COMMUNITY, KINDNESS & HOPE | PART 2
The 18-25 age group is the loneliest group in Australian society but what is the “brave prediction” that Hugh makes for our young ones?
What positive lessons have emerged from the pandemic?
How important is hope for all of us?
And what are the benefits of introducing a little kindness into our daily lives?
Win or lose, I’m going to do my best to take some of Hugh’s messages forward.
If you’d like to contribute to our conversation please jump across to margarethogan.com/your-voice and share your thoughts with us.
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Authorised by Margaret Hogan, 2/72 Corporation Avenue, Bathurst NSW 2795
COMMUNITY, KINDNESS & HOPE | PART 1
Hugh Mackay’s latest book, The Kindness Revolution, is one of the reasons I decided to run for Council.
It’s theme? “How we can restore hope, rebuild trust and inspire optimism.”
Hugh encourages us to find the best in ourselves and in our society in both good and troubled times. I am excited and delighted to share this first, of a two part conversation, with you. I hope you enjoy it.
Please share your thoughts with us over at margarethogan.com/your-voice
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“Hugh Mackay has spent almost his entire working life asking Australians about what makes us tick, what are our basic concerns, what gives us hope and meaning, why do we do what we do? His acute observation, honed by the skills of solid social research, has illuminated his readers for at least fifty years. His analysis has been unfailingly optimistic, accessible, crystal-clear and frequently provocative.” John Menadue
WATER & CLIMATE CHANGE | PART 2
“Is it OK for Council to dry out a river, deny farmers and landholders water and kill wildlife?”
In this second part of my interview with Ash, we talk about the Winburndale Dam debacle that caused major water shortages and a local platypus extinction event.
According to the Winburndale Waters Conservation Group: “publicly announced costs to be borne by ratepayers are $216,162.50.
Further as yet undisclosed costs to date will include:
• Work by Premise Consultants (Orange) for Council on this issue that has continued to this date.
• BRC’s legal costs with regard to the land and environment Court action.
• Council Staff job time costs.
Total costs to date would be in the order of $300,000.
The Supreme Court action has not yet started and will add significantly to the above total.”
The $64,000 question or perhaps more to the point, the many hundred thousand dollar question is what could that money be better spent on?
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We also discuss the benefits of rebuilding and rehydrating local aquifers as a way to help secure the city’s water supply.
This is such an important subject. Please share your thoughts with us over at margarethogan.com/your-voice
WATER & CLIMATE CHANGE | PART 1
Please send your votes our way on December 4 because we desperately need people like Gerarda Mader and Ashley Bland in that chamber.
Positive, collaborative, future thinkers.
Ashley was the obvious choice to chat to about this week’s subject: Water & Climate Change.
He grew up at Yetholme, part of a farming family and learnt at an early age the importance of water. He has an engineering and ecology degree and thesedays runs his own environmental consultancy Constructive Energy, working with 12 other councils around the state.
This is such an important subject. Please share your thoughts with us over at margarethogan.com/your-voice
FIRST PEOPLE
Aunty Gloria Rogers has lived in Bathurst for just over 80 years. It is her “sitting down” place.
When she was young, three of Aunty Gloria’s cousins were taken from the old South Bathurst School. Her little cousin, Zona, in kindy or first class at the time, was never seen again.
This is a gentle conversation about the past, how things have changed and what is important moving forward. And at the heart of it all, is the need for better communication.
Thank you Aunty Gloria. I hope, moving forward, we can play a small part to help make that happen.
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Apologies for the little bit of flickering that pops up a few times through the interview. A computer issue.
THE BUSINESS & FUTURE OF MOTOR RACING | PT 2
What’s the recipe for successful go kart tracks in Europe and the UK? Does mini moto potentially have a role to play? Recognising the difference between motor racing and motor sport, why we need to look after our race fans and why Mike believes Mount Panorama is up there with the Nurburgring and Spa-Francorchamps.
