Glenrowan, the site of Ned Kelly's famous stand, is getting a makeover. But a prominent Kelly historian has criticised the work. Martin Flanagan reports.

A COUNCIL development of the siege site at Glenrowan is destroying the area's historical aura, a prominent historian has warned.

Ian Jones, the author of the highly regarded biography Ned Kelly: A Short Life, noticed the character of the development being undertaken by the Rural City of Wangaratta when he returned from Ireland a fortnight ago.

"It totally destroys the historical integrity of the place," he said. Mr Jones, 74, believes any development of the site should take it back, as near as possible, to how it was when the Kelly gang took more than 60 hostages there in June 1880.

To this end, Mr Jones worked as a heritage consultant for the council in 2002, helping it come up with a plan for the area. He claimed the plan's aim was, specifically, "the re-establishment of the siege area".

In 1880, the siege site was basically the area between the front of the Glenrowan Hotel, where the Kelly gang waited with its hostages, and the railway station where the troopers disembarked.

Mr Jones, whose authority on the Kelly legend comes from his command of its detail, said the area was then known as "the railway reserve". It had large ditches in which the troopers took cover.

As part of the development now under way, what remained of the ditches has gone.

Mr Jones was particularly aggrieved that the creek beside which Kelly was finally captured had been rerouted and a small stone bridge built over it. Elsewhere, paths have built and there appears to be the beginning of a car park.

These are not the first changes to the area. In the 1960s, an overpass was built at the western end of what Mr Jones calls "the battlefield", to take road traffic over the railway line. What was lost then, Mr Jones said, was the site where Inspector Francis Hare was standing when Kelly took aim in the moonlight, fired and smashed the policeman's hand in the phase of the siege known as "the first volley".

In this exchange, Kelly was wounded twice, one bullet shattering his left arm, another passing through his right foot.

Mr Jones said there was another change to Glenrowan's historical character in the 1960s when McDonnell's Hotel was knocked down to make way for a motel, which was eventually built elsewhere.

McDonnell's Hotel was where the Kelly gang's supporters waited. Had the train derailment the gang attempted gone to plan, it was, Mr Jones believes, meant to trigger a general uprising aimed at created a republic in north-eastern Victoria.

More recently in Glenrowan, a local improvements committee has added a rockery to the siege site and tall stumps with faces painted on them depicting characters from the drama. Mr Jones said the committee was "well-intentioned but misguided".

A rose garden edged with a stone wall has also been added to the railway platform.

"Over the years, the historical integrity of the whole area has been compromised," Mr Jones said. "Now it's been totally destroyed."

He likens what is happening at Glenrowan to "bulldozing Anzac Cove and erecting a few fake trenches that are safe to walk through".

Rural City of Wangaratta economic manager Graham Nickless said he had the utmost respect for Mr Jones and his "intimate understanding" of the Kelly story.

"But we do have slightly different views about the master plan and what is achievable at the site," he said.

He said the Glenrowan master plan called for the siege site to be protected — "which means it doesn't become a KFC or Big Mac site"— and made the focus of the town. The overpass and other changes since 1880 meant Mr Jones' idea of returning the area to its original state was not achievable.

"This is a work in progress," Mr Nickless said. "If people want to make a judgement, let them wait six months until it's finished."

The council says the project, which will include building an interpretation centre, has been approved by Heritage Victoria. But, in a statement on May 25, Heritage Victoria said only that a permit had been issued for the "Glenrowan revitalisation project", the work involved archaeological supervision, and that its staff had visited the site.

Mr Jones said he first saw the siege site from the window of a passing train as a 10-year-old in the 1940s.

"The amazing thing about Glenrowan from then up until now was that you could still get the feeling of the place," he said. "Elements of the siege were still intact. That's gone now."