[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] I [/dropcap] live only 400 meters from the proposed milk drying plant and proposed freezer storage facility behind Midfield Meats, which if developed will be the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere.
I have received an offer from a local real estate agency stating that my house would be devalued due to the proposed development and they had a buyer who’d be interested in purchasing my house to support the workers at the plant.
Warrnambool needs entrepreneurial businessmen like Colin McKenna, owner of Midfields Meats and the rendering plant. They provide investment and employment which contribute to the growth and development of this wonderful city.
Objections to the current proposals generally support the development of these industries in Warrnambool, but argue that the current site is too close to residential zones and therefore these new plants should be sited elsewhere.
The expansion of inappropriately sited industries and the proposed introduction of heavy industry so close to residential zones, will negatively impact on the health and wellbeing of residents and should not be considered – a disaster in the making.
There needs to be a buffer zone, away from any residential areas and away from our pristine coastline. When Midfield Meats and the rendering plant were developed, they were out of town.
But things have changed, the city has grown and will continue to grow into the future. Warrnambool is a great city with many areas of natural beauty and such industrialisation so close to the city and the coastline is out of step and totally inappropriate.
Midfield Meats is less than 3k to the Warrnambool city centre Post Office and even less to the Merri River and the ocean. The rendering plant is right ‘on’ the ocean and ‘in’ Kelly’s Swamp – ridiculous.
The three industries of Midfield Meats, the milk processing plant and the rendering plant need to be placed out of town and on one large industrial site. They could be constructed using environmental best practice principals and become an industry leader for the 21st century.
Here is an opportunity to demonstrate a forward thinking vision, to create an industry model for the future, able to expand to meet the growing demands of domestic and international trade in the 21st century. Financial assistance could be sought from Federal, State and local Government and the new international investors in our dairy industry.
The issue here is about industrial development that is in sympathy with the development of healthy communities.
When turning into McMeekin Road from Koroit Street, the city side is to the left and the light industrial estate is to the right. Midfield Meats currently sits on the city side and with the push for further expansion, perhaps it is time to draw a line in the sand and have the city side rezoned as residential and small business. All industry to the left or further out as appropriate and the Warrnambool City Council develop a new “heavy” industrial site.
Bowing to forceful economic proposals is not the way forward.
Selling and rezoning land and making promises without proper community consultation is not sympathetic to the needs of either the community or the environment. It is imperative that Council, politicians and local entrepreneurs be visionaries, build for the future and listen and respond to community concerns.
Francis van der Mark, Warrnambool
[box]Please send your letters to editor@bluestonemagazine.com.au with a contact name and number that can be used for verification. All letters are published at the editor’s discretion and will include the author’s name. [/box]
Harris mural a lost opportunity to take a stand
‘Autumn’ painting: acrylic, gouache and pen, by Jenny Altmann. Image reproduced courtesy of Jenny Altmann.
Analysis – Carol Altmann
How extraordinarily healing and beautiful something like this work by local artist Jenny Altmann would have looked at the Lighthouse Theatre instead of a Rolf Harris mural covered in black Perspex, apparently forever.
Imagine if an artist like Jenny (disclosure: my former sister-in-law), whose art often deals with themes of healing from sexual abuse, had been asked to replace what has become an embarrassment for our city?
Warrnambool City Council, on our behalf, would have made headlines around Australia for its courage in grasping a rare opportunity to send a symbolic message to all survivors of sexual assault that we, as a community, will stand with you over and above any cult of personality.
Such a message would be particularly powerful given Warrnambool has more than double the state average rate of child abuse: 16.5/1000 compared to 7/1000.
For all of the bluster about censorship, separating the art from the artist, and fears of replacing the mural being the “the thin-edge-of-the-wedge”, the decision really boiled down to one of celebrity.
The only reason the mural is remaining is because it was painted by Rolf Harris – who is actually better known for his entertainment than his art – but nobody has had the courage to say it.
This was not about preserving all art at all costs.
In fact, less than two hours after deciding to keep the mural, the council was praising its spectacular upgrade of the Lake Pertobe maze, where old murals (painted by children?) were replaced by the works of street artists.
Unfortunately these children were not as famous as Rolf Harris.
And, as I have already written, local indigenous artist Fiona Clarke saw her mural at the Ozone carpark removed to make way for apartments, and nobody blinked an eye.