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Mike Reedy grew up in Bathurst with a passion for all things racing. When Australian Alan Jones became our first F1 World Champion, suddenly anything seemed possible.
With a dream of being a driver he headed off to the Jim Russell Racing School in the UK and won their Most Promising Driver Award.
In 1992 he represented and won the 1992 Formula Ford World Cup, driving with Russell Lynch and the late Neil Cunningham.
For the past 25 years Mike has been based in the UK and Europe, driving in the early years but in later years coaching and training younger drivers – taking them from karts and F3 right through to F1.
Covid has brought Mike back to Bathurst. Our conversation went for an hour and included the emergence of women in racing, the importance of diversity in creating a winning team and the extraordinary area he lives in around Milton Keynes in England which is 15 minutes from Silverstone and the home of Red Bull. Down the road is Honda, Suzuki, Mercedes, Aston Martin and the Williams team in Oxfordshire.
What are your thoughts about motor racing and motor sport on Mount Panorama, in terms of how it impacts on business in Bathurst. What do you believe is important, what matters to you? Jump across to margarethogan.com/your-voice and Be Heard!
THE BUSINESS & FUTURE OF MOTOR RACING | PT 1
Mike Reedy grew up in Bathurst with a passion for all things racing. When Australian Alan Jones became our first F1 World Champion, suddenly anything seemed possible.
With a dream of being a driver he headed off to the Jim Russell Racing School in the UK and won their Most Promising Driver Award.
In 1992 he represented and won the 1992 Formula Ford World Cup, driving with Russell Lynch and the late Neil Cunningham.
For the past 25 years Mike has been based in the UK and Europe, driving in the early years but in later years coaching and training younger drivers – taking them from karts and F3 right through to F1.
Covid has brought Mike back to Bathurst. Our conversation went for an hour and included the emergence of women in racing, the importance of diversity in creating a winning team and the extraordinary area he lives in around Milton Keynes in England which is 15 minutes from Silverstone and the home of Red Bull. Down the road is Honda, Suzuki, Mercedes, Aston Martin and the Williams team in Oxfordshire.
In this two part edited interview, we talk about the future of motor racing, the importance of looking after the fans and the overseas recipe that makes for successful go kart tracks.
And perhaps most importantly, how unique Mount Panorama is at an international level.
TOURISM
Sydney chef and restaurateur, Matt Moran, has bought the Rockley Pub and while intent on keeping the essence of the pub, he has some very exciting plans afoot.
The project will be staged and the plans include a renovation on the pub itself, nine new rooms with ensuites upstairs, luxury villas out the back and – in time – a bakery, general store and homewares store plus a function centre.
Eventually the project could employ 40-50 people and it will be a tremendous shot in the arm for tourism in our region, not to mention the beautiful village of Rockley itself.
I was hoping to catch Matt last week but he’s been pulling 15 hours days shooting The Great Australian Bake Off. He very kindly gave me some time today to share his thoughts about tourism in Bathurst.
YOUTH
There is a CRITICAL need for affordable housing for young people in Bathurst.
Veritas House is celebrating 40 years of service to the Bathurst community and I caught up with CEO Jody Pearce, to talk about the difficulties young people face finding safe and affordable accommodation.
In 1981 Veritas worked with 100 young people per year. Today it’s 800, albeit in Bathurst and Orange and across a wider range of services. These include youth homelessness, foster care and mental health services for children, young people and families in the Bathurst community.
This is something we need to be addressing as a community. The more I talk to people in this sector, the more I believe we need to set up a Community Services Advisory Group that better connects with councillors and senior staff at Council.
Please share your thoughts or experiences over on our YOUR VOICE page at margarethogan.com/your-voice
If you would like more information or would like to help, please visit https://veritashouse.org.au
ARTS & CULTURE
Maurice McNeil is a member of the Performing Arts Centre of Excellence (PACE) group led by local architect Henry Bialowis. The group has put together a plan to transform the magnificent, old TAFE building – in the heart of the city and part of the Town Square – into a centre for all the performing arts. We had a chat about not only the project but the group’s idea about it might be funded.
