Derwent Valley Council – Willow Court Tasmania

UPDATE ON WILLOW COURT

January 14, 2024 No Comments

Ongoing media attention and politics seems to be prevailing at New Norfolk about Tasmanians’ Willow Court:

7th November 2023 Media release Derwent Valley Council

Derwent Valley Council has terminated its lease with New Norfolk Distillery, effective immediately.
Council will now arrange inspections of the Alonnah, Occupational Therapy and Carlton buildings, including the exercise yards, to determine the state of the buildings and identify what maintenance works are required in order to make them safe and to prevent any further deterioration.

The outcome of these inspections will help Council consider the options for the future use of these buildings.

Willow Court has been part of New Norfolk’s history for over 200 years and Council is committed to its ongoing reimagining and revitalisation of this important asset. Development of a Heritage Interpretation Plan for the precinct, defines how Council, precinct partners and community stakeholders can communicate its heritage values and sensitively manage Willow Court’s story into the future.

The adaptive reuse and activation of Willow Court has already seen outcomes, such as the multi-million investment into the Corumbene Health Hub on the Avenue, and Sisters’ restoration work on the Ladies Cottage and Nurses Quarters, both currently in development.

Council will continue to seek opportunities that will ensure ongoing funding for the restoration, maintenance and activation of the site over the long term. We will continue to work with other leaseholders and land owners within this historic precinct to secure its future as an asset to our community.

https://www.derwentvalley.tas.gov.au/home/latest-news/statement-regarding-new-norfolk-distillery-lease

Another failed attempt to put ideas into action at the Willow Court Site. The history of the site and the people who have had ideas of it’s repurposing have been long. Unfortunately many ideas have failed to take off. We learnt that this idea for a rum distillery, tasting centre and conference facility was going to employ many locals, both in the construction phase and the on going running. Both haven’t eventuated. On the 7th November 2023 the Derwent Valley Council released the above media release and they have taken back control of Wards C, A and the Occupational Centre.

We learnt that the owner of the Distillery believed that the rent was going to be forfeited as in kind support. We also know that the owners believed that the buildings would be given to the company in kind. We also know that owners of the business believed that the water, power and sewage services would be connected by the council (rate payers) in kind. We also were made aware that the owners secured a 1.2 million dollar grant from the Liberal Government (outside of normal grant practices) and that one of the owners was a liberal Minister’s employee.

What we are not sure about is why the owners believed that the rate payer and tax payers would be funding their business and it’s expansion. This has been an idea and business proposal that follows on from many others who have has a similar outcome for various reasons. The Derwent Valley Council again suggested calling for expressions of interest, but this wasn’t adopted by the council at their December 2023 meeting.

Meanwhile a community group has held a community workshop that was heled to discuss what the community want from their building. The results of this workshop were shared with the council at a workshop. In between that time there has been a number of businesses applying for the use of Willow Court, including Tasmania’s Most Haunted”

A request to have access to the site from the group that started the community meeting was denied. The group call for a cohesive separate governance structure separate from the political influences of elected members of the council. This is a similar set up at Port Arthur, with the Port Arthur Authority. The new group consists of many people from a wide range of professional and business backgrounds with history in heritage, project management and governance to name a few.

The Willow Court Community Workshop group sent this update today:

14 January 2024

An update on the Willow Court Community Workshop.

The WCCW outcomes report was forwarded to the DVC on 5 December. On Friday 8 December, the council’s December meeting agenda was published online. One of the agenda items was the Expressions of Interest for Willow Court. This occurred before the WCCW group had time to present the outcomes of the workshop to councillors.

Group representatives met with the acting General Manager and Mayor the following week where we raised our concerns and it was suggested we could lodge an EOI. As it happened the EOI motion failed as it was not supported by councillors.
The WCCW group presented to the councillors at a workshop on Wednesday 10 January. Our PPT presentation is attached. In attendance were Crs. Justin Derksen, Peter Binny, Sarah Lowe, Philip Bingley, and Matt Hill, and the Mayor. Two councillors were apologies. One councillor officer was in attendance.

One of the main outcomes of the report to councillors was that the WCCW report outcomes be formally endorsed by the council so that we can move forward on the planning from the workshop outcomes, particularly towards an independent management structure for the Barracks precinct and for the inclusion of the co-design aspect of planning for Willow Court.

The council’s January meeting agenda came out on Friday 12 January. It has two items from business operators in the Willow Court Barracks precinct. One from Willow Court Tours (Tasmania’s Most Haunted) and one from the Agrarian Kitchen. These agenda items were prepared by the council before the WCCW group presented to the councillors on Wednesday evening.
Reading the background to each item there is mention of the council being approached at the end of last year, hence the attempt to get up the WC EOI motion at the December council meeting. These Willow Court business operators were aware of the WCCW.

