Current Affairs
Campbell Town Town Hall
The Town Hall in Campbell Town is iconic, a landmark of significance, and a place of reference in a historic town.
I believe that this Town Hall should not be sold, and needs to remain in public hands as a cultural icon for Campbell Town, especially as future uses may not be seen today.
Have all possible uses of the Town Hall been explored?
The fact that the Town Hall has a significant memorial to Dr Walter Tofft on it should be considered with care. [1]
Has the Council looked into whether the Town Hall is worthy of heritage listing? I believe that it is worthy of heritage listing, and this matter should be dealt with as the number one priority.
So, please put the sale idea back on the shelf, and get the building assessed for the Tasmanian Heritage Register. If this iconic building is sold now, without any heritage protection, anything could happen to it, from demolition, to a catastrophic transformation for commercial convenience.
Consider the Salamanca Arts Centre, now an amazing cultural asset in Hobart, but it took the hard thinking of a few imaginative people to achieve its present role.
There is a tragic blindness to historic values and heritage needs in the Council, and also to the needs of community.
When the entrance statements for Campbell Town were advertised, the year 1826 was on the design, while at the same time the Council was in support of a bicentenary based on 1821. [Fig.1]
Then when a decision was made, it was so foggy and unclear, I had to seek clarification from the Tasmanian Government as to whether I needed to take the matter to the Tribunal, as the decision did not state that 1821 would be the year shown on the entrance statements. [Fig.2]
That still leaves the question over what text will appear on the entrance statement, as the Councillors voted for an Aboriginal name in one part of the meeting, and then passed the matter of the final wording to appear by the highway to the General Manager.
Will there be no community consultation about the sudden appearance of an Aboriginal name on the entrance statement, and what name will be chosen? When introducing 60,000 years of Aboriginal heritage to a bicentenary year in Campbell Town, surely more care needs to be taken and more community consultation held.
It is in the crazy maelstrom of decision making, that we must now wonder if the Council really knows what they are doing with the Town Hall in Campbell Town, or why.
Looking further south, it was quite shocking to find that the Council were blind to the fact that they were responsible for the heritage bridge in Tunbridge.
Is the Council blind to the cultural and heritage value of the Town Hall in Campbell Town, unable to see future community potential for the site beyond a fist full of dollars?
I read in the minutes of the Campbell Town District Forum that there was consultation in progress, but this was cut short, before the community were to be consulted more widely.
Anna Bonython reported ….. “completed an independent study of Town Halls, to see how they have repurposed their buildings, in other similar communities across Australia and is proposing to use it to commence discussions with the working group. The working group will also work with her to start mapping the social capital and find where there are gaps.” [2]
Cutting community consultation with the Town Hall is a really bad move, as the Council will lack essential information that will inform a proper and well considered decision.
Driving back north from Tunbridge, another case of Council blindness can be seen along the southern slopes of Ross, a location deserving of heritage landscape protection, but not included in the Interim Planning Scheme.
With no heritage light to guide planning in Ross along the southern slope, is the development there as sensitive to the heritage of the town as it could be?
The foolishness of Council running with the sale of the Town Hall in Campbell Town without due consideration of the implications can be seen in a tragic example from Ross.
The old Ross School was a gift to the people of Ross from the Tasmanian Government, which was then leased to the Tasmanian Wool Centre, who neglected the property for a decade, until the Council could legally sell it, and was then sold for no good reason.
The natural use of the old Ross School was for a community and arts centre, but with the sale of the property, this opportunity was lost. A couple of years later members of the Ross community were seeking money to buy the old Anglican church for community uses that the old Ross School could have provided a lot more of.
So why did the Council sell the old Ross School?
I know the sorry saga of the old Ross School far too well, as I looked through the property with a serving Councillor in 2003, and applied for the lease of the property in 2007, with a view to promoting community use and cultural activities.
I include a couple of extracts from my lease application document below. [3]
I could see the potential of the old Ross School as a community and arts centre, history room, tennis club, with potential for an art gallery, and an artist in residence program on the property.
The old Ross School was a natural part of a civic centre in Ross, including the Town Hall and school gardens with old trees, which with the old school oval could have been the town park in Ross, with public toilets, and excellent kitchen facilities for functions on the oval.
