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The future of Sheridan Gardens, Broomehill

Welcome
The Shire of Broomehill-Tambellup is seeking community views on the future use and ownership of Sheridan Gardens, the Shire-owned garden between the Broomehill Hall and the Imperial Hotel, officially named Sheridan's Memorial Garden in 2013.

The Broomehill Village Co-operative, which owns the Imperial Hotel, has put forward a proposal to develop Sheridan Gardens as a community beer garden and event space, and has asked the Shire to either transfer ownership or lease the land to the Co-operative. At its meeting on 17 September 2026, the Council agreed to seek community views before considering the proposal further.

Please note:
• The Council has not made any decision to lease, transfer or sell Sheridan Gardens.
• The Broomehill Hall is not part of this proposal. The Hall is not proposed to be sold, transferred or leased to the Co-operative.
• This survey is early consultation on possible future use and ownership. If the Council later proposes a specific lease or transfer, further formal public notice would be required by law and the community would have another opportunity to comment.

The survey takes about 10 minutes and closes at 5pm on 27 October 2026. You only need to complete it once.

Privacy. Your responses are collected by the Shire for the purpose of this consultation. Results will be reported to the Council in a public agenda as a summary. Written comments may be quoted without names. Names and contact details will not be published. Where many responses use identical wording, they will be counted and reported as a group. Paper copies and help completing the survey are available from the Shire offices in Broomehill and Tambellup or by phoning 9825 3555.

Background
The story of Sheridan Gardens

A community-built garden. Sheridan Gardens was created in September 2012 as part of the Hidden Treasures Bloom Festival. The Shire engaged landscape designer Aaron East to design and build it, and local volunteers worked alongside him to construct it. The Shire has maintained the garden since.

Its name. In June 2013 the Council invited the Broomehill community and the Broomehill Historical Society to suggest a historically significant name for the garden. Two names were put forward: "End of the Line", recognising the railway and the start of the Holland Track, and "Sheridan's Memorial Garden". On 22 August 2013 the Council officially named the garden Sheridan's Memorial Garden. It is now commonly known as Sheridan Gardens.

Who was Mrs Sheridan? The name recalls Mrs Kathleen Sheridan, a widow and prominent local businesswoman. She became licensee of the Imperial Hotel in 1905 and its lessee in her own right in 1909, when the hotel was owned by Mrs Garrity. In 1910 she had the hall next door built, first known as Sheridan's Hall. The garden sits between the two buildings most closely tied to her.

Its neighbours. Broomehill grew up around the Great Southern Railway, which opened in 1889. Patrick Garrity built the first hotel on the site that year, and it was rebuilt in brick in stages to 1908, becoming the Imperial Hotel. The Hall passed to the Broomehill Road Board in 1917, housed the local government office until 1965, and was the centre of district social life until the Recreation Centre opened in 1986. The Hall has been on the State Register of Heritage Places since 2005 and the hotel is on the Shire's local heritage list. The hotel closed in 2019 and was bought by the community-owned Broomehill Village Co-operative in 2022.

What the Co-operative is proposing
The Sheridan Gardens Concept Proposal was prepared by Urban Collectives by TJW on behalf of the Broomehill Village Co-operative. In summary, it proposes:

• Use: a community beer garden and outdoor event space adjoining the Imperial Hotel, open to the public.
• Works in two stages: Stage 1 landscaping, levelling, seating, shade and lighting. Stage 2 permanent seating, tables, shade structures, front fencing, and works to support an extension of the hotel's liquor licensed area over the site.
• Cost: the proposal states works would be funded by the proponent, with no capital cost to the Shire.
• Operation: the Co-operative would be responsible for the land, with the hotel operator running the beer garden day to day. Maintenance, insurance and public liability would sit with the Co-operative and its operator. A community committee would program events.
• Public access: the front would be fenced to separate the beer garden from the street, with the space remaining open for people walking through to the hotel, a gate or the Hall. People using or hiring the Hall would keep the ability to use Sheridan Gardens with their functions at no additional cost.
• Ownership: the Co-operative's preferred option is for the Shire to transfer ownership of the land to it, with public access and Hall use written in as conditions. It has said it would discuss a lease as an interim arrangement.

What the Shire has not yet assessed
The Council has asked the CEO to carry out further checks alongside this consultation. These include:

• the land title, any easements, services and existing access rights;
• planning, building, heritage and liquor licensing requirements;
• the legal structure and governance of the Co-operative, and its arrangements with the hotel operator and other parties involved in the hotel works;
• how public access and Hall users' rights could be legally protected;
• insurance, liability, maintenance and risk under each option;
• the market value of the land or a lease, and transaction costs; and
• the legal process that would apply to any lease, licence or transfer under the Local Government Act 1995.

The results of this survey and those checks will be presented to the Council in a further report, including options for continued Shire ownership, a lease, or a transfer.