One had been consulted in the early stages of planning and the other attended part of the community workshop.
Should there be any progress on these two agenda items at the council meeting on Thursday 18 January it will indicate the council is happy to stay on its merry-go-round of piecemeal decisions on the future of the Willow Court Barracks precinct, in the complete absence of a long term vision for what the site could be and a masterplan to ensure the site is developed and governed to its full potential, or in consideration of the WCCW outcomes and the valuable input of the many people who gave their time and knowledge to the workshop.

You can read the council’s meeting agenda (Click on Picture) will open in a separate window.

One of the outcomes of the WCCW was the request by participants to tour the council owned Willow Court buildings. The response to our enquiry from the acting General Manager was first that we needed to have a bona fide reason to access the buildings, and on Friday last week his response was that he wouldn’t let us tour the site today unless we had an understanding of building maintenance. He suggested a small group could tour the buildings on that basis to get an understanding of the issues and scope of what is required to make them habitable.
The workshop group will be meeting next week to discuss next steps.

So, the future for Willow Court is still as clear as it was when it first closed in 2000. The opportunity to hear the people and what they want from their site is still not clearly being heard by those whose job it is to manage this site on behalf of the owners, the people of Tasmania.

Global, Local

Volunteer attacked

October 12, 2022 No Comments

Portcullis Holdings legal attack on Willow Court Volunteer. Courtesy of the Mercury Newspaper

Anne Salt has been a volunteer worker with the Friends of Willow Court and other committees in the Derwent Valley for the past 14 years. The Friends of Willow Court were set up by the Derwent Valley Council as a special committee under the Local Government Act. The Council has changed all their committees, or are in the process of assisting committees to move to a Incorporated body with both administration and financial support.

The Committees will be replaced by advisory bodies to the Council. The Friends of Willow Court have been working with the Willow Court History Group as we are both aligned ethically to present the site as a Tasmanian Heritage site that holds a significant place in our history and respect the site with due sensitivity for the past residents and staff.

We are disappointed one of the Derwent Valleys’ community volunteers has had to endure weeks of targeted legal threats from Portcullis Holdings. Justin Derksen was the secretary when the “Friends of Willow Court” was registered as a business and is currently standing as a candidate for the Derwent Valley Council.

The main part of the site is owned by the Derwent Valley Council and is leased to a number of business and groups including the Agrarian Kitchen, Derwent Valley Arts, and Portcullis Holdings.

Global, Local

Protest at Frascati House

May 19, 2021 No Comments

Last weekend anyone passing along the Avenue might have noticed a number of signs outside the front of Frascati House, these were placed there by a member of the Friends of Frascati House, a committee of the Derwent Valley Council.

The committee has been at odds with the decisions of the Derwent Valley Council to make a car park at the front of Frascati House and Gardens. Both the gardens and the home were created in the early 1830’s and the DVC put together a committee of community representative to assist with managing and preserving the site, it’s history both physically and socially.

The house was built by John Burnett, Colonial Secretary to Van Diemen’s Land. The Colonial Secretary occupied the home from 1834, after it’s construction, while the Governor was in residence at the Government retreat know as Turriff Lodge. The home was later sold to the Hospital and was used as a residence for the Medical Superintendent and his family. Two granddaughters of Dr Charles Brothers took the time to write a letter to the local news paper (New Norfolk News).

Sandra Hetherington’s Letter to the editor

Committee member Sandra Hetherington also wrote a letter to the New Norfolk News (above) expressing her discontent at the Council’s decision to keep making ad hoc decisions about the site in the absence of a master plan. The approved car park will be located next to an existing empty car park. The new car park is meeting demand from the Derwent Valley Arts group, who have taken a short term lease of the east wing of the Barracks for a number of events and exhibitions, the Agrarian Kitchen and the New Norfolk Distillery’s paranormal night tours, which have been subcontracted to Tasmania’s Most Haunted. The proposed New Norfolk Distillery tasting room, function centre and multi story hotel which was approved over two years ago has yet to appear beyond The Public relations companies contract to sell the idea to the local community.

As an update to the story there is an increasing number of signs appearing on the front lawns of Frascati House in a silent but determine protest at the lack of Council’s planning despite already paid for plans which are being ignored.

Global, Local

A new beginning for Willow Court?

February 8, 2021 No Comments

The January meeting of the Derwent Valley Council unanimously voted to subdivide the Heritage Precinct of Willow Court into three lots in a bid to offer long term leases (greater than 5 years) and/or offer for sale, the Heritage Site.

A number of objections were sent in and dismissed by Council.

“It is frustrating that Council have made such a massive change in direction regarding the management of Willow Court without proper community consultation. As noted, it is public land therefore, the community and ratepayers should have had the opportunity to seek clarification and be informed about the proposed changes before it went to this final Public
Notice stage.”

