The Cowes Jetty Goods Shed, built in 1873, was an essential structure that originally served mariners and locals as a secure storage space for goods arriving by sea. The historical Cowes Jetty Goods Shed building is currently in review with an exciting opportunity to reimagine its future. Council engaged with the community from 18 December 2024 to 2 March 2025, to understand and consider the community’s vision of the space and ask what they wanted to see there!

The community engagement process for the Cowes Jetty Goods Shed has clearly demonstrated the high level of public interest in the future of this iconic site. Through a mix of surveys and creative submissions, participants shared a strong desire to see the Goods Shed brought back to life as a welcoming, accessible, and vibrant space that contributes to the cultural and economic vitality of Cowes.

This engagement has provided Council with a clear sense of community priorities and aspirations. It marks an important step in shaping the next chapter of the Cowes Jetty Goods Shed—ensuring future uses are informed by those who know and value the site most. Council will now use this input to support the development of an Expression of Interest process, inviting proposals that align with the community’s vision and unlock the site’s full potential.

The online consultation was designed in three parts, to maximise the opportunity for community to leave their feedback with consideration to the time they had to spare.

• Option 1 was a 30 second, short-form survey “tell us in 1-2 words your big idea for our small space by the sea”
• Option 2 was a 10-minute long-form survey asking questions like “what type of business/operation would you like?” and “how would you like to see community and visitors engaging with the site?”
• Option 3 gave community an opportunity to upload an image and create a mood board of what they envision the site to be

The word cloud represents all of the responses submitted for this question, and the larger the word the more frequent that word was submitted. Here we can see 'cafe' and 'cafe or restaurant' were the two most comment entries for this question.

Below is a summary of the top 4 business ideas submitted through the community feedback.

Below is a summary of the images submitted through the Mood Board. The images are in order of most supported, in order of amount of 'likes' an image received.

The Cowes Jetty Goods Shed is a significant site in Bass Coast’s history. The Phillip Island Historical Society explained:

The goods shed on the Cowes Jetty stands as a landmark in the history of Phillip Island, symbolising a vital link to the past when sea travel was the sole means of connection between the island and the mainland. This simple yet essential structure served both the community and the mariners by providing a safe storage space for goods and equipment. Its role was indispensable, particularly when islanders relied heavily on goods brought by sea—everything from household supplies to materials for local industries. For mariners, the shed provided a secure place to store their gear, protecting it from the elements and readying it for the frequent journeys back and forth across the water.

The origins of the goods shed highlight the community’s pressing needs in the 1870s, a time when isolation made every supply drop essential. Designed with a distinctive bow roof—a characteristic that would come to be both locally and historically treasured—the goods shed became a rare example of nineteenth-century industrial architecture. Today, it is celebrated not only for its functionality but as a rare architectural piece, holding state and local heritage value as one of the last of its kind.

Beyond its physical structure, the goods shed stands as a tangible reminder of a period when Phillip Island’s connection to the mainland and the wider world was tenuous and completely dependent on maritime transport. For the community, this shed is more than a historical building; it embodies an era of close community ties and reliance on the sea for survival.

Over the years, the Cowes Jetty Goods Shed has had many uses. With the site currently vacant, Council has an exciting opportunity to reimagine what the space can offer for 2025 and into the future, with input from the community.

The Cowes Jetty Goods Shed is approximately 63m2, with access to water and electricity.