Unfortunately Fiona is not as famous as Rolf Harris.
The Sheffield Council had the white paint out and over a Rolf Harris mural on the side of the Sheffield Archives building in the UK shortly after his conviction. Image: BBC News.
In the art world and beyond, murals come and murals go and the Sheffield Council in the UK had no qualms – after Harris’s conviction on 12 counts of sexual assault – about painting over one of his murals on the side of the Sheffield Archives building.
An even earlier Harris mural, at the Sheffield swimming pool, had already been lost when the pool was demolished.
Removing a mural does not erase Harris’s crimes or stop sexual assault, but it is a symbolic gesture that sexual predators deserve nothing more than our disgust for the ruin they can inflict on their innocent victims.
Many of the people who wanted to see the Harris mural replaced are survivors, but to “out” yourself as a survivor in a regional city is enormously difficult because, often, the shame is still there and, in many cases, the perpetrator (even the dead ones) still garners respect.
I thought that the majority of our councillors absolutely understood this and, indeed, Cr Jacinta Ermacora (who earlier worked as a social worker at the South West Centre Against Sexual Assault) lifted my spirits when she told the council meeting that:
“One of the hardest things for survivors is to see their abusers continue their life in the community, unaffected, still respected in their community and sometimes even community leaders, while they, and their children, suffer and survive in confidential silence.”
I felt like leaping out of my chair and applauding.
But just as it appeared as if Cr Ermacora was about to crush the reputation of people like Harris hard under her heel, she went on to argue for all the reasons that the mural should remain, including that its future was irrelevant to the bigger picture of preventing sexual assault.
And then this:
“I don’t believe we should indulge in an angry, lynching squad armed with paint rollers, because that says more about ourselves than it does to our sensitivity and acknowledgement toward local survivors,” she said.
I have always admired Cr Ermacora as a strong woman who has achieved great heights in local government, but I still cannot understand where this attack was coming from, particularly when many members of of this metaphorical “lynching squad” were survivors.
Crs Sycopoulis, Gaston and Neoh have been equally as disappointing, falling somewhere between respecting survivors, not wanting to “destroy” art and finding a compromise that appears to have cheered no-one.
Only Crs Peter Hulin and BrianKelson argued for removal and so the mural will remain, under black Perspex, for time immemorial, although I doubt anybody really believes that.
If this was really a victory for art, why is nobody celebrating?
Ed Mahony joins the race for WCC election
Law graduate Ed Mahony has decided to throw his hat into the ring for the 2016 Warrnambool City Council elections.
Words and photos by Carol Altmann
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] I [/dropcap]f next year’s Warrnambool City Council election wasn’t already shaping up as intriguing battle, it has got a whole lot more fascinating with law graduate Ed Mahony stepping into local politics.
He joins Warrnambool businesswoman Raelene Ponting as two fresh faces who have declared they will be among the 2016 candidates, giving Warrnambool ratepayers plenty of time to find out who they are, what they are about and what ideas they might bring to the table. (Former councillor Jennifer Lowe has also confirmed she will run again.)
Ed, 25, has already established himself as what media commentators call “someone to watch” with his political savviness and dynamic approach to getting things done, rather than just talking about it.
A case in point was his setting up a popular pop-up Laneway Bar in Liebig Street over the 2013-14 summer.
It was, unofficially, the first of the laneway events that rolled out in 2014 and created a buzz around what might be possible with Warrnambool’s untapped alleyways.
“A lot of people said to me at the time, ‘this is what you see in Europe’, but I said, ‘it’s also what you see in Melbourne’, so why can’t we do it here?,” Ed said.
Ed was also integral to setting up a Young Professionals Network in Warrnambool – he couldn’t believe there wasn’t already one in place – to encourage young people to stay in the area as they built their careers.
“There is this whole untapped market of young professionals who move to Warrnambool but don’t stay, or who commute back to Melbourne for their social life because they feel isolated here,” Ed explains.
“We started YPN (the other founders are Jayson Ward and Angie Paspaliaris) to address this, to offer a social network for newcomers so that they could get a sense of community here.”
Geelong Mayor Darryn Lyons is one of several mentors that Ed has had in recent years as he has shaped his political and business acumen. Image: City of Greater Geelong.
