A PIECE of local history is finally heading back to Marburg after being locked up in a council storage depot for two years.

Former councillor David Pahlke purchased an 1890s sulky manufactured in Marburg and originally owned by Charles Lane of Lanefield who operated the “Marburg Taxi”, carrying passengers from The Siding (Rosewood) to as far afield as Glenore Grove.

The sulky features the manufacturing plate “J.O. Ernst Builder Marburg” on the back of the seat, built by German coachbuilder Julius Otto Ernst who settled in Marburg.

It was purchased for $4,950 in 2017 with Division 10 funding and restored in 2019 for $5,450 to add to the Marburg and District Residents Association’s Heritage Precinct displays.

Since its restoration was completed, interim administrator Greg Chemello and the current council have kept the sulky locked up in the Riverview Council depot.

This month, the Ipswich City Council unanimously voted in favour of donating the sulky to the Marburg and District Residents Association (MDRA) in the Growth and Infrastructure Committee meeting following approaches from the association.

However the historic significance of the sulky was lost on the current council with Mayor Teresa Harding and Division 4 Councillor Kate Kunzelmann more interested in the cost to council to restore the historic asset and ongoing obligations to maintain the sulky.

“We were out at Marburg the other night with the residents’ association and they are very happy to accept this asset … and then it becomes their problem,” Cr Kunzelmann told the committee.

Cr Harding questioned the restoration work on the sulky and was advised the work was carried out in Gympie because it was specialist in nature.

Infrastructure Strategy and Planning manager Mary Torres said once the asset was donated the council had no obligation to maintain the sulky nor would the council have any say over how it was stored.

A report to council suggested an option was to display the Marburg Sulky at a Council-owned facility “most likely within a newly built storage facility” as there was “no formal agreement” between the council and the MDRA to donate it to the association.

However the report advised against retaining the sulky as the cost to build a new storage facility and ongoing maintenance and operational costs would be too high.

Secretary of the MDRA and the Rosewood Scrub Historical Society Wendye Gratton said it was a relief to hear the news the sulky was coming back to Marburg.

“We are hoping to make it part of our heritage precinct,” she said.

“It is really important to preserve our heritage and the sulky is a significant part of it. It is a key exhibit to show what Marburg was once like and the pioneering trades of the district.

“We are trying to encourage day tourism to Marburg and this exhibit would add to the collection in the Heritage Centre, the Heritage Dairy and the Historical Society.”

MDRA President Barry Gratton wrote to Mr Chemello in 2019 asking about the whereabouts of the Marburg Sulky and for the council to support the proposed heritage precinct for Marburg but the sulky remained in storage.

He also wrote to councillors Kunzelmann and Russell Milligan in February calling on them to take up the proposal for a heritage precinct in Marburg and inquiring about the Marburg Sulky.

Mr Gratton said the group hoped to modify the shed next to the old Queensland National Bank building in Queen Street to house the Marburg Sulky for public display.