FAILURE to update paperwork is what forced the doors closed of the Richmond Vale Railway Museum, chairman Peter Meddows says.
The not-for-profit organisation announced its immediate closure on its Facebook page on Thursday, March 7 following a cessation order issued by Cessnock City Council and is expected to remain closed until further notice.
But Mr Meddows said with the board focusing heavily on getting back on track after the 2017 bushfire, administration work had been put on the back burner.
"We've been flat out trying to get the place up and running, we are still recovering from that and then we got hit with COVID," he said.
"We have neglected to update our safety management system for the site (owned by council), as opposed to the railway, which is what the council is on about."
"It's really a little bit of a storm in a tea cup to be honest."
Despite not updating its safety system assessments for the site including for the canteen and lawn mower, Mr Meddows said they "hadn't done anything wrong".
"We haven't injured anybody or run a dangerous situation - we haven't done any of that," he said.
"All our insurances are in place so there's no problem there. The council decided that we've been pretty naughty in that we haven't updated risk assessments and they want it done pronto, so that's why we're closed."
He said he was not denigrating the council "for doing their job" and plans to work with them to get the site up and running again within a month.
"We're already working with them. It's not permanent, it's a temporary thing to let us know you have to keep your paperwork up to date and that's all there is to it," he said.
He said the volunteer-run organisation had been a big contributor to mining and railway history and tourism within the Hunter region.
"We keep a lot of information of both on behalf of the council, and ourselves and we don't want to lose that," he said.
He wanted to thank the community for their support and said if they want to "point the finger" for someone to blame it was on him.
"I've heard there's been tremendous support for us, and I thank the community for that but I suggest they don't just denigrate the council because really they're only doing their job," he said.
"As chairman of the museum, the problem is mine. I have to take responsibility for the fact that this stuff hasn't been done."