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] E [/dropcap]d was involved in both Young Professionals Warrnambool and the pop-up Laneway Bar while still living and studying law in Melbourne.
He grew up on dairy farm in Allansford, but moved away as a teenager to boarding school and has only returned home permanently last December after being offered a job at Dwyer Robinson law firm.
“It was the job that brought me back, but I love Warrnambool. It is a great place to live, an easy place to live and I see so much potential in this city,” Ed said.
Talking to Ed, his energy levels – even at the end of a working day – spark out of him: fingers tapping, eyes bright and a nimbleness in conversation that comes from travelling widely and, along the way, being mentored by some of the best in the business.
He explains how his winning a young entrepreneurs scholarship included the chance to work with two mentors and he already had his two in mind: Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle and Geelong Mayor Darryn Lyons.
These two men, together with National’s MLC (Western Victoria) David O’Brien, have been a guiding force as Ed works out how to best utilise business and politics to build a better community.
One of the many under-utilised laneways in the Warrnambool CBD. Ed’s pop-up bar in 2013-14 was the start of a renewed focus by council to make more use of the alleyways.
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A02F2F;”] L [/dropcap]ike Doyle and Lyons, Ed is a member of the Liberal Party but more of the ‘wet’ Malcolm Turnbull variety – whom he often quotes – than the ‘dry’ Tony Abbott variety.
“I see myself as someone who likes to questions people’s beliefs,” he said.
“But within that you need to be open to talking, to having an informed discussion and finding the middle ground.”
There are many things a potential councillor needs to care about, but one high on Ed’s list is planning: a dry word, but one that ultimately determines the shape and feel of a city.
We talk about the urban creep of Warrnambool into the farming areas on its fringe, while the city heart beats ever more slowly and empty shops remain empty.
He has plenty of ideas on how to address this – “I am someone who always looks for opportunities rather than pessimism” – and these will no doubt form part of his election campaign.
Ironically, a few days after this conversation, Ed is in Geelong on one of the balmiest evenings in the south-west all summer. He is running a pop-up Laneway Bar (Darryn Lyons is licensee) and the place is jumping.
Warrnambool textile artist Louise Parlour with her work inspired by the story of Agnes Ruttleton: the ‘Granny’ behind the famous Granny’s Grave.
By Carol Altmann
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”] A [/dropcap]lmost 170 years after she was laid to rest somewhere in the Warrnambool sand dunes, Agnes Ruttleton – the “Granny” behind Granny’s Grave – is to get her name back.
The Warrnambool City Council has followed through on its plan to have a plaque recognising pioneer Agnes Ruttleton added to the famous Granny’s Grave site at the east end of Lady Bay and has installed it in time for March 8: International Women’s Day.
Until now, Agnes has been incorrectly known only as Mrs James Raddleston, “the first white woman buried in Warrnambool” and thousands of locals and tourists have walked past her memorial in the dunes not knowing anything more about her.
Last year, however, Bluestone Magazine ran a story on the research of local historian Jenny Fawcett that revealed so much more about the life and times of Granny Ruttleton, who died in 1848 at the age of 60. It remains one of our most popular stories and you can read it here.
The headstone in detail, created using 10.5km of cotton and finished with real lichen picked from the roof of Louise’s home.
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”] A [/dropcap]mong those inspired by Agnes’ story was Warrnambool textile artist Louise Parlour, who used the imagery of the Granny’s Grave bluestone headstone for her entry in the inaugural South West International Women’s Day Art Prize.
“The theme for the art prize was ‘Women and Place’ and I think the Granny’s Grave story fits that so perfectly,” Louise said.
“So many people walk past that site and never really stop to look. Plus (Agnes) is not actually buried there and they have her name wrong, so it is like she is invisible, despite being one of the first pioneering women of Warrnambool.”
Louise photographed the headstone and used this to create a template from dissolvable plastic. Around this template she freehand embroidered the headstone using the closest colour she could find to bluestone.
The work took about 50 hours and 10.5 km – yes, 10.5 km – of cotton to complete.
“I think I bought about every batch of that cotton I could get my hands on in Warrnambool,” Louise laughed.
The completed work, including a poem about Agnes Raddleton’s life inside a piece of recycled marine ply.
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”] T [/dropcap]he gravestone’s green lettering was then stencilled on to the work, some real lichen added from Louise’s roof at home and the whole thing covered with a thin coat of PVC glue to hold it together once the dissolvable plastic was removed.