It was utter madness on the part of the Council to have bounced around Ross buying privately owned land for a new town park, when the old school oval was already there for such a park, with public toilets by the Town Hall.
I read in the minutes of the Ross Local District Committee of January 2015 a suggestion in a wish list ….. “The vacant land next to the Hotel be purchased using the funds from the sale of the Ross School and developed into a town square.” [4]
Why would the Council act so promptly and secretly on buying privately owned land in Ross, on the basis of one item in a wish list from the Ross Committee, when the old Ross School hadn’t even sold yet?
Or, was it a suggestion from the Council that was simply echoed back from the Ross Committee, liberated of any real community consultation about what would be best in Ross?
Apart from the old school oval, there are a hundred acres of public land around Ross, including west of the Ross Swimming Pool, around the Uniting Church, and along the Macquarie River, land which has on it the old stables near the Ross Bridge, which could be the oldest building in the Central Midlands, dating from when the garrison arrived in 1812.
If proper community consultation had been held in Ross about what Ross really needed, rather than closeted whispers with an elite mob of unelected members of the Ross Special Committee, a far better outcome could have been delivered, rather than being madly focused on selling the old Ross School, and then becoming madly focused on buying privately owned land, and having to build a second set of public toilets in Ross, next to the pub.
It is not just the sale of the old Ross School that is disturbing, but the dirty details involved, and how those details are now remembered by Councillors.
When I inspected the property in 2007, it was empty, unused, and with dead bees filling the wood fire, but rather than accept my lease offer, the Council chose to allow the Tasmanian Wool Centre to continue holding the lease.
When the property was on the market in 2014, I made an inspection with a builder, where we found the wood fire was still filled with dead bees, the place was a disgrace and had not been prepared for sale, and in one place there were rotting floor boards.
The builder quoted us $400,000 to do basic work on the old Ross School to make the property usable as a home. That cost was due to Council madness and Tasmanian Wool Centre neglect.
Did the Council ever properly explore the community potential of the old Ross School? Were community meetings ever held in Ross to consider all possible uses for the property?
A recent Council meeting considered the Tasmanian government offer of the old Avoca school and revealed there had been a far greater interest in selling the old Ross School, than looking at the benefit of the property to the community, where Councillor Polley stated ….. “I support Cr Adams, in the case of Ross when the Ross School was closed, I was the local member. The Government of the day, I made representations, it was given over to Council, with the only condition that if it was ever sold, that the money be used in the town of Ross, and it sat there for quite some time. At the time it was handed over, you probably wouldn’t have been able to sell it, but some years later, it was sold, I think for in excess of $300,000. If you’d held it a bit longer, you’d probably get $700,000 or $800,000, you’d probably get a million now. The point is, we should not just, I think we should go back and say we’re prepared to take it, but we want the same formula as Ross, and that is that the government agree to hand the building over to the community, and if in the future it sold off, the money should be used in the town of Avoca, or if the Council can find some other use for it.” [5]
When the General Manager informed the Councillors that if the Avoca School were sold, the money would go to the Tasmanian Government, the Councillors promptly lost interest in the property, and voted not to accept it.
At no point in the debate was there any discussion about how the Avoca community could benefit from the school, or the holding of a community meeting in Avoca to explore all possibilities.
Why didn’t the Ross community fight tooth and nail to get community use into the old Ross School, a free gift from the Tasmanian Government, and keep it in public hands?
I suspect the fault lies with the Council having taken over the role of community associations with the Special Committee of Council system in Ross and Campbell Town, with the Council far too focused on the unelected members of the Special Committees, and blind to residents and ratepayers in the community.
I have seen so many examples of the Council cutting deals with the unelected Special Committee members, and ignoring the community, that it is becoming a serial offence that is badly warping planning, and sending public money off in odd directions.
I see this warping of community needs now happening with this Town Hall, rather than thinking hard about what the Town Hall could be put to work for into the future.
Will there be a repeat of what happened in Ross, with the Campbell Town community waking up to what should have happened with the Town Hall, after it is sold?
A community can be slow to wake up to authoritarian rule, but when they do, the reaction can be angry, seeking radical change.
