Willow Court History Group – Page 28

Current Reading

January 10, 2015 No Comments

Current holiday reading can be fun, but getting copies of publication to read can be harder to do. Today I picked up a copy of Marion Geyssel’s Royal Derwent Hospital, Willow Court. While a great, and recent publication of a pictorial record it has had its share of detractors for its content and views of Mental Health Services in Tasmania. The cost of this book , like any Tasmanian publication is gaining momentum and if you can find this in any second hand shop it will set you back about $45.00. The other reading I have really enjoyed was Lawrence Edward Cullen’s Royal Derwent Hospital, past to present 1936-1978. This has been a joy to read and was written from a past employee’s perspective, and I must say this is an accurate and great insight into the hospital’s changes over that part of it’s history. It should be remembered that during that time, the East Side of the Hospital was created and setup, the oval Wards were opened and set up and the old Wards were closed and demolished. Treatments like Electro Convulsive Therapy, Insulin Therapy, Malaria Treatment – GPI, Deep Narosis and new medications were all introduced and used and this publication stated the times they started and even the administering Doctors. There is also a wonderful piece about some of the “unforgettable characters” that made up the Patients and some of the wonderful skills they brought, such as key cutting, bookmaking (betting), scavenging and business entrepreneurship. This also has some good plans from 1936 to the more current 1978.

This small publication is available to view at the Tasmanian Archives office (I would thank LG for my copy) and Marion Geyssel’s publication is out of print and you would have to hunt around the secondhand book stores.

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Plans for Myrtle House Redevelopment 1990

December 20, 2014 No Comments

A trip to the Derwent Valley today and I spotted this in a shop and couldn’t go past it, so I asked, was it for sale and then how much? Yes please, what a bargain. This is the plan for modifications of Myrtle House (M Ward), for those that can’t recognise it, it is the Willow Court Motel which is in the privately owned section of the old grounds. The draft plan was created by the Department of Construction in 1990.

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Draft Logo’s for Willow Court Tasmania

December 14, 2014 1 Comment

The possible logo for Willow Court Tasmania was designed by Zefiart of New Norfolk and was created from a joint idea from Cr. James Graham at a past working bee at the front gates of Willow Court and myself. James suggested a t-shirt design with the spikes of the fence that surround parts of Willow Court which was a great idea, the remaining stylised image and simple name was added and discussed at a meeting with the designer. After a couple of drafts a number of designs appeared and were presented to the Friends of Willow Court for consideration last week. The well known image of the Barrack building capitalises on the invalid heritage of the site which started in the early 1820’s in a wooden structure and paved the way for the barracks as we know it today. The fence design reminds us of the convict heritage and to the locked and enclosed nature of the site.

There are a number of options for use with the images, this t-shirt is just one and could be worn by staff at the site or sold as a locally produced item to the visiting tourist market. Marketing of goods like this will be part of the business plan that is almost finished and will be presented to the owners of the site, the Derwent Valley Council. The polo top below is another example of a garment that can be sold or for staff identification at the site. This was locally designed and printed in the valley.

Local

Derwent Valley Community House plans at Willow Court

December 12, 2014 No Comments

The Derwent Valley Council have been asked to make a decision about co-locating the Derwent Valley Community House DVCH into the Heritage Precinct at Willow Court at the next meeting, according the the agenda on the DVC website. The plan put forward three options for co-location but doesn’t consider if this is the best long term out come for the Heritage site or the Derwent Valley Community House.

Willow Court is older than Port Arthur, which doesn’t contain anything like this proposal and has a specific vision to cater for the tourist market, a thought that we also have. We are concerned that knee jerk reactions are driving the DVC agenda instead of good long term planning for the site. The new Derwent Valley Council can lay this proposal on the table and review this decision and do what is best for both the Derwent Valley Community House and the Willow Court Heritage Site.

Some of the issues that have not been considered are the share facilities with school group tours and tourists.

Most schools require a checked and safe environment for young children. How can the DVC guarantee this will occur. It would be a bit hard to ask all DVCH users to complete a police check and a working with children check and would most likely be in appropriate.

Open access to any displays and exhibitions in the building and tours.

The DVCH is open all hours to cater to their market and peoples needs and wants, this is not the same as the Heritage Precinct’s needs, so securing valuable and very precious historic items or art works that are on display is not easy. During events and tours that are paid entry, do the users of the DVCH have free access to the heritage site?

Department of Health and Human Services having key funding and a say in the Heritage Precincts ongoing operations

The funding that come with moving the DVCH into Willow Court has stings attached and these need to be known, discussed and a simple consultation process entered into.