Think rehearsal spaces for musicians, players, choirs, dancers and theatrical societies. Think about the Great Hall with its high ceilings and beautiful light seating about 200 people for performances or conferences. Think about music and voices floating out through the windows into the historic Town Square precinct.
Let us know your thoughts about the idea on our Your Voice page.
Here is a link to the PACE Group’s proposal: PACE Business plan 05.06.21 HB wfinal
EQUALITY & INCLUSION
Nick Packham is another candidate in the Bathurst election (not on our team) but Nick has worked in the disability sector for the past 34 years.
It’s great to know that Bathurst is well served in many ways in this sphere but we can always do better and we discussed Nick’s desire to see toilet and change room facilities in the city for people with severe disabilities, the community’s desire to have a Liberty Swing in Bathurst and the idea of creating a reference group or advisory group for Council that represents the community services sector – something that has been cropping up in my conversations with people over the past few weeks.
If we want to become the most liveable city in regional NSW, as our team wants to see happen, working towards equality and inclusion for people with a disability is an important part of that.
EQUALITY & INCLUSION
I caught up with CEO of the The Neighbourhood Centre, Jean Fell to talk about the importance of social inclusion in not only the Bathurst community, but all communities.
In Jean’s words: “Social inclusion is really the glue of social cohesion. We can’t have a beautiful and cohesive community unless we’re looking after the whole of our community.”
It’s especially important during Covid.
If you’d like to add anything to this week’s conversation please hop across to margarethogan.com/your-voice
MENTAL HEALTH
Don Finlayson spent 30 years working as a psychologist in special ed and education. As a school psychologist he has counselled students, teachers and parents. He’s worked in the Health Department and for the past 25 years in private practice, mainly working with adult males.
He has a breadth of experience, wisdom and positivity and I couldn’t think of anyone better to speak to about mental health issues including how some of our local councillors have let us down on the subject of mental health to the pandemic of kindness that is currently at play in the community.
Sidenote: I’ve been gently growled at behind the scenes that 10 minutes is a long video for social media. No apologies from this end. It’s an important topic and one that shouldn’t be rushed.
If this interview causes anyone any concerns please note the helpline numbers below.
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If you or someone close to you is in distress or immediate danger dial 000 as soon as possible.
If any post this week causes anyone concerns please contact:
Lifeline | 13 11 14
Beyond Blue | 1300 22 4636
Kids Helpline | 1800 55 1800
MensLine Australia | 1300 78 99 78
Suicide Call Back Service | 1300 659 467
Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling | 1800 011 046
Qlife – anonymous and free LGBTI peer support | 1800 184 527 – (3PM-Midnight every day)
The National Indigenous Postvention Service – After Suicide Support 24/7 | 1800 805 801
Brother to brother 24-hour crisis line | 1800 435 799
Eating disorders
If you need support for an eating disorder, or as a carer of someone with an eating disorder, please call the below number
The Butterfly Foundation | 1800 33 4673
If you don’t feel like you can call any of the above services, you can also:
• talk to someone you trust
• contact your GP, a counsellor, psychologist or psychiatrist
• visit a hospital emergency department
Thanks to The Black Dog Institute for the contact list.
LAND USE & URBAN DEVELOPMENT
I had a brief chat with Councillor John Fry yesterday (who is not on my team) to get a better understanding of Bathurst’s subdivision developments because let’s face it, we need to do better.
John has had a long involvement in the new plan for Laffing Waters which was adopted by Council in 2019. This sets a new benchmark for urban development in our city.
We still need to address our water needs (our population is set to increase by 12,600 people by 2036). We still need to address the increased traffic to and from the eastern side of the river. And we still need to talk about ‘limited’ density housing in and around the CBD.
But this is a step in the right direction.