{"id":631736,"date":"2026-04-26T09:14:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T09:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/631736\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T09:14:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T09:14:21","slug":"economist-turns-guerilla-groundskeeper-to-save-sydney-heritage-building-the-priory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/631736\/","title":{"rendered":"Economist turns guerilla groundskeeper to save Sydney heritage building The Priory"},"content":{"rendered":"

Craig James was dismayed on his daily walk seeing a sandstone 19th-century building falling into disrepair, with boarded-up windows and surrounded by knee-high grass.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr James was forced into retirement from his job as an economist two years ago by Parkinson’s disease.<\/p>\n

Nearby his home in Huntleys Cove in Sydney’s north-west is The Priory, a heritage-listed former Marist Fathers home built in the 1840s that has been left unused for 20 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Craig James says the grass was knee-high before he started cutting the lawns around the building.\u00a0 (ABC News: Declan Bowring)<\/p>\n

To restore the building in Huntleys Cove in Sydney’s north-west to its former glory, Mr James became a guerilla groundskeeper for The Priory.<\/p>\n

“If you don’t use something for 20 years, the potential is for the things to fall off or drop off,” Mr James said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I didn’t want to see the building and its grounds go that way.”<\/p>\n

Mr James mowed the lawns, trimmed the edges and fixed up the peeling paint on the window frames with some sandpaper, paint and a brush.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Craig James made television appearances for finance stories as the bank’s chief economist.\u00a0 (ABC)<\/p>\n

The boards have also been taken down after Mr James brought it up with the council, which has since replaced the broken windows.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think it’s looked better,” Mr James said.<\/p>\n

He says Hunters Hill Council didn’t mind him tidying up the outside of the building but didn’t want him climbing ladders to do any painting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Craig James bought paint and did up the window frames.\u00a0 (ABC News: Declan Bowring)<\/p>\n

“I said, ‘Look, I’m happy to write a form, affidavit, or whatever you like to call it, that if I ever fall down \u2026 I’ll never take action,” Mr James said.<\/p>\n

The council’s general manager Nick Tobin said he was supportive of his work maintaining the state-heritage listed building.<\/p>\n

“I am in contact with Mr James and met him onsite several times and correspond regularly,” Mr Tobin said.<\/p>\n

“Any maintenance or works must be undertaken in accordance with the approved Conservation Management Plan and relevant heritage and safety requirements.”<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

The building was named The Priory in 1874. (ABC News: Declan Bowring)<\/p>\n

Heritage group fears council relinquishing site<\/p>\n

Built in the late 1840s, The Priory started as a farmhouse before being sold to the Marist Fathers to be a base for missionaries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was sold to farmer Thomas Salter in 1874 who renamed it The Priory before he sold it to the Gladesville Mental Hospital in 1887.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The NSW Department of Health vacated the site in 2003 but still owns the land and leases it to Hunters Hill Council, which maintains the site.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

The building is noted on the State Heritage Register as an example of early settlement in Hunters Hill.\u00a0 (ABC News: Declan Bowring)<\/p>\n

The building is a noted example of Victoria Palladian architectural style and of early settlement in Hunters Hill, according to the NSW State Heritage Register.<\/p>\n

Other than a failed attempt to turn the building into the cafe, the building has remained dormant for more than 20 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Annette Gallard, president of Hunters Hill Trust, an organisation that advocates for local heritage, says she’s concerned council was planning to hand the building back to the state government.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Council, I think, has made the decision that they can’t use the building for a business,” Ms Gallard said.<\/p>\n

“Our theory is that the state government will sell the building off and it’ll be in private hands.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"an<\/p>\n

At least $6 million is the estimated cost of making the building suitable for occupation. (ABC News: Declan Bowring)<\/p>\n

No plans to give building back to the state<\/p>\n

However, Mr Tobin from the council said there was “no prospect of the state government paying to take back responsibility of the site”<\/p>\n

He said it would cost at least $6 million to bring the building up to a standard to allow for occupation, to pay for the facade restoration, electrical upgrades and fire services.<\/p>\n

“Council will shortly be writing to the NSW government seeking assistance with these costs and is looking at other sources of funding to assist in meeting these costs prior to seeking another user for the site,” Mr Tobin said.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Hunters Hill Trust would like to see the building reopened for community use.\u00a0 (ABC News: Declan Bowring)<\/p>\n

“Any future activation or use of The Priory would be subject to heritage\/planning approvals, funding availability, and compliance with the Conservation Management Plan.”<\/p>\n

“No final decisions have been made at this stage.”<\/p>\n

Ms Gallard says she would like to see the building opened up for community use.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We’d like to see things like a small cafe on site, perhaps a community art gallery with artist in residence.<\/p>\n

“It’s in such a gorgeous location \u2026 it would be a real drawcard for the public.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Craig James was dismayed on his daily walk seeing a sandstone 19th-century building falling into disrepair, with boarded-up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[305965,305967,305966,305961,43,305963,305964,305962,44,1793,305959,305960,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-631736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-craig-james-economist","tag-craig-james-gladesville","tag-craig-james-the-priory","tag-gladesville-hospital-the-priory","tag-headlines","tag-heritage-hunters-hill","tag-hunters-hill-trust-priory","tag-huntleys-cove-the-priory","tag-news","tag-retirement","tag-the-priory","tag-the-priory-gladesville","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}