Once the site is Heritage listed, opportunities for funding for that next stage of preservation work are considered much greater, but how will having a sitting tenant in a Heritage listed site effect the ability for grants? How will having ten years of historical archaeology around the site affect the DVCH operations including archaeology digs sites?

At the height of the hospitals history there were 50 odd buildings but through fire sales, mismanagement, vandalism and arsonist work, what is left is is a small representation of what was. The DVC has a last opportunity to preserve Tasmania’s Mental Health and Disability history or what little is physically left.

Item 10.10 of the DVC agenda contains three options which I have included and each of these options come with a cost which will have to be met.

The alarming thing is this building is about to be handed back to the DVC as a finished project and now with this revised plan, a lot of extra work will have to take place, ramps built, kitchens and bathrooms, toilets and accessible facilities installed, including running sewage and sewerage into areas it is currently not installed.

How much more tax payer money needs to be spent before a final idea come to fruition?

Will the next lot of work close the site again and stop the public from seeing the work that has already been done?

Option 1 looks at the red areas being for the use of the DVCH and the Green areas being for multi-purpose area. Office suites are installed in the enclosed verandah area, this isn’t suited to the task during a cold winter in the valley. this option also requires a second kitchen to be installed for the community house in the rear of Bronte. The computer room and day space are installed in what is a hallway which will be disturbed with passing traffic. The Caretakers apartment is reduces in size to cater for an access toilet facility for DVCH guests and employees. No tours can be conducted through the DVCH areas, again reducing the size of the DVC owned and managed tourist area.

Option 2 introduces the idea of shared areas (blue area) and as discussed earlier, this raises all sorts of issues for school groups that access the site for education and could potentially put the participants of the DVCH programs at some level of discomfort. The multi-use area again sits just outside of the female toilets and in what was a hallway, this isn’t approprate at all. The office area again is in an inappropriate area for winter occupation. While option 2 is the least cost expenditure it is also the most inappropriate of all the options. No tours can be conducted through the DVCH areas, again reducing the size of the DVC owned and managed tourist area.

Option 3 separates the ares again and reduces the size of the facility to the Willow Court visitors and increases the cost significantly with the installation of a new kitchen, access toilet, and male and female toilets. The multi-use area is still in the hallway and outside of the female toilets, offices and access toilets. This was not built for such use. No tours can be conducted through the DVCH areas, again reducing the size of the DVC owned and managed tourist area.

The full plans and the agenda are available from the Derwent Valley Council website. We urge the Derwent Valley Council to stop, think and plan a vision with all your partners that will suit the long term good of all involved. Maybe it is time that this Tasmanian asset is give back to be managed by the Port Arthur Authority? The Derwent Valley Community House deserve better than a co-location, their work in the community is vital and should be given priority for a purpose build property with access for everyone and for their exclusive use, the same as these Community Houses:

Bridgewater Community Centre
Bucaan Community House
Clarendon Vale Neighbourhood Centre
Dowsing Point Community Centre
Dunalley/Tasman House
Gagebrook Community Centre
Geeveston Community Centre
Goodwood Community Centre
Karadi Aboriginal Corporation
Maranoa Heights Community Centre
Okines Community House
Pittwater Community Centre
Risdon Vale Neighbourhood House
Rokeby Neighbourhood Centre
Warrane Mornington Neighbourhood Centre
West Moonah Community House
West Winds Community Centre

Global, Local

2014 report card and statistics

December 7, 2014 No Comments

We started of this year with a number of questions for the Derwent Valley Council including their lack of communication with their own committees and the public at large. This theme continued in the 2014 Local Council Elections where a number of candidates raise communication as a major issue. Media coverage for the opening of Willow Court? This remains a concern and is still an unresolved issue including the domain name owned by the Council that was reserved for Willow Court nearly three years ago.

The main part of the year was dedicated to the ongoing conservation of the Barracks and Bronte buildings, we have been getting good reports of information from the Senior Project Manager Mr Brett Noble and being informed about the many holdups and issues that would come up during the restoration and conservation of such old and important buildings.

We have been very fortunate to have been supplied reports and have loaded them on the ever expanding document page, some of these documents have never been publicly released and one has to question why that would be the case. We have also released, for the first time in 50 years, two short silent films from the ABC archives. We have added more podcasts about Willow Court. We have seen a State and Federal election and the outcomes including Willow Court being raised as a site of national importance at the Federal level by the newly elected candidate for the seat of Lions, Mr Eric Hutchinson.

We saw some artefacts that are making their way back to Willow Court through donations from interested people.

