12:00a.m. 5th July 2008

| By Jane Gardner

A well-known Volkswagen workshop has been shut down to make way for a new roundabout on Dixon Road.

After 20 years, the VW Mechanical garage had become something of a Buderim icon, fixing about 20 VWs a week and wrecking 30 or more a year.

Two months ago, owner Wayne Gilmour received a letter from Main Roads telling him the land on the corner of Dixon Road and Buderim-Mooloolaba Road would be acquired.

“Main Roads resumed it and are going to put a double lane roundabout there. Because we’re in the middle with no registered lease, they basically shut us down and we had nowhere else to go,” he said. “I ended up getting $12,000 to help with heartache, but that’s not much for 20 years of a business. It was worth $120,000.”

Main Roads acquired about 200sq m plus a neighbouring property.

Although he knew it was coming, the decision was depressing for Mr Gilmour, who had made the repair of VWs his life’s work.

“We would have been there 20 years this September. I had a fairly strong passion for the suckers,” he said.

“There are a lot of sad VW owners now that have nowhere to go for repairs because I was the only one willing to work on the old ones.”

Mr Gilmour knew for two years that the land would be acquired, but no one would lease him a garage where he could run the business.

“Landlords are under a lot of pressure from council to keep clean industry in their sheds, so motor mechanics aren’t welcome anymore and they can’t renew the lease,” Mr Gilmour said.

“Buderim Garage can’t find anywhere. They’ve taken two months off.

“There are a few in Bli Bli that have had to close their doors due to nowhere to go.”

Mr Gilmour used the compensation to establish New Life Repair Services, a mobile repair service specialising in bumpers and interiors.