Over on the east side of the Lachlan River is what is left of the once proud Royal Derwent Hospital, lots of open ground and a few buildings, some in disrepair and others partly demolished. One of the only buildings that could not be demolished is the church and this has sat in the middle of a demolition site for the past 14 years suffering a great deal of vandalism. I spotted some activity the other day at the old church site and went to ask what was going on. The two workers were inviting and showed me through the building and told me there were plans that the new owner had for the building so I went to see the owner to find out what the plans were. Dave Curtis from Our Valley Kitchen was open to discussing the new idea of the concept he called “Our Valley Church”. Unlike the normal idea of church, Dave has a new thought, which includes a wine bar, Indian restaurant and large venue for entertainment. Dave went though some of the line up, which included blues music and stand up comedy. The local house band will be Indigo and Dave hopes to be opened for the Christmas season. He said that he is receiving great support from the Derwent Valley Council in his venture and will have a new access road to the venue from Glebe Road. Dave also envisages the venue to appeal to the more mature clientele.
Pipes head underground
Recent water pipes installed by the new TasWater authority along the Avenue have caused some concern on this site when the ugly above ground pipe started appearing in and around the Heritage area of Willow Court. Even the Derwent Valley, a part owner of TasWater complained about the visual pollution that these caged pipes caused. Two of the caged pipes have recently been lowered underground to reduce the visual impact. There are still two above ground pipes in the Avenue, one outside the grounds of the privately owned section and the other outside the old Administration building. It is hope that the Derwent Valley Council will continue to demand that this visual pollution be re installed underground and direct any future works to be in keeping with the heritage plans.
Mayor protecting the Derwent Valley Image
It is great to see the Mayor standing up for the image of New Norfolk and it’s people with this article from the Derwent Valley Gazette, we hope that this fastidious mind set will continue with the previous residents and staff from Willow Court.
A new promotion including a little bit of Willow Court.
New opening time proposed
The Derwent Valley Council have proposed new (revised) dates for the opening of the Heritage Precinct of Willow Court. After being informed about possible dates and then having them changed a number of times, it is great to see that the end of the current conservation works and the proposed times look like this may be it.
“It was generally agreed that an open day for the community to tour the Willow Court site be held in September 2014.”
“It was generally agreed that the official opening of the site be held in October 2014.”
Large sign of things to come?
A large sign of things to come and a gem from the past, this stored sign is one of the artifacts ready for display in a new museum at the Barracks of Willow Court. While the community wait for the Derwent Valley Council to announce opening dates and activities, more artifacts keep coming in, or out of storage in readiness for a display of the history of the Hospital. The site was named the Royal Derwent Hospital after it’s Lachlan Park tag in 1968.
Private tour for Premier Will Hodgeman
Last Friday the current Derwent Valley Council Mayor, Martyn Evans gave a personal tour of the council-owned section of the Willow Court historic site to the Premier Will Hodgeman. According to this article he also is seeking ongoing funding for the recently expired contact arrangements with the Senior Project Officer, Mr Brett Noble.
There still hasn’t been any announcement of opening dates and activities by the owner the Derwent Valley Council. Concern has been raised about the Council’s lack of expertise in running such a significant historic site such as Willow Court, especially considering the past 14 years of neglect and that the current budget is almost exhausted. The Council’s Manager recently announced that the site might be opened, then boarded up, due to a lack of funding. One could only foresee the ongoing vandalism that that would create.
Donation of artefacts
Donation of artefacts to the new restored Willow Court has started and these are the latest items received. Purchased at tender for the mighty sum of two dollars, this china once occupied the Matron’s accommodation in the Nurses Quarters which is now in private ownership.
Part of the process is getting an understanding of the history or story the articles can tell, how did it get to where it is today, what movement took place for it to arrive where it is. Each piece has a wonderful and sometimes colourful story to tell. Some artefacts are stored by the Derwent Valley Council while other artefacts remain in the hands of private collectors. Lots of artefacts that are still in the buildings have been logged and recorded under a recent funding grant. People can donate or loan artefacts to the museum.
Receiving goods from members of the public can be arranged by contacting members of the Friends of Willow Court or the Senior Project Officer, Mr Brett Noble. All have the forms that need to be filled out to gather this important information. Items can be donated without this information if people prefer.
Landscaping looking good.
Major works continue at the Willow Court site and the landscaping is starting to frame the historic buildings while structural work continues with some minor challenges in Bronte bringing works to a stop for a short time. An opening date still hasn’t been announced as yet from the Derwent Valley Council, nor have they shared any thoughts on any opening celebrations that they have arranged.
Media coverage for the opening of Willow Court?
The Derwent Valley Council is about to open the restored Willow Court heritage precinct late February or early March, so how are they going to get the word out to the Tasmanian community and the tourists that it hopes to attract? This is a good question and the DVC have been sitting on the domain name “willowcourt.org.au” for nearly two years, it is going to be good to see what the DVC will reveal.
It would have been good to have the website already running so the local community can see what is happening from the official channels and know what type of activities and attractions will be available in a couple of months time.
This will be the revealing of the master plan and the large “Port Arthur” style attraction, it could only be expected that a media package equal to the sites heritage values be applied as soon as possible. It is also unclear what level of local employment will be generated by the opening. No positions vacant have been seen yet in the public domain.
Communication between the DVC and the Council Committees has been limited and the plans of council have not been revealed to the volunteer support base, that are the Friends of Willow Court, who normally run open days and arts events at the site. Local business that will have to cater for the opening have not been advised about an opening date or what to expect. Normally with an event this large in Tasmania some months of planning would be expected and would be well underway. A skeleton of the event and how the Council are going to management it could be shared.
