component will go towards building the car museum,” said project manager Sam Zito.

“This would allow for the entry fees to go to potentially a local hospital or something like that to give back to the community.”

Mr Zito said Nick Theodossi, who owns the land and is the brains behind the development, wanted to give back to the community.

“Nick has owned the property for over 40 years,” Mr Zito said.

“He is in his 70s now and is at a point where he would like to concentrate on his legacy and this particular property and project is part of that legacy.

“It is not just a developer coming in, getting the projecting down pat and buggering off and not considering any net community benefit.

“This project would boost tourism and attract visitors as well as injecting new revenue streams into Mansfield’s local community.

“The establishment of another gathering place could have a knock-on effect to further employment in the area to cater for the additional tourism and potential further interest for other developers to create similar projects in the area.”

Councillors asked for clarification about the timeline of the works and the interaction with the HVAR works and, in the end, were wholly supportive of the plan.

Cr Paul Sladdin pointed out the many benefits both the warehouses and the museum would bring to the region.

“In terms of a tourism attraction, I believe this is a welcome addition to the normal bicycles, horses and sheepdogs we normally see,” he said.

“It certainly adds to the dimension of our tourism offering as well as providing a much-needed base in for the colocation of the many tradespeople that we have within the shire.

“To be collocated in such a complex would be a boost to their local business.”

Cr Rohan Webb was also supportive, complimenting on how well the car museum would fit in with the interests of residents.

“It is a good use of the land,” he said.

“I believe we need more industrial developments like this.

“The car museum is a great tourism draw that does compliment other events that happen within the shire in the car and automotive space.”