Thursday, March 29, 2012
Open day cancelled
THERE appears to have been a last-minute cancellation of this Sunday's open day at Willow Court. Various Facebook pages and the authoritative royalderwent.com website are tonight reporting that the event has been cancelled due to public safety concerns and a lack of assistance. The site will be open to visitors on May 6 as part of the 2012 Tasmanian Heritage Festival.
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Should anyone really be surprised that the very vocal willow court and barracks working group could not even field enough volunteers to hold their open day, this group is very happy to criticise the council, perhaps you could try working with council instead of against them. Can anyone point out any successes that the group has had? It seems that as far as willow court goes everyone involved could lift their game.
ReplyDeleteThat's hardly fair, Anonymous. They have run several very successful open days before this.
DeleteDear ‘Anonymous’ (so original)
Delete(a) At least someone is being vocal in trying to fight for Willow Court – the money this site could bring in to this town and the fact that no one else is trying to make a difference beggars belief – have you had a look at Port Arthur recently?
(b) The Committee should not be regarded as the sole source of volunteers – funnily enough, you may find they have other commitments (how dare they!) and there should be other community members prepared to put in a couple of hours once a year (which is far less than what the committee members do) – where were you? Have you been to any of the working bees or helped at an open day? Where were the councillors (Cr Lathey aside)?
(c) The Committee criticises DVC because everything stops at DVC’s door. It is the DVC which is working against the Committee and the community on this one. What you are clearly unaware of is that the Committee has NO AUTHORITY or POWER to do ANYTHING other than make recommendations to DVC. Which the Committee does and the DVC ignores. Perhaps you should take the time to read their terms of reference. Therefore, the Committee cannot, by definition, have any successes of the nature you imply, apart from working hard to keep the DVC accountable, keep the issue of Willow Court front of mind and on cleaning up the site through working bees and conducting open days etc. I am sure the Committee would love to have some autonomy to actually get things done – it would solve a lot of problems. But the DVC won’t allow that.
(d) The DVC is solely to blame for all and any inaction at Willow Court and the waste of over $3.9 MILLION in funds since 2002. It refuses to agree to an expenditure audit. Why?
(e) The DVC has a history which clearly demonstrates a complete and utter unwillingness to do anything productive with the Willow Court site (despite the commendable efforts of two current Councillors).
(f) The Committee has put various recommendations to DVC and assisted DVC in preparing the MOU sent to the State Government which the DVC now cannot seem to finalise for reasons it will not disclose. All it is good at doing is stalling the process until there’s nothing left of the site to bother preserving.
So Anonymous, what have YOU done to lift YOUR game? So easy to be a sideline commentator. Are you signing up for the 6 May Open Day at Willow Court. I am sure the Committee would love your help.
And can you show us any successes the Council has had with Willow Court?!
Dear are you serious, (a) you have no bloody idea, do you know how much money has been put into Port Arthur? If the state and federal governments invested even a quarter of the money into willow court that has been thrown at Port Arthur we would be in a different place today.
Delete(b) It was the committee who came up with the idea to have their open day, if they had (other commitments) then they shouldn’t have volunteered to run it, no publicity is better than bad publicity.
(c) You are right it does stop at DVC’S door and that seems to be the problem, we have a group of people, not elected by popular vote, trying to dictate terms to council who are elected to represent the community as a whole. The fact you don’t agree with them is your right, the fact that you think councillors Bester and Lathey know more than the other seven of their peers is also your right but surely more can be achieved by working together.
(d) The DVC is not solely to blame and to suggest otherwise is a blatant lie, the Willow court saga had its inception when the state government decided to close The royal Derwent hospital, the State Government knew or should have known that the council lacked the expertise and finances to run a project of that size, DVC certainly had a role to play especially our former major Tim Morris, (thanks for the memories Tim) I don’t know about the audit you speak of but if you haven’t seen it, how do you know the money was wasted? Do you have some inside knowledge?
(e) I don’t think your comments about the DVC not being willing to do anything productive with Willow court are accurate, the very fact that they appointed your committee is testament to that. I have spoken to some councillors and they seem very willing to move forward on Willow court, such as the sale of the oval, (I am told the funds from the sale go to the restoration of other parts of the site). I have heard they have engaged the services of a former government minister to oversee the sit and to look for funding opportunity’s and partnerships with state and federal governments. Would one of the councillors you refer to be Councillor Barry Lathey? Because if it is you should have a little look at what he has achieved at willow court in his ten years on council. I assume the other councillor you refer to is Councillor Bester, and I congratulate him on his efforts, I don't agree with him but at least he has the strength of his convictions.
(f) You say that you assisted with the preparation of the MOU and that DVC won’t disclose why it cannot finalise it, It was mentioned in very strong terms by councillor Damian Bester at the meeting after the willow court fire that DVC was waiting on the State Government to send the MOU back to DVC I think therefor it is public knowledge that DVC was not happy with what was on offer. I think you comment that DVC is deliberately waiting for the destruction of the site is scurrilous.
Your comments spoke volumes about how you feel when someone makes comments about your efforts with Willow court, how then do you think councillors feel when they are the victims of your and others vitriol? I do not believe for one moment that any of the councillors are not as concerned about Willow court as Damian Bester or Barry Lathey or even yourself. Mistakes have been made in the past, let the past be the past, you or I or DVC can change nothing of the past we can make a huge difference with the future but only in the spirit of co-operation.
Why makes these statements and be Anonymous???
ReplyDeleteI don't know where you get your information from but you have got it wrong.
We can only work with what we are given, we had several volunteers but sadly not enough.