We look forward to the opening, the events and wonder how the previous residents/patients are to be involved?
2013 Report Card
The biggest news story for the year would have to be the start of the physical restoration of the Barracks and Bronte Ward. Although the Derwent Valley Council have reported that
“The former psychiatric institution is recognised as having significant heritage values both in terms of its architecture and social history. After a chequered past, work is now being done to ensure its conservation for future generations and to look at adaptive reuse for some of the original buildings on the site”. (2012-13 annual report, page 9)
It appears that restoration is currently only for the architectural side only at the moment. However it is important that the DVC can see the “social history” from all parties who had something to do with the former hospital. It is this rich cultural heritage that should be shown to the world when the Derwent Valley Council opens the site to the public this Feb-March 2014.
We started the years off with being involved with the open days at the site and we released a 40 minute documentary to view free Willow Court Documentary (first public release). We then attended the Frascati House Heritage Day and made a podcast of the history that was spoken by the Daughter of Dr Brothers the Medical Superintendent during the second world war when she lived at the house with her brothers Frescati Heritage Open Day Our recording is now used as part of the New Norfolk Heritage Walk tour. Frescati House Plan (including audio link)
Tasmania was hit hard during the fire season and the Friends of Willow Court swung into action to raise much needed money for effected people with the Long Table Dinner Tasmanian Bushfire Fundraiser. This was cancelled by the actions of Cr. Judy Bromfield when she knowingly and deliberately stopped the insurance cover for people who were arranged as catering staff and had the necessary qualifications to serve alcohol for the evening’s event, Shame Cr Judy Bromfield Shame.
Another unfortunate event this year has been the Derwent Valley Council’s supported and sponsored “Paranormal Documentary”. This unpleasant work was reported to the Anti-discrimination and Privacy Commissioners, who found it to be in bad taste towards the previous patients who lived at Willow Court, but didn’t find it to be openly discriminatory. However the Privacy Commissioner believes if one of the previous residents depicted in this film should forward a complaint, there can be action taken to have the film maker remove the Archival footage obtained through Archives Tasmania. Australia’s Disability Discrimination Commissioner Steps In
Tasmania released its tourism statement to the world in March this year and Willow Court was to be part of that promotion as arranged by Willow Court Tasmania Advocacy Group, only to be told that Council infighting causes exclusion to Tourism Tasmania advertising campaign.
Some great moments were the audio recording of Ken O’Brien’s recollection of his 90 plus years living in a community with a hospital as its main employer. Some of Ken’s podcast can be found on the audio tab and linked to this article, posted soon after the interview. Royal Derwent Hospital’s water supply, sewage and sullage systems. Ken’s living witness and this 1941 Agreement help us to resolve the many stories that had emerged from the community about what the tunnels under the township were used for. Tunnel discovery announced.
We also released an ABC 7.30 Report about “institutionalisation to community” and how a group of ex-patients were successfully making a new life in the greater community of Hobart, Tasmania. ABC 7.30 Report 1991.
The Tasmanian Heritage Council Approved New Shopping Centre next to Willow Court which will dominate the oval area, while the previous Wards around that oval passed to private ownership, with some major works starting.
The Derwent Valley Players, in conjunction with the Friends of Willow Court, presented two original plays, written by Sharon Hutchison and directed by Vivienne de Bressac at the Barracks. Willow Court, New Norfolk, was the site of a wonderful event over the week-end this was the last public event before the restoration started.
The website had 100,000, then 200,000 hits this year and continues to grow as does the Facebook group and Facebook page which shows many people are interested in Willow Court becoming a “site of conscience”, a place that saw human struggles and achievement. Our members join without the admin “nominating” them. This is a better and realistic gage of true support.
The new Restoration Tab took shape with reports and photos of the progress of works at the site and continues to record the restoration processes.
This year has also seen a big push for an apology to the former residents which dominated and brought up many mixed feelings from residents and staff alike, New article from Margaret Reynolds in today’s Mercury plus a news article from 1960, Mayor to meet with Lara Giddings over “Apology” We saw the DVC declare its position about the history and struggle of human rights in this article Derwent Valley Council; crisis talks over apology, No voice for previous patients from Mayor Martyn Evans.
The Federal election this year gave us an opportunity to contact all the candidates for the seat of Lyons and ask their opinion about Willow Court becoming a Site of Conscience. We had replies from the Tasmania Greens and the sitting Labor candidate Federal Election 2013 Lyons and we are arranging a meeting with the current elected Member, Eric Hutchinson in early 2014. All are supportive for an Apology to mend the past wrongs of Government policy and inaction at Willow Court as advocated by us and many parents and former staff and management.
A highlight this year was the tour from the Project Manager Brett Noble and being able to share a portion of the photos that I took while listening to this man’s immense knowledge and experience with restoration of Tasmania’s Heritage Willow Court tour of closed Barracks section
We also saw the podcasts of the social history and audio tour by ex-employee, Anne McKinstray being used as educational tools for students from Fahan School by having them loaded onto I-pads and listened to during a wander around the site. Educational Audio Tour.
We also had a number of very personal stories shared, A personal story, Nurse Miss Evelyn Rose Morey M.B.E.
In a year that I thought we had little activity, it was good to look back at the history of what we have been up to at a volunteer work level, political level and a public communications level. It was great to have the support page up and running this year with a collections of supporting statements from our support base Contact & Support Us, it is these positive messages that keep up going.
From our team we wish you a happy and safe new year and we would love to see you at the opening of the NEW RESTORED WILLOW COURT in 2014.
Mark Krause