Willow Court History Group – Page 30

Friends of Willow Court AGM

October 20, 2014 No Comments

This Wednesday, 22nd October 2014 will be the Annual General Meeting AGM for the Friends of Willow Court Special Committee. Guest Speaker will be the Chair of the Willow Court Conservation Special Committee Mr. David Llewellyn.

The meeting will take place at the Derwent Valley Community House, The Avenue, New Norfolk at 7 pm.

There may also be some issues with parking as the Kettering Incident KTI film crew will be using the old Administration Building next door, but they hope to conclude by the time the meeting is going to get underway.

All members of the public are welcome to attend and people who are interested in joining the Friends of Willow Court are also invited. Nomination forms will be available on the day or by request. A light supper will be provided.

Global, Local

Two function Centres in Willow Court?

October 14, 2014 No Comments

Willow Court is to have two function centres if this is approved, one at the privately owned area of Willow Court and the other was planned for the Heritage Precinct. The Derwent Valley Council has a public plan which includes a public function centre also in its own area just 100 m up the road. This must be a confusing decision for a council to approve a function centre next to their own proposed function centre. It is also believed that the Morgue Hotel idea is also up for approval with the Derwent Valley Council on the privately owned area.

Global, Local

Convict history with Willow Court included.

October 8, 2014 No Comments

Many historic books have been written about Tasmania’s convict past, but few include New Norfolk’s Invalid Station and Insane Asylum and even less are written for both adult and young reader alike. Simon Barnard seems to capture Willow Court’s history in this beautifully 88 page illustrated book. Two pages are dedicated to Willow Court’s history with a rich amount of information. Among a scaled drawing of the Barracks there are a range of well researched topics and include subjects like:

Treatment at New Norfolk,

Population,

Rations,

Riots,

Problem Staff and

Arson.

There also are a number of stories of individuals including Convicts and Staff. The book was published in late September 2014. The level of detail in the illustrations and research has been praised as extremely accurate. illustration examples

About the book:

“Seventy-three thousand convicts were transported to the British penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land in the first half of the nineteenth century. They played a vital role in the building of the settlements, as well as the running of the newly established colony. Simon Barnard’s A–Z of Convicts in Van Diemen’s Land is a rich and compelling account of the lives of the men, women and children who were transported to Tasmania for crimes ranging from stealing bread to poisoning family members. Their sentences, punishments, achievements and suffering make for fascinating reading. And the spectacular illustrations, each one carefully drawn in meticulous detail from contemporary records, bring this extraordinary history to life.”

Click here to see the ABC 7.30 Report Interview with Simon (contains Carlton House yard shot)

Simon Barnard’s Book

About the Author:

Simon Barnard was born and grew up in Launceston. He spent a lot of time in the bush as a boy, which led to an interest in Tasmanian history. He is an illustrator and collector of colonial artifacts. He now lives in Melbourne with his girlfriend and a little dog.

Global, Local

Friends of Willow Court invite

October 8, 2014 No Comments

Global, Local

Ward 10

September 28, 2014 7 Comments

Ward 10 was a high secure ward that was surrounded by a Ha Ha wall and was home for people with florid psychosis.

Global, Local

Disturbing mockery

September 24, 2014 No Comments

This disturbing portrayal of people living with disabilities and\or mental health issues is on display at the Western Australian Royal Show. Advertised as “entertainment” this is a disgusting image that lacks the basic respect and sensitivity toward anyone who has lived or worked with people with a Mental Health issue or an intellectual disability and has known the inside of an institution. Right click the picture to read the full article.

“A mental health lobby group wants Perth Royal Show organisers to shut a haunted house based on a 17th century mental asylum in which actors pretend to be inmates.”

COMHWA executive director Shauna Gaebler said the haunted hospital and another exhibit, the asylum 3-D spinning horror, were “offensive and discriminatory” because they stereotyped mentally-ill people as dangerous and objects of general fun.

“The exhibitions reinforce stereotypes that people with mental illness differ in appearance to other members of the community and are violent, dangerous, untrustworthy or unpredictable,” she said.

It is hoped that the Derwent Valley Council never entertain the thought or entertain any group\s that wishes to promote Willow Court \ Royal Derwent Hospital in any manner such as this. A recent letter to the Derwent Valley Gazette expressed exactly this sentiment. It was believed that a group have approached the Derwent Valley Council asking for funds to promote their DVC co produced Paranormal film and conduct night tours. Willow Court History Group is about keeping Willow Court’s history in tact and not representing it in a different manner for people’s entertainment or the pure pursuit of making money. Another article ABC report

Global, Local

Open day postponed due to unfinished building works

September 22, 2014 No Comments

The open day which was announced by the Willow Court Conservation Committee and the Derwent Valley Council and planning meetings have been underway has been postponed. The DVC has produced no advertising material despite asking people to prepare and present displays. This postponement is due to unfinished works on Bronte Ward. Another planning meeting is to be held Wednesday and I should know more details from that meeting. I will pass this on as soon as a new date is confirmed.

The Derwent Valley Council will be holding an “open the site” day of the Willow Court Heritage Precinct on 27th and 28 in September 2014.

The idea is to show the public what has been done to the historic location with conservation works over the last 18 months. Although the Council, have only just notified groups, there is a plan for:

Display of before and after photos by the Project Officer Mr. Brett Noble,

Display from the New Norfolk Historic Centre and

Input and displays from the Friends of Willow Court and the Friends of Frascati House.

More news when it comes to hand.

Global, Local

Derwent Valley Council gag order proposed.

September 17, 2014 No Comments

An interesting agenda item is on the Derwent Valley Councils agenda for tonight’s meeting and deserves a bit of public scrutiny. The item of concern is under the heading

1.4 Powers and functions of the special committee (page 15)

The Chairperson or any representative of any committee is not authorised to undertake a press release or communicate any decision of the committee prior to approval being given by the Mayor.

All information discussed and actioned from any Special Committee will now have to gain approval from the Mayor to communicate outside of that meeting. A couple of comments are worthy here; the Mayor has been very slow in responding to requests for information from the Friends of Willow Court Special Committee. The other point to be made is how good a job is the Derwent Valley Council doing in getting the word out about happenings at Willow Court and its preservation? The last media release was in JUNE 2013, yes that is right, JUNE 2013 over a year ago, so not a record that you would be proud of.

It would appear that this is more to do with a political agenda than it is about letting the rate payers of the Derwent Valley know how their rates are being spent. Also if committee members were unable to attend a meeting, but rang the next day to ask what transpired, the Chairperson or any other committee member would have to first contact the Mayor to get permission to divulge the information. Does this rule apply to Councillors who provide information to the community via blog spots or a personal news website?

There are a great number of Special Committee’s formed by the Derwent Valley Council made up of many people freely giving up their time volunteering to progress the Derwent Valley Council’s agenda and not to deal with gag bylaws that have a political agenda.

There are normal committee processes that decisions can stay “in committee” until it is decided that it can be released, this is normal professional practice and would apply when the information is of a sensitive nature or related to ongoing inquiries or has some commercial sensitivity. Having this extra burden on Special Committees means that their work will now be locked up. In some cases for years to come.

Read the Agenda in full.

Global, Local

Royal Derwent Hospital Church, new life

September 7, 2014 4 Comments

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.

Global, Local

Pipes head underground

September 7, 2014 No Comments

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.