On Sunday 6 June, a public meeting was held regarding the future of the Campbell Town Hall, following a recent decision by the Northern Midlands Council to sell it. This is the text of organiser Kim Peart’s address to that meeting.
Will the Central Midlands become a council?
Climate change with the world getting hotter will prompt more mainlanders to move to Tasmania. The north of the Northern Midlands is becoming a suburb of Launceston. The south of the Southern Midlands is becoming a suburb of greater Hobart.
We must plan for a future when the population of Campbell Town may grow in size to 4 times larger. We need to plan for more towns and villages, or we will get lumbered with urban sprawl.
In this all too predictable near-future, we will need the Town Hall … or we will have to build a new town hall and civic centre. Why should we be forced to reinvent the wheel?
My proposal for a rural and regional art gallery would allow the Town Hall to remain public … with community events happening between art exhibitions, such a movie night, or a play.
We need a use that will cover maintenance. If there is a better idea, we can talk about that.
The Town Hall Arts Club proposal would be a foundation activity, which can aim for an art exhibition in the hall at the earliest opportunity, as a fund-raising event to save the Town Hall.
To support the action, and be a voice for the Central Midlands community, I suggest that we need to form a community association, which could be called the Heartlands Association.
The choice of name is up to the members. This association would need to be incorporated, with an elected committee. There would be annual elections.
The association could own property, so as a last-ditch effort to save the Town Hall, the funds could be raised to buy the Town Hall.
As the Council are so worried about the hundreds of thousands of dollars to meet the maintenance needs of the property, it sounds like they would be willing to give the Town Hall away. If my prediction is realised, and a Central Midlands council is created, then the association may consider passing the property on to the new council.
For now, we face a Tribunal hearing, where we can present our case to keep the Town hall in public hands.
If we succeed, the money for the maintenance must still be found. An association could raise that money, with community support.
If the Town Hall remains with the Council, and the association becomes responsible for maintenance, then I would assume the association would become the managers of the Town Hall for the community.
This Town Hall is a central civic centre for the communities of the Central Midlands. What we as a community can create here, will attract people from across the region.
By shrinking public space in Campbell Town to the sports ground, with a function and meeting room venue that is aimed at making money from the meeting market developed here, this town is being shrunk, rather than being a regional centre for life and culture.
If we lose the Town Hall, we still have the heart of the community, and we can rebuild.
As an association we can drive like mad to raise the funds for a new civic centre in Campbell Town, apply for grants, and drive the council nuts with our civic demands.
We can tell the Campbell Town community, and the Northern Midlands Council, if they would like peace, take their hands off the Town Hall.
If they sell the Town Hall, they will have war, never-ending, to build a new civic centre in Campbell Town.
We have a strong case to make, and a robust argument to present at the Tribunal, which may see the council mediate with us to keep the Town Hall in public hands.
There is now a vision that can inspire the community to support a future for the Town Hall remaining in public hands. When the council meets our inspiration, they too may be inspired to work with us.
The alternative is war, and ultimately the council will lose, because we are where the heart is, in the heart of Tasmania.
Kim Peart is a long-time resident of Ross, a writer, a keen aficionado of Second Life, and the founder of Space Pioneers.
Meeting Follow Up
The name of a community association was floated, which is a proposed name, but if there is a better name for the land of the three historic bridges, love to hear.
In the near future we can hold another meeting to launch the association with a good and proper function, select the name, nominate an interim committee, and proceed to incorporation.
I like the term ‘Heartland’, as it makes us into heartlanders, which has an echo of highlander.
The democratic voice can and should shape the identity and direction. The immediate direction is to save the Town Hall, and I will offer a campaign strategy below.
TOWN HALL ARTS CLUB – Anyone wishing to look at the Town Hall Arts Club, let me know, and we can make a time to meet in the Town Hall Supper Room, which is down the stairs below the stage, with a glass door entrance round the back of the hall.
There is a meeting room upstairs in the Town Hall, the old Council Chamber, where committee meetings could be held.
An alternative free meeting place can be on our land in Ross, with a campfire, where sculpture workshops are planned to happen, and the sculpture park developed on our 20 acres.
BONFIRE – We are planning a bonfire on Saturday 3 July. Who would like to come? Around 5pm. A slightly Viking theme. Bring a log, something to eat, something to drink, and a joke or story to share.
CAMPAIGN STRATEGY – Email or write to the councillors. You can find all their emails and phone numbers on the Council website.
Say why you want the Town Hall to be kept in public hands. Also spell out why the new function and meeting room venue, which is the football club house at the sports ground, is not a realistic replacement for the Town Hall.
Write a letter to the editor of media outlets.
Write to your representatives in the Tasmanian and Australian parliaments. The addresses can be found on the websites of the Parliament of Tasmania, and the Australian Parliament
The Tasmanian Upper House representative is the Member for Prosser. The Lower House members, state and federal, are for Lyons. You could select 3 senators to write to. If feeling brave, phone the councillors and state and federal politicians.
Why not write to the governor, and ask the Governor of Tasmania to visit our Town Hall, suggesting we could arrange a nice reception, and invite all the councillors along, as we want them to get a bit of heart and love this town hall to bits, like we do.
As the Tribunal ad shows, the first conference will be held on Wednesday 16 June. You could phone or email the Tribunal if you wish to attend. The phone number can be found on their website.
Following the conference, there will be mediation for a date to be set. Between now and mediation we have a window to send communications to the councillors, directly and via politicians and the media, inviting them to reverse their position on sale, and have a meeting with us to work out ways to keep the Town Hall in public hands. The council are worried about the cost of maintenance. We can offer to work with them on that problem. Raise funds. Apply for grants. Seek a federal election promise to improve the Town Hall and keep it good.
We have seen the grants awarded in Tasmania that the council could have applied for to do work on the Town Hall, but the council were missing on the list. We can watch out for those grants, and drive an application for the Town Hall.
If our voice becomes loud enough, direct funding may come from the Tasmanian Government to address the needs of the Town Hall in Campbell Town. If you know anyone who also wants the Town Hall kept public, ask them to participate in the letter campaign. I would be delighted to receive copies of the missives sent out.
We need to aim for 100 people participating. That will be the level of voice that could reverse the Council decision. Those participating in the campaign could be anywhere in Tasmania, especially if they are from Campbell Town and know this Town Hall, and maybe love it.
I am adding the petition calling for heritage listing. We need to aim for 500 signing. We have about 40 so far. You can print the petition and collect signatures. The response with the petition will also show how many people love the Town Hall. This petition is aimed at the Council, who have a heritage list, but a copy will be given to the Heritage Minister.
FINANCE – Expenses were $121.00 for Town Hall rent. Income $100.00 from donations. For anyone wishing to make a contribution, we will set up an account, which will then be managed by the association committee.
