The Derwent Valley Council are about to discuss and ratify an expression of interest for the sale or lease of the Willow Court Heritage Precinct.

On Thursday the 26th of February I attended a public workshop with the Derwent Valley Council. This workshop didn’t have an agenda, but I assumed rightly so that it was about the future of Willow Court. From the public gallery where I sat the Councillors were to my right, Cr. Damian Bester who has been a long-time supporter of Willow Court and was elected after a few years of non-action at the site and after a public meeting he stood for Council, next to him was Cr. Lathey who at one stage voiced that he was on the Council in 2000 when the site was disposed of by the State Government. Alongside Barry Lathey are two of the newly elected Councillor’s, Frank Pearce and Paul Belcher. In the middle was the Mayor, Martyn Evans and to my left were the remaining Councillors Ben Shaw, Julie Triffett and James Graham.

We waited for any members of the public to come in and ask any questions of their elected Leaders during an open section of the Council meeting, but no-one took that opportunity. Later a representative, from the Friends of Frascatti sat in the back row behind me, next to the only other interested group representative, Aiden Sullivan from the Paranormal Investigation Unit.

The Mayor opened the session up with thoughts of the Councillors, one after the other they expressed their collective view of the future of Willow Court. There had clearly been much thought that had gone into what was being presented. We all listened as Barry Lathey started with his history from 2000, the “transaction good and bad” and we had “used up all the money for the site” and his disappointment of where we are at now. Damian Bester was “frustrated by the delay” with the now estimated new handover time of April\May 2015. Paul Belcher called it an “absolute eye sore” but it was Frank Peace who started to alert the Friends Committees to the Council’s direction when he stated that it would be opened up for “international expressions of interest”. This became a clear and a repeated theme as each Councillor expressed where they were at. It was the Council’s general opinion that all State and Federal funding resources had been totally exhausted and that the Port Arthur Authority are not interested in taking on the site.

Cr. James Graham had the idea of raising the collective rates by 8% and the Mayor quickly calculated the return, while a good idea it would be a brave Council that lifts the rates during a time of hardship and high unemployment, it would be what Sir Humphrey Applebee (Yes Prime Minister BBC Television) would call a “courageous decision”. It has shown that this Council had exhausted all ideas and funding options except for a generous donor who would have big pockets. At least $10 million dollars is needed to finish the conservation work to the desired standard as described in the conservation plan. The donor would then be able to run the site as a fully conserved tourist attraction.

The Mayor then opened up the floor to comments from the interested parties and there were a number of questions and responses. The APIU want a full plan to operate the site and this will be ready in 5 month, the Friends of Willow Court also will have a plan nearing completion soon to also operate the site. The Councillors all agreed that this was an unsafe site and that only a small number of rooms have had work and the remaining site is in a poor condition.

We all left subdued and somewhat reluctant to except the future plans that the DVC had expressed but not before asking what time frame this would take? The response would be at least 12 month to present the option before the council meeting in March and get together a proposal\synopsis funding document and advertise internationally. One more question was asked and that was, what happens if there isn’t any worthwhile replies? The Council then would offer the site back to the State Government.

I have had time to mull over the conversations and the position that was put to us and I now present my own response: I have visited the Port Arthur site and the Cascades Female Factory in preparation for the Friends of Willow Court to display the Willow Court site. I have been put through Thematic training so we present a professional tour and experience as good as any other site in Tasmania. Personally I have visited world heritage sites around the world and taken tours at as many as I could to gain a bigger international picture of where Willow Court sits in an international market. I have attended meetings of the Council’s own Committee, charged with the responsibility to create, run and market events at Willow Court. I am disappointed that an expression of interest is even being considered and disappointed that all I saw from the Derwent Valley Council was a joint “throwing up of arms” in frustration.

The Mayor told the gathered people how  Associate Professor Heather Burke had opened his eyes to the potential of the site in the subject of archaeology as Flinders University plan on using the site for the next 10-20 years. During the visits, supported by the Derwent Valley Council to study and see Port Arthur and the Cascades Female Factory I have a full realisation that Willow Court has an outstanding Tourist potential. Port Arthur lacks a building that has been preserved to the standard that Willow Court has and the Cascades Female Factory has an open yard which doesn’t even have any building structure contained within it’s boundary walls and yet both of these wonderful places have a wonderful thematic interpretation that, like Heather Burke’s comment should open the eyes of the Councillors to the real opportunity. If one was to become a cynic this early into the four year election cycle you could be forgiven for believing that to get re-elected the Councillors will need to get rid of the “elephant in the room”, that being Willow Court and yet I also understand their frustration of Governments that choose not to keep Australia’s heritage assets, physically and socially, in the condition they deserve.

At a recent meeting with the Friends of Willow Court the Mayor and Friends of Willow Court Council Representative Frank Peace met with the Committee and explained the proposal. During this time one of the Committee asked what ethical/social basis would be maintained as a community standard for any owner or lease holder. The answer was this was completely open. One could assume that there may not be any standard to comply with at all and any social memory or important architecture design may not be maintained . Another question was about the sitting tenant, being the “nearly ready to move in, Community House”. What provision had the council made for having a sitting tenant? Again there appear to be no answer to this.

My belief is that the Community needs to stand up and state it’s beliefs and purposed intentions and expectations of the Heritage site and task the Derwent Valley Council with that agenda as they have already done so in the past. The expression of interest process is believed to take another 12 months, which could mean that the site sits idle for another 12 months waiting for future vandalism. This is still a “Troubled Asylum”. The only thing we know is that there won’t be a KFC in the Barracks! Click here to read the DVC’s March Agenda Item.