We have also seen a call for more volunteers for the Friends of Willow Court Special Committee this year leading up to the opening of the site. There has been a good response to that call with a diverse range of people with a multitude of skills to offer Willow Court.

We have seen the Mayor criticising the Tourism Tasmania promotion of the Derwent Valley and Willow Court, he thought the image was unsuitable, calling it “untasteful” however he is refusing to protect the previous residents and staff from having their image untastefully portrayed as Council considers more rate payer funds to underwrite, produce and distribute a amateur paranormal film.

We have received a copy of the History of Lachlan Park Hospital and are waiting to see if the author’s family will allow us to publish this on the website as a reference document.

We heard of an investigation into the underground tunnels in the area in 2015 by Associate Professor Heather Burke from Flinders University.

Announced openings from Willow Court Conservation Committee Members and DVC staff continues but never arrived creating frustration and confusion among the public and the Friends of Willow Court who were trying to prepare for days that never happened.

We also attended another Willow Court working bee to finalise the front gate.

A thematic interpretation workshop was attended in preparation for tours of the opened site, professionally facilitated by Phil Fitzpatrick and well attended by many interested people.

Again we saw a push for an apology from an ex-patient who reported abuse while being treated at Royal Derwent Hospital. “Politicians facing renewed calls for formal apology to Royal Derwent Hospital mental health patients”

We have seen the start of a possible ten year plus archaeology investigation as part of the tourist experience at the site.

The friends of Willow Court also have participated in three training days in the long preparation for conducting tourist, educational, historical, archaeological and architectural tours at the site.

Social Media and Website:

In the short time that we have been running we have reached fantastic statistics with members, posts, hit on the website, and posts with Willow Court information. Here are a few:

Hits to website: over 422,000 thousand

Posts on website: 268

Facebook group members: 600 (joined of their own request)

Facebook page 194 likes. (joined of their own request)

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Friends of Willow Court on another educational behind the scene tour

December 2, 2014 No Comments

Another training and information gathering day last Monday, this time at the Cascades Female Factory.

First we had a tour of the site which took over 50 minutes and explored all three yards that have been interpreted. Two further yards are in private ownership and are not accessible. The lessons learnt here are, how can you offer value for money when the only things that are still in some yards are the four walls? This has been done to amazing effect and a tour without the guide would be hard to imagine. The life that the place takes on with stories and pictures from Convict Illustrator and leading authority, Simon Barnard is factual and superb. The yards are well set out according to the archaeology and are now signed and illustrated beautifully with part walls and pathways. The importance of archaeology was clear at this site. The main difference for most of the Willow Court site is that it is still standing, all but smaller, but still standing.

We then had a catch up meeting for the behind the scenes workings of the site and the training systems that are involved for each of the guides. We also explored the education and commercial side of the tours here and the activities that the site has tied to the State curriculum for grades 5 and 9.

There has been a lot of training for this group over the last couple of weeks and a brain storming sessions and meeting of the Friends of Willow Court will be held tomorrow night. There is expected to be a considerable amount of research and further work for the volunteers, who give their time and energy to seeing the vision for the Derwent Valley to own, operate and be proud of the long history of Willow Court as an international tourist attraction fully realized.

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Tasmanian Parliament Questions asked

December 1, 2014 No Comments

A few days ago Kim Booth raised some concerns with the sale of the Royal Derwent Hospital in the Tasmanian Parliament and has asked some very serious questions about people who were involved. It has long been understood that the sale price realised was a fraction of the valuation but after the Attorney Generals report things settled down for some time. “Conclusion of collusion or corruption” questions and statements and demands for answers may see an inquiry opened into the sale and documents revealed that back these claims. We will keep an eye on this story.

