Fire rips through derelict Millers Nursery at McGraths Hill overnight – burns it to the ground

It’s been empty since July 2016 and was at one stage slated for an $11m, 130 bedroom motel but last night the old Millers Nursery burnt to the ground.

Neighbours reported the fire at around 1am this morning and fire crews from Windsor, Richmond and Riverstone were on scene quickly to control the blaze before it spread to adjoining properties, but any remaining structures on the derelict site were totally destroyed.

No-one has been reported hurt or injured in the fire.

The Nursery – often referred to locally as Windsor Garden Centre – has been a much-loved landmark on the corner of McGrath and Windsor Rds since 1969 when it was opened by Ross and Lynette Miller. Mr Miller was very active in Windsor Rotary for many years.

The fire seen from a neighbouring property…

The Miller’s daughter Bec later took the Nursery over and ran it until 2016, when after some 47 years of trading, its doors closed for good and it’s lain empty ever since.

A series of DAs had been lodged for the old nursery site to become a motel development, one in February 2018 which aimed for a $10.8 million, 130 bedroom motel.

A different DA was lodged in May 2018 for a 94 room motel and that changed again in May 2020 when a DA was lodged for a 80-room motel, but none of these came to anything.

Hawkesbury Police are investigating the cause of the fire, and we’ll bring you more as we get it.

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