Check out the AGM minutes to see what we were upt o last year. http://www.derwentvalley.tas.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/13_-_Willow_Court_and_Barracks_Committee_Minutes_27_January_2014.pdf
In reply to Nick. My suggestion was that everyone could lift their game, that includes DVC I had a look at the web site and fair enough the committee has achieved some things, congratulations on that, but I still say stop trying to score points of each other, everyone professes to have the best interest of the community at heart so just get on with it and that includes DVC especially Damian Bester and Barry Lathey. PS it wouldn't hurt for a few councillors and even the Major to get down there and lend a hand. You might be surprised at what can be achieved when everyone is on the same page.
DeleteYour initial comment seemed pretty much like cheap point scoring; it was pretty scornful.
DeleteBut yes, everyone needs to be on the same page. Perhaps it's time the committee and Council - and ideally David Llewellyn - got together for an informal chat about stuff. We should be working together, that is certainly 100% correct. I think everyone is feeling a degree of frustration. Sitting down in one room to nut through issues, clear the air and brainstorm next steps would be helpful (in my humble opinion).
As an outsider looking in, I don't know any real details of either side.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I would have thought that a stand at the fair on Sunday would have been a good idea to raise public awareness. Possibly get at mailing list of interested people. Surely you'd need less volunteers for that.
there were lots of disappointed people there on sunday i ran into a group of about 8or9 that wanted a tour of the place....If i knew more about the area i join your group and help out...But most of my stuff i know is old....Because that where my mind lays in this place...I hate seeing all the bad things happening to it now, but please hurry and return it to its former state and turn it into a museum of history...Where we can show the rest of the world what happened there and how its a big part of our past present and future...
ReplyDeleteGreat idea Anonymous, how about something in the gazette seeking expresions of interest from from others in the comunity, maybe something at the information centre.
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous
ReplyDeleteWhat makes you think I am on the Committee? Special Committee minutes are on the DVC website and the Committee isn't under a gag order.
At the last DVC meeting, Cr Evans said the DVC wasn't happy with the MOU terms sent back by govt. He didn't elaborate. He said DVC hadn't actually expressed this in writing to the State Govt, though a few phone calls had been made. Whatever Mr Llewellyn is doing has not been specified, no time frame indicated. I was at the recent public meeting but I admit I don't recall Cr Bester's comments that DVC had sent something back to the State Govt.
The DVC is not good at communicating the status quo. If it doesn't want people making comments it finds hurtful, it should keep the public better informed, via The Gazette, its website, its new newsletter etc.
I am not putting out vitriol. I speak based on my own observations of council and welcome alternative views.
But, to me, putting together a Committee which has no power to do anything is hardly a Gold Star or credit to Council. In contrast, Council does have the power to do something so where else are we to finger point?
Selling off Willow Court assets doesn't seem to be helping the condition of what's left. So I wouldn't be touting that as helping save the place. DVC still has grant money (I have heard) so why not start using that rather than waiting (oh that word ... waiting ...) for proceeds of a sale which we don't even know has been secured? The $4000/week Council wasted on a sleeping security guard wasn't much of a gold star moment either.
But really, you should perhaps not take things so personally. The council (irrespective of its individual memberships over the years) has failed so far. There's no doubt that since RDH's closure, there's been/are Councillors who have tried to get something happening. I also agree the DVC is illequipped to deal with such a site. But, in those 10+ years, "Council" has failed to find a workable way forward. I just can't get my head around it.
Grants were secured, reports/studies commissioned but why does it always stop there? Council makes long-term plans, eg.Strategic Plan, why in all this time has a plan not been established for Willow Court which everyone can work to, irrespective of who’s sitting on Council at any given point in time? Willow Court could bring so much employment and money into the area.
There are things council could be doing to benefit the site and do not require a huge outlay of resources or State Govt input. eg. an official website, a separate body which could receive public donations.
Yeah, we all know how much money gets pumped into Port Arthur, that's a no brainer but that's because once upon a time, someone did something right and set up the right model to get the place off the ground. Has Council looked at how Port Arthur first got going? It might be educational. If council took the lead, the governments may follow. NN needs to embrace Willow Court, rather than waiting for someone else to start the ball rolling. That’s just another cop out.
So, I speak for myself, not as part of any Committee. I speak from what I see. I lay blame at Council's door as an entity, irrespective of who the councillors are at any point in time. That being said, it is the Councillors who guide the DVC. Every time I see the Council discussing Willow Court it is with a lot of "red tape" and no specific commitment to any set goals, timelines or clear action plans. It’s a lot of motherhood statements with no substance.
The lack of communication is a key issue. It creates distrust and feeds rumours and hearsay.
What are your suggestions? Are you on Council? Can you make a difference?
And yes, an open day shouldn’t be arranged when there are insufficient people for public safety; it was a real shame and not good PR. It’s no secret that some of the Committee members had other obligations on the day, which related to the festival itself, so fair go.
I like the idea of the mailing list - is this something Council can set up through its website? Somewhere people can register their email and then council could let people know what's happening? And/or maybe council could have a page on its website just for Willow Court?
ReplyDeleteTo the Anonymous who started all this commentary: re your comment "we have a group of people, not elected by popular vote [where have I heard that before?], trying to dictate terms to council who are elected to represent the community as a whole" ...
ReplyDeleteTo make sure things are accurate for the public record, the Committee is a Special Committee of Council. Council (as elected representatives) appointed the Committee (AND its members) because it does not have the time (understandable) to dedicate to properly investigate the issues and what can be done at Willow Court. That's called delegation (to a point, as the Committee doesn't actually have any powers and Council doesn't communicate freely or act with much expediency). Council has asked the Committee for its recommendations - that is part of its terms of reference. Council should be grateful and respectful of the fact that some members of the community are passionate enough to give a toss and give up their unpaid time to assist Council. So don't give me that nonsense.