The New Zealand Cultural Heritage Trust has sought resource consent to create a community complex, museum and cafe.
The trust was founded in 2003 by Roger Mahan, the managing director of Milburn Lime Ltd, and was formed to work with the Department of Culture and Heritage to protect and display heritage machinery, tractors, traction engines and artefacts.
The site is on the corner of State Highway 1 and Helensbrook Rd, next to McLay Boats.
The proposed complex would be mainly composed of a museum, with an adjoining cafe and amenities.
The resource consent application said it would be similar in design to McLay Boats, about 10,000sq m and include a high ceiling to allow all types of machinery to be displayed.
Mr Mahan is a life member of the Geraldine Vintage Tractor and Car Museum, and a member of the South Otago Machinery Club, the West Otago Vintage Machinery Club, the South Otago Vintage Car Club, Edendale Vintage Machinery Club and also of the Milton RSA.
He has a large collection of fully restored vintage machinery - cars, motorcycles, tractors, bulldozers, trucks - and plans to gift it to the trust so it could be displayed in the proposed museum.
Mr Mahan moved to Milton from Geraldine 18 years ago.
He said the town gave him ''great support'' when he began establishing the lime works at Milburn. The complex was ''away to give something back to Milton''.
The museum would be used to store and display a wide variety of early pioneering artefacts from the 1800s onwards.
The application said some of the items were ''one of a kind'', and included industrial machinery, hand tools, transport vehicles, and steam and hot-air engines.
Several vintage machinery and car clubs have written letters of support for the project, stating it would be a positive asset for the town.
The trust is reconstructing a Bob Semple Caterpillar D8 tractor tank for the Milton RSA which would be displayed at the museum, and perhaps used in Anzac parades.
The tanks were built in Temuka, with the purpose of defending New Zealand against a Japanese invasion during World War 2.
Clutha District Council planning and environment manager Murray Brass said it was a limited notification application and the decision whether to grant consent would be made by council staff.