Friends of Frascati

“Please accept my objection to the proposed disposal of the above public property. The grounds for my objection are as follows. I believe that a confusing and unfair approach to the intended lease and disposal of the Willow Court Barracks precinct buildings and spaces has occurred as the original lease appears to be done under section 177 of the Act, whereas the latest lease/disposal appears to be under section 177A. The difference is substantial with one being any land whereas section 177A is public land providing an appeal process.”

Unknown Author.

In the conclusion the Derwent Valley Council wrote:

Overall, none of the points raised in either of the two letters of objection go to the core
considerations under section 178A (3) of the Act, this being that “the community may suffer undue hardship due to the loss of access to, and the use of (Edit: Willow Court), the public land or there is no similar facility available to the users of that facility”.

DVC

The full Agenda can be read from the Council website (28th January). The unanimously decision to proceed with the subdivision is found in the audio recording of the same meeting.

Global, Local

Asbestos Dump Site

August 27, 2020 No Comments

Over the last few decades it has been reported that there is an asbestos dump on the land at New Norfolk that was formerly under the control of the Royal Derwent Hospital. The asbestos was removed from the Royal Derwent Hospital/Willow Court Centre buildings after completion of a major asbestos audit. Parts of the site are still contaminated with asbestos which is mainly found in old electrical equipment such as switchboards and gaskets in the old heating system.

During the latest restoration an audit was undertaken, but the cost of removal was deemed too costly. The only way to remove these gaskets was to cut away large and heavy sections of metal pipes either side of the gasket, so as not to disturb the toxic material. Proper disposal of asbestos is costed by weight, the metal would add to the cost, so it was deemed safe while in situ.

The potential sale of the site was affected by two reported dump sites;
“While it was a large property, the Valuer-General established a value of just $500 000, taking into account heritage constraints as well as the poor state of many of the buildings. Furthermore, significant industrial contamination, including asbestos and hospital waste, existed at the site.”

The Valuer General’s 2013 report recognised that any developer would have to undertake remediation of the site at considerable cost so as to develop the area;
“However, at least $16m expense for service upgrades, sub-division, demolition of buildings and asbestos removal appeared unavoidable.”
The report goes on to mention the successful sale;
“After a two-year negotiation, sale was agreed to the Lachlan River Community Holdings Pty Ltd: a consortium of Derwent Valley Council and a private company, Mototo Business Group Pty Ltd.”

Given this report it appears that all documentation about the hospital waste site and the asbestos dump site were known to the Derwent Valley Council before, during and after the sale of the former RDH land.

To date it is believed there has been no remediation of the site, however the Gateway Estate housing development on the hill near the dump sites was approved by the Derwent Valley Council. It is unclear if the Council, as the previous owner, or the current developer undertook any safety audits or environmental reports of the land before development started to protect residents and construction personal.

In a report named “Preliminary Environmental Assessment of the Royal Derwent Hospital/Willow Court Centre” by Stoklosa Engineering PTY LIMITED dated 1996, a map shows the sites of the Hospital Waste and the Asbestos Dump Site (circled in red).

Below is another image from Google Earth which has been aligned, as much as it was possible, to the above image. The red circled area is a close proximity to the matching red circle from the above report.

An earlier report on this website raised many questions about the possible location of the dump site. A number of people suggested that the dump site was closer to the Lyell Highway, opposite Millbrook Rise. Previous stories.

In 2016 a “Structure Plan (Draft)” from the Derwent Valley Council reported; previous unknown location of an “asbestos dumping site”, even though, as the part owners of the site, the Derwent Valley Council had access to all the reports and information pertaining to the toxic dump site.

On Tuesday I visited the site and spoke with a local resident who informed me that the surveyors were working on the site in the area of the above red circle. This was believed to be in preparation for the next stage of housing development.

Global, Local

Audio tour by Ian Brown circa 2007

April 18, 2020 No Comments

Ian Brown 2007

Above is a podcast recorded about 2007 where the Valley Vision Project Officer, Ian Brown conducted a tour of Willow Court. Valley Vision which was set up by the Derwent Valley Council. Valley Vision had plans for the site and did a lot of the groundwork that allowed for the current activities onsite.

Allonah Female High Secure Ward, Samantha Bulmer Collection

Valley Vision were about for nearly ten years and were unsuccessful in finalising the vision for the site before being disbanded by the Derwent Valley Council in 2009-10. It was interesting to note that the Councillors who disbanded Valley Vision also failed to complete any vision for the site. Some of the plans from Valley Vision included community use areas which were similar to the proposal recently put forward by the Friends of Willow Court. Other plans were for some art works to be returned or loaned from the Cunningham Dax Centre Museum, attached to the Melbourne University in Victoria.