The headstone itself is surrounded by sand and pussy willows, boxed by recycled fence pickets from a friend.
“I wanted it to look like I imagine it did when it was first erected, not with the modern handrails and things around it,” Louise said.
As part of sharing Agnes’s story with the public, Louise wrote a poem encapsulating what is known of her life and included this in her piece, tucked inside a piece of weathered marine ply.
“I want people to pick it up, read it and go away knowing a bit more about Agnes,” she said.
[learn_more caption=”You can read Louise’s poem here:”]
Where is this woman?
Laid to rest
Windswept dunes
Leaving no remnants
No trace……………
No photos to be found
Only our imaginations
Giving Granny a face.
A pioneer woman of her day
A township of 100 people
So they say…..
Makeshift homes set up
Enduring the wind and rain
On Flagstaff Hill
Where the sheep today roam.
So who is this Granny?
Encapsulated in time
A bluestone grave
Neither reason nor rhyme
Standing all alone
Standing the test of time……
Not much is known about Granny
And her pioneer days
Agnes sailed by sea
From Tasmania
Aboard the Essington
Wife of James
No record of children
The colony of New South Wales
Town of Warrnambool……
Worked hard for a quid
Odd jobs and selling crays
Headstone depicts wrong name
Should read – Mrs Agnes Ruttleton
Second white woman
To be buried in Warrnambool
First believed to be buried on an island
Off the Hopkins River
Granny was admired by one Richard Osburne
Known as a publisher and local historian
Paid for her burial
In the sand dunes……
Returning some years later
To no avail
Could not find her marker
And all efforts failed
Richard Osburne fought
Council decided to erect a headstone
The one that stands today All alone……..
Louise Parlour 2015
(I would like to acknowledge Bluestone Magazine and their article “Who is the “Granny” behind Granny’s Grave?” published February 9, 2014, and local researcher Jenny Fawcett who uncovered the story of the “real Granny”.) [/learn_more]
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”] T [/dropcap]he marine ply was found at Levy’s Beach where she occasionally walks with her father, who visits the area regularly in search of that other Warrnambool legend: the Mahogany Ship.
It is the first time Louise has entered her work in an exhibition, but unfortunately, after our interview, she learned that she had missed out in the selection process (the prize attracted more than 70 entries, of which only 50 could be selected).
Despite missing out, Louise remained upbeat, saying she had thoroughly enjoyed creating the work. We think Agnes would be pretty chuffed too.
In the meantime, the council plaque – which has been added to the viewing platform next to the grave – provides details about Agnes and her challenging life as one of the first non-Indigenous people to settle in the area.
A council spokesman said the full text of the plaque, which can be found at the end of this story, was developed with the assistance of Elizabeth and (the late) Les O’Callaghan and the Warrnambool Historical Society, in conjunction with historian Dr Helen Doyle.
The plaque created by the Warrnambool City Council that has been added to the viewing platform at Granny’s Grave at Lady Bay. Image: Warrnambool City Council.
[learn_more caption=”Read the full text on the grave plaque here:”] Who was Granny? Granny’s Grave marks the burial site of Agnes Ruttleton, who died in December 1848. Agnes Ruttleton, known as “Granny”, was recorded as “the first white woman to be buried in Warrnambool”.
Agnes arrived in Warrnambool with her husband James Ruttleton in the late 1840s (probably both ex-convicts from Van Diemen’s Land) and lived in humble conditions, occupying a tent or hut at the base of Flagstaff Hill. It is believed they made a living catching crayfish. Exposed to unpredictable weather and with few physical comforts, they would have had a tough life.
In Warrnambool’s early days many settlers experienced similar hardship and made meagre incomes from fishing and beachcombing. In an 1850 census, eight men gave their place of residence as ‘at the jetty’, another five were described as ‘Fishermen at the Hummocks’.
Upon Agnes’ death in 1848, a group of leading Warrnambool citizens, including Richard Osburne, who would later publish The Examiner, Gilbert Nicol, Mark Nicholson, John Hollins Craig, John Moffat Chisholm and Thomas Denny, rallied to provide a decent burial ceremony for her.
