However, all is not lost as a trust is in negotiation with the station owners, the Dunedin City Council-owned Dunedin Railways, to lease the station and bring it back to what it once was.
The station, which is more than 100 years old, has been damaged by pipes buckling which has led to an uneven floor and some rotting of boards on the outside of the building.
Middlemarch resident Sheila Ramsay said the building could not now be used and its condition was getting worse very quickly.
‘‘The building suffered a major slump two weeks prior to Christmas. This was after we had 60mm of rain inside 48 hours,’’ she said.
Strath Taieri Community Board chairwoman Terina Geddes said she shared the views of residents of the town that the station was falling into a state of disrepair.
She felt there had been some duck-shoving from various organisations over who was ultimately responsible for the building. Maintenance had not been carried out and that is what had led to the damage. Repairs needed to be done ‘‘sooner rather than later.’’
Dunedin Railways Ltd did not run the Taieri Gorge train to Middlemarch any more but Ms Geddes said, like the railway station, that was because no maintenance had been done on the track.
Strath Taieri Agriculture and Rural Tourism Trust chairwoman Kate Wilson said the trust was in discussion with Dunedin Railways Ltd and the Dunedin City Council to take a lease on the building.
She said there were issues with the piles and the building needed work.
‘‘It's a beautiful building and it needs to be retained and repurposed and we just need to have the conversations that provide the way through for that. That's probably better being managed with a local lease,’’ she said.
Talks had taken place since December and she hoped something would happen soon.
‘‘It's slower than I would like because I'd like to have an application for funding now but we'll get there in the end.’’
It was unclear how much the repairs would cost.
The Dunedin City Council did not reply by deadline.