Valley Vision were also responsible for the Living In – Living Out exhibition which celebrated the worker’s throughout the decades in the hospital. Podcasts from the exhibition can be found on the Multimedia\audio page. Ian refers to “Tony” in the podcast, Tony is Tony Nicholson who was the Mayor\Local Historian at the time and who was also passionate about the site’s history and how that could be respectfully told to future generations.

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Large numbers tour site

August 12, 2019 2 Comments

The first of two groups about to head off around the site.

This was posted on our Facebook Group a few days ago by Anne Salt who is a member of the Friends of Willow Court. I had the pleasure of assisting them on one Sunday with the tours of the site.

The Friends of Willow Court are overwhelmed by the interest in Willow Court’s history shown by people from all over Tasmanian, and the mainland. Over the last two open days, and from a private bus tour 286 people have visited the site. Many have expressed concern and disbelief that the Derwent Valley Council is in the process of subdividing and handing significant parts of this site to a private developer, without consideration for ongoing community access and interpretation.

One couple decided to let our Councillors know their thoughts on Willow Court, and the economic benefit to the district when the site is open. Hopefully the Councillors received, and read the email.

This is what the visitors had to say in part,

‘We are Tasmanians from the Launceston area. We came south specifically to New Norfolk for the weekend. We drove around the area, ate at a local bistro, filled the car with fuel at a local service station, stayed overnight in local heritage accommodation, had coffee at three different local cafes, purchased snacks and milk from a local corner shop, ate breakfast at a local café, purchased goods from a local antique shop and paid to attend the Willow Court Tour. In all, for the Saturday afternoon and Sunday we spent in New Norfolk specifically to attend a Willow Court tour we spent over $780. If it was not for Willow Court, we would not have visited at all.

We urge the recently elected local Council to look at some of the decisions that are being made and consider what their footprint on the local history may look like to visitors to New Norfolk in the coming years. Don’t let our grandchildren or great grandchildren (we are both 47 and don’t have grandchildren yet) not have the opportunity to visit this facility in the future if they wish. Keep it open, restore and upgrade the facility for Tasmanian locals, interstate and international visitors for generations to come.’

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Investigation into Council’s own actions

July 3, 2019 2 Comments

On the 20th June at the Derwent Valley Council meeting the General Manager instigated a Probity Investigation into the tender process for the Sale or Lease of Willow Court. He based this on “perceived” favourable treatment of the New Norfolk Rum Distillery proponent’s application.

He explained that there were four expressions of interest, one received during the allowed time period of the EOI and was assessed against the EOI criteria.
The three others unsolicited expressions of interest were assessed “on their own merits”, according to the General Manager on the audio recording of the last Council Meeting.

Today the same General Manager stood down after the cull of birds on public land owned by Council. An authorised Contractor undertook the poisoning and removal of a number of birds at Tynwald Park New Norfolk.

This raises big concerns and questions about the decision making ability of the General Manager, who runs the day to day operations of the Derwent Valley Council. Secondly we don’t know who was appointed as the “independent” investigator and why such a quick call for an investigation was made?

There has also been a major change to the Development Application from the Distillery proponents who have appealed a decision of the Derwent Valley Council to limit the tastings in the approved “tasting room” to rum produced on site by the proponents, to sales of other alcohol products from other producers.

This would effectively turn the application into an open hotel with distillery attached. This is still before the Planning Appeals Tribunal.

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Arts opportunity to invigorate the Valley

May 30, 2019 No Comments

A push for an Arts lead recovery at Willow Court is being proposed in this article from Ben Winspear in the Mercury Newspaper dated 3rd May 2019. This was closely followed by Charlotte Allen’s letter to the Editor today. Charlotte’s support for Willow Court to become an arts, education and multi purpose space came about from her successful advocacy for the Melbourne Abbotsford Convent which at one stage was earmarked, like Willow Court, to be sold off to private enterprise but now is a vibrant publicly owned education, arts and multi purpose centre. A new plan which keeps Willow Court in public ownership is to be released after the Derwent Valley Council gave permission for it to be shared. Details below.

A public meeting to present the new proposal to the community will be held at 6pm on Wednesday 5 June at the New Norfolk Lions Club meeting room, Humphrey St New Norfolk.

Global, Local, Uncategorized

Oval view planned to improve.

May 20, 2019 8 Comments

Many people have become confused by the thought that a Rum Distillery was going to clean up the old Wards near Woolworths Carpark, but that would be mistaken as these buildings belonged to a number of failed private business enterprises who have slowly allowed them to become what we see today.

Today the DVC Derwent Valley Council have a DA Development Application for the whole area next to Woolworths Supermarket. The DA is applying for residential accommodation, shops, medical centre. The plans also have a detailed Heritage consideration which is very reassuring.

https://www.derwentvalley.tas.gov.au/page.aspx?u=701&c=12420

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