Rev. Thomas Slattery, the Catholic priest from Belfast (Port Fairy), was brought across to officiate at a ceremony held at the sand hummocks and to consecrate the ground where she was buried. [/learn_more]
[box]The South West International Women’s Day Art Prize will be launched Thursday March 5 at 6pm at The Artery, 224 Timor St, Warrnambool. Live music. Judging by internationally recognised Portland artist Carmel Wallace.[/box]
It is nine months since Rolf Harris was convicted on child sex charges, but the official debate over the future of his council-owned mural in Warrnambool is yet to begin. Image: sbs.com.au
Analysis – Carol Altmann
I must admit that I thought it would have happened by now: that the Warrnambool City Council would have asked survivors of sexual assault what they thought should be done with the Rolf Harris mural at the Lighthouse Theatre.
Especially given that the council met last night (23/2) for its briefing – which is closed to the public – and was asked to adopt a recommendation at its meeting next Monday (2/3) that the mural be kept, but covered by black perspex, as it is now.
It is nine months since the council knew it had a problem on its hands, when Harris was convicted and sentenced in the UK on a string of sexual offences against young girls.
It is three months since his avenues of appeal lapsed.
But as of today, Tuesday February 24, only one person from within the entire council and its elected officials had bothered to contact the South Western Centre Against Sexual Assault or Emma House Domestic Violence Services to ask their opinion. (That was Cr Peter Hulin).
In the meantime, in light of his conviction, Harris’s works have been removed from public galleries around the world, his impromptu mural in a Melbourne paint shop has been painted over, he has lost his place in the Australian Recording Industry Association hall of fame, he has been stripped of a fellowship in the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and, as of earlier this week, was no longer an Officer and Member of the Order of Australia.
In Warrnambool, however, the council has apparently made up its mind to keep the mural without consulting anyone.
The Harris mural in the Lighthouse Theatre loading dock has been temporarily covered with black perspex. Image: Warrnambool City Council.
We contacted SW CASA manager Mary Clapham today for her thoughts on the mural.
This is Ms Clapham’s written response in full:
“Previous comments by the South Western Centre Against Sexual Assault as part of the public discussion of whether or not the local mural painted by Rolf Harris should be removed, have highlighted the very real possibility of this mural causing significant additional distress for people who have previously been impacted upon by the sexual abuse of children by paedophiles.
Many people, if not necessarily a victim themselves, may have been a parent, brother, sister, friend or relative of a child who was sexually abused and bear witness to the devastating impact it has upon individuals and families.
With sexual assault being as prevalent as it is within most communities (1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men are abused before the age of 18 years), the community discussion currently being generated will include the voices of people who have been impacted upon by sexual assault and these are the people who have a right to be asked and listened to regarding the next steps for the Rolf Harris mural.
Regardless of the assigned artistic virtue of an art installation, an integral part of the public display of art is the honour associated with having that work displayed.
The Warrnambool City Council has rightly negated the honour previously afforded to Rolf Harris by covering up the Warrnambool mural. The South Western Centre Against Sexual Assault supports no community honour being afforded to any perpetrator of sexual violence against children, including Rolf Harris.”
The mural painted by Harris in 1986 – the time some of his offences took place. Image: Jeremy Lee, ABC South-West Victoria.
We also contacted Emma House manager Pat McLaren to ask her opinion.
“We would like to see it painted over. It needs to be painted over so that it is obliterated forever, just like Frank Penhalluriack did in Melbourne without any problems whatsoever,” Ms McLaren said by telephone.
“This not censorship: this is about taking a stand against pedophilia.
“It is a piece of art on council property. It is not a piece of art that is bought and sold. Council needs to take a stand against sexual assault and grooming and all of the other things that Rolf Harris has been convicted of: these are not allegations, these are crimes proven in a court of law.
“The Australian Government has taken a stand, we need to do the same,” she said.
Ms McLaren said the council had quite rightly waited for any appeal before taking any permanent action, but now that the appeal had failed and Harris’s conviction stands, the council needed to renew the conversation about the future of the mural.
“It is not just a decision for the council to make, but one that the community must make. The council needs to be talking to people across the community.”
None of this matters, however, because the councillors, it appears, have made up their minds already.
The vote next Monday – and the arguments put forward – will no doubt be fascinating, but if anyone other than Cr Hulin claims to have consulted with those who support survivors of sexual assault in making their decision, they are wrong.
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