Hansard Wednesday 26th November 2014

Mr BOOTH – I want to quickly raise another matter which is to do with the Royal Derwent Hospital sale, or Willow Court, as it is known. Members will recall in about 1998-99 the site was tendered out and at that time had a valuation of something like $34 million. I have seen a large amount of documentation regarding what can only be described as a tragic loss of what was possibly the most expansive and intact piece of Australia’s early colonial history. An ugly and sad history it was, but notwithstanding a very important and valuable piece of public property. The site has been stripped, buildings burnt down and other infrastructure sold off for a peppercorn sum to private individuals who have walked away with $23 million-odd, I am advised, for an investment of virtually zero. The question that must be asked or answered is: how could this possibly have happened? It is my understanding, and I have seen documentation, that two people who were intimately involved with the valuation and disposal of the Royal Derwent Hospital site, working for the government at the time and involved in the valuation of the site and recommendation to sell and who to sell to and witnesses to the minister’s signature on sale, ended up as shareholders of the company that ended up the beneficial owners of the site or part of the site. documents reveal that one of them resided at the same address as (name removed ED.), the proponent and ultimate beneficiary of this sale of the assets to the tune of $12 million that apparently was (name removed ED) taking. (Name removed) apparently took $5 million for Derwent Valley Investments, which was the council private business taking $7 million. This was a site that was valued at $45.58 million, later devalued to $23 million, I understand, on the recommendation of one of the individuals who ended up on the company that owned it after they left the Crown’s employ. The entire site was conservatively valued at $23 million and at a later point in time was sold for only $350 000 net after a $200 000 grant provided by the government. It was financed without security I understand, with a loan to (name removed ED) unsecured to a consortium made up of the above, which was not registered until four days after the loan, and I understand there was no security when that money was advanced. The whole thing has a very serious stench about it, particularly when you look at the state of that complex. Some of the buildings are in an appalling state of repair. Some have been damaged and stripped and I understand the assets contained within the property were sold for something like $1.7 million, which were the chattels containing some very historic and valuable pieces of architecture and furniture, for a property that was valued at $23 million but sold for $350 000. Ultimately the history of that needs to be detailed more fully to the House so members can understand whether there needs to be a parliamentary inquiry into this matter and whether the matter I have raised leads to the conclusion of collusion or corruption. There is certainly a very big question mark over the whole nature of the way that site was disposed of. Who were the ultimate beneficiaries and what has happened to the site now?

2012 7.30 Report ABC Click Here

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Christmas appeal

December 1, 2014 No Comments

This article in “The Examiner” news paper is appealing for donations of gifts for Patients at the Lachlan Park Mental Diseases Hospital so they can receive some of the basics at Christmas time. Calling for gifts from a sympathetic Tasmanian public was the order of the day when this article was written on the 13th November 1950 and sat well with in a Charity Model of Care which was predominant around the world at this time. This show how far we have/or haven’t come in the last 64 years as we now sit in a rights movement for people living with mental health issues or with an intellectual disability as set out by all the signatories of the World Health Organisation, part of the United Nations, which Australia is a signatory. The right to have a life that is free for someone else s benevolent actions based on sympathy is inscribed in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. While there is a difference today as there was 64 years ago this article is part of the rich history that is important to record and needs to be read in the context of the ideology of the time and the good will of the Tasmanian’s who were moved and personally effected by the States Institution designed for the care and health provision of those people with disabilities and or mental health issues. Want to read more about the rights movement, social movement, medical model and the social movement? This simply website can explain the difference is a clear one page document. RIGHT CLICK HERE and open in a new window. It could be said that Willow Court/Royal Derwent Hospital closed down because there was a different approach from an emerging Social Model as opposed to the then current Medical discourse.

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More than tunnel investigation

November 25, 2014 No Comments

At an afternoon tea, hosted by Cr. Julie Triffitt and Mayor Martyn Evans the representatives of the Friends of Willow Court were able to discuss the Willow Court tunnel drain with Assoc Prof Heather Burke from the Flinders University (Dept Archaeology). She was invited to New Norfolk by Eric Hutchinson and networked up with the Derwent Valley Council. Since then there has been an arrangement that students from Flinders Uni will be studying the tunnel from Willow Court to the Derwent River, but today it was announced that there is at least ten years of archaeological work within Willow Court site and beyond.

Assoc Prof Heather Burke will be descending into the tunnel tomorrow and will have the geophysics results by next week for the tunnel drain. There will be a weeks work gathering preliminary data next year followed by the remaining year of analysis. Any dig will start 2016.

I will have an opportunity to catch up with Heather tomorrow and she has kindly offered to be interviewed after her tunnel drain experience.

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Friends of Willow Court Training Day at Port Arthur today.

November 24, 2014 No Comments

Today a number of volunteers from the Friends of Willow Court had a training day at Port Arthur. We looked at the booking systems that the site uses to handle the 250,000 visitors per year, website integration, staff training in tour guiding and retaining staff in regional Tasmania. There was much discussed and then we were offered to tag along with some of the Port Arthur tour guides through the thematic introduction tour and a tour of the isle of the dead. We were invited back to continue the ongoing co-relationship between Willow Court and Port Arthur. The Friends of Willow Court would like to thank the Port Arthur staff for their generous support and thank Graham McLean for offering his 12 seater bus for free (except fuel). No volunteer was paid for being at the training day. This is an ongoing part of the preparation that is going on in the background preparing for the opening of Tasmania’s newest tourist attraction.

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