The Council now has an opportunity to slam the brakes on, withdraw from selling the Town Hall, and hold a community meeting to consider the views of the whole community.
Why does the Council need to arrange a community meeting?
When the Council dampens the role of community associations by running unelected Special Committees as an arm of the Council, then the Council has created a rod for its own back. What we see is a classic Animal Farm outcome, where the unelected Special Committees are not reflecting the views of the community, simply their personal opinions.
It is in this environment that Council judgement is badly warped, and to proceed to sale, is to stagger blind, repeating the tragedy committed in Ross.
If the Council had a fierce focus on what is best for Campbell Town, they could have been working with the community to get an election funding promise to improve the Town Hall, and make it amazing, including improvements to the museum now located there.
There is great potential in the Town Hall for theatre, with its stage, and even showing movies. The Town Hall in Ross is frequently turned into an art gallery.
The community market could happen more regularly, and made to sparkle with applied imagination.
Now that we have lost the old Ross School, and with a hint of selling the old school oval in 2016, will the Council be wanting to sell the Ross Town Hall next? [6]
REFERENCES
[1] Dr Walter Tofft memorial on the Town Hall …..
https://monumentaustralia.org.
[2] CAMPBELL TOWN DISTRICT FORUM
Meeting held on Tuesday 2nd February 2021 commencing at 9.30am
https://www.northernmidlands.
Anna shared a list of her credentials for carrying out the appraisal of the Town Hall on behalf of NMC. She informed the Forum that she has submitted an Interim report to NMC and is currently waiting for the council review before she can proceed to commence discussions with the community from which a small working group will be formed.
Anna has completed an independent study of Town Halls, to see how they have repurposed their buildings, in other similar communities across Australia and is proposing to use it to commence discussions with the working group. The working group will also work with her to start mapping the social capital and find where there are gaps.
[3] Application to lease the old Ross School – Kim Peart, Tuesday 23 January 2007
Page 1 ….. I was first made aware of the Ross School by Councillor Tru Dowling, who showed me around the buildings 4 years ago, when I was preparing for the Tasmanian Bicentenary event with Jorgen Jorgenson in Ross in July 2004. On a visit to Ross recently I was surprised to find that the school remains empty and unused. The buildings appear to be in good condition, though in need of some maintenance, such as maintenance and a thorough cleaning up.
Page 2 ….. When I visited the Ross School on Friday 12 January I spoke with a woman and resident of Ross in the grounds with her daughter, who expressed great sadness at the state of the school and that it stands neglected and in a deteriorating condition. Other residents of Ross probably hold similar feelings and fears for the future of this historic school. I hope that my proposal will offer hope for the future of the Ross School and help to create a new role for it in the community.
Page 4 ….. The new school building could be dedicated to a range of community related activities. If there were need for an on-line centre in Ross, this could be a good location. The building could also be used for community education and this role could be explored. I would be interested in running art classes, workshops and history seminars. The imagination is the only limit on what could happen, together with numbers to participate and could include computer courses, enterprise workshops, first aid courses, a book club, writing workshops, theatre, photography and film making. If there is a need for youth activities in Ross, this could be explored with parents. Activities for older residents in Ross could also be considered. There may, for instance, be interest in a garden club, which would help to care for the grounds. A tennis club might even get going in the outside court. Should we agree to a project with the Ross School, we could prepare a flier, outlining some of the possibilities with the school and invite interested Ross residents to a meeting at the school to say what they may like to see happen there for the community.
[4] Minutes of the Ross Local District Committee, 20 January 2015
https://www.northernmidlands.
“The vacant land next to the Hotel be purchased using the funds from the sale of the Ross School and developed into a town square.”
[5] AUDIO RECORDING OF THE MEETING OF COUNCIL
15 March 2021 – Ordinary Meeting – open council first session recording …..
https://www.northernmidlands.
38:12 ….. Avoca Primary School
[6] Minutes of the Ross Local District Committee for 7 December 2016
https://www.northernmidlands.
8.19 Ross School Oval …..
Council have requested feedback on a proposal to subdivide and sell the Ross Oval now the Ross Town Square has been purchased.
Fig.1
Kim Peart is a long-time resident of Ross, a writer, a keen afficionado of Second Life, and the founder of Space Pioneers.