Chapter 25

Alan Prescott, the Sire officer invited us in.

"How can I help you folks?"

I introduced everybody and gave him a brief outline on our plans for the roadhouse. "What we are here for today is to see if we can use the old homestead for that purpose, if so, what do we need to do from now on?"

He pulled out a map and we located the house, pointing out that the title was for ten acres.

"The area is zoned Rural A, that's agricultural. We can rezone it Rural B, that will allow you to operate your business there. I don't see any problems with that. I would even be so bold as to say that the folk out that way would welcome you with open arms."

"That's good news Alan, you are right about the locals, we met most of them on Saturday at Doug Henry's place, they were very enthusiastic about us having a roadhouse out there."

"Yeah, it's a bit isolated out there so I'm sure that they'll give you all the support they can."

He went to the filing cabinet and selected several forms for us to fill in.

"Take these with you and fill them in, don't worry about the title number, I'll fill that in for you. You need to state the type of business you are going to operate, the name of the business and the full names of the owners. When you get close to opening I'll come out with our health inspector and do an inspection. There is a list of our health requirements so if you follow that there shouldn't be too many hiccups. If you have any questions feel free to give me a call, my phone number is on the forms."

Ernie asked about the business name, "Who do we talk to about registering the name Alan?"

Alan pulled out another form, "You need to send this form to Melbourne and see if your business name is not already being used, if it's clear then they will register it in your names."

We thanked him for his help and headed back home with the intention of stopping by to tell Doug and Alice that we were clear to go ahead and buy the homestead.

...

When we arrived I was amazed to see the locals getting stuck into cleaning the place up. The women folk were washing windows and the men were clearing weeds and rubbish away from the outside.

"Wow, they certainly meant what the said about helping out," said Ernie.

We waved and called out that we would be back after talking to Doug and Alice. Up at the house Alice came out to greet us.

"By the look on your faces it's good news."

"Yes Alice, they told us it would be OK to operate a roadhouse here, so it's full steam ahead with the purchase" said Cheryl.

"That great, I give Doug a call and he can come up and talk to you." Alice grabbed an iron bar and gave a big metal triangle a sound hammering. "That should bring him running."

Doug soon appeared and we told him the news. "Right, I didn't think you would have much difficulty getting the OK; there would have been a lot of disappointed locals if it had fallen through. When you are ready we can do all the paperwork to get the property signed over to you. Might I make a suggestion?"

"Sure Doug, we're babes in the wood when it comes to property transfer."

"Before you sign the papers I suggest you register your company first, put the property in the business name not your own, it will save you a lot of headaches in the future."

"Yeah, that's good thinking, you kids need to incorporate your company for several reasons. Best bet is to talk to a lawyer and take his advise."

"I think Ernie's right there folks" said Alice.

One thing for sure, we've got a lot to think about and discuss. With these thoughts on our minds we went down to the homestead to give the locals the good news. There was an enthusiastic cheer when we told the we had the OK to go ahead.

"That's terrific, at last we are going to have a local business. You don't know how much this will mean to us Tony, it's a bloody long way to go shopping, believe me."

"The way you folk have jumped in and tidied up the place certainly shows your keen to have us here."

"We are Dom, the sooner the place is ready, the sooner we will benefit from it. Also, we think it's the neighbourly thing to do anyway."

I could see that Ernie was itching to get in and start cleaning up so I rolled up my sleeves and said "What are we waiting for?" I made a beeline for the kitchen, natural instinct I thought.

There were two ladies cleaning up there and the place looked a whole lot better than our last visit. There was a fire burning in the stove and a kettle on the hob.

"You've got a great stove there Tony, it's got a 'wet back' so you won't run out of hot water and I reckon it'll be a beauty to cook with."

"Wow, you ladies have certainly got the place looking great, I think a coat of paint and it'll look terrific."

"You better let Cheryl and Jess decide on the colour scheme, I think women have a better idea of what goes together."

"I have to agree with you there Mabel, when Jess did up her room at the camp it looked real nice. She has a good sense of colour and it will give the two of them something to work on."

"The kettle's just about ready so I'll call the folks in for a smoko. We brought some sandwiches and cakes with us so go wash your hands and we can eat."

The rest of the crew trooped in and we all sat around enjoying the cakes and tea. I noticed one of the ladies hovering around Ernie, making sure he was comfortable. The sly old bugger was lapping it up too, I think we might need to keep an eye on the pair of them, I gave Jess a nudge and she smiled.