HARCOURT COMMUNITY
PROGRESS GROUP
ANA HALL
19 December 2012
ANA HALL
19 December 2012
19 residents were present at this meeting with one apology
received from Jacque Cue. An attendance list was circulated and kept by Craig
Watkins.
Craig Watkins opened the meeting at 7.10pm and explained the
genesis of this group, coming from the first Community Planning workshop held
on 4th Dec,2012 and a desire to have a community voice for Harcourt
that could assist with community planning. He asked the community members
present to consider how they would like to structure the group; with an
official committee or an open structure, should they become incorporated or
auspiced or neither, utilising the capacity of all of the community groups in
Harcourt. He stated he would like to see the group open to all and that it
could be a forum for everyone to come to discuss issues, solutions, ideas etc. Others
stated that it was also time to let go of some of the past issues that Harcourt
have had with Council and other events and to focus on the future relationships
and directions for the town. Craig felt it important to have a Chair, Agenda
and Minutes as the basic structure. The Chair could be a rotating role too, so
that not one person in the group felt that the burden of responsibility was too
high.
The group then introduced themselves to each other, many new
people were present. People talked about how they came to live in Harcourt, for
what length of time, what brought them here and there current or past
involvement with community groups and organisations in the town.
The people present all stated that they loved living in
Harcourt, some for many years, some for only a few and that the natural beauty
was certainly a drawcard but that the spirit of the place and its sense of
community was strong. Some had come to the meeting to meet other community
members and saw this group as a way to expand their knowledge of the town and
its active community. Some spoke of their hopes and ideas for Harcourt into the
future and many long-term residents were excited to see new faces and the
meeting and hopeful that they would continue to be involved in this community
that they so loved.
Annette, the Principal of the Harcourt Primary School,
stated that, although she was not a resident here, she had worked at the school
for 19 years and saw that the continued development of the strong connection
between community and school as a key outcome for the community planning and
one reason why she had come to the meeting.
At that stage of the meeting it was decided to elect a Chair
for that meeting only, David Heath was nominated and accepted. The group then
commenced to put together an agenda for the meeting. The following items are
grouped in order of when they were suggested not priority.
A.
Community Newsletter
B.
Community house/hub
C.
Harcourt gateway/landmark
D.
Town layout
E.
Services Provision – medical, dental, banking
etc
F.
Community events – support and development
G.
The formation of the group – frequency, naming
etc
H.
Council liaison group formation – to speak to
Council on behalf of Harcourt
I.
Research into other community planning around
the Shire and beyond
J.
Communication pathways across community groups
At the point where the suggestion for a Committee to be
formed to ‘deal with Council’ there was discussion about what that meant and whether
this group could eventually fulfil that role but that first it needed to
develop its ideas and identity.
As a result of the suggestion to conduct research in to
other community planning activities in other towns such as Newstead, Taradale
and others Annette contributed her experience of Community Planning, conducted
in Maiden Gully where she lives. She explained that the community planning
group started out similarly to this group; with lots of ideas, priorities and
actions, and then broke-up into subgroups that researched and developed those
ideas around particular topics. They then reformed to a larger group to carry
out those actions and continue to build on the community plan.
David then directed the meeting to the agenda and stated
that the first order of business should be to settle on the structure,
frequency, naming and purpose of this group.
1.
(G)The
formation of the group – frequency, naming etc
Discussion ensued on the need to ‘form a committee’ to liaise with Council directly about Harcourt’s needs. The majority of the group decided that it was important to leave this at the moment, considering that this group may well be the basis for the other group and that the important thing was to set direction and purpose before engaging with Council on priorities.
Discussion ensued on the need to ‘form a committee’ to liaise with Council directly about Harcourt’s needs. The majority of the group decided that it was important to leave this at the moment, considering that this group may well be the basis for the other group and that the important thing was to set direction and purpose before engaging with Council on priorities.
Meetings for the group will continue to be
held on the 3rd Wednesday of every month from 7-9pm. The next meeting will be
on 16th January 2013.
For the time being the group will be
auspiced through the Heritage Association, subject to further discussion and
review for the purposes of insurance coverage for activities.
A vote was held on the naming of the group,
with 2 names suggested. In the end the
group decided that the name would be an amalgam of the 2 names – Harcourt
Community Progress Group.
Decisions:
(i) Meetings on the 3rd Wednesday of every Month, 7-9pm – Next meeting 16th January 2013
(ii) Name of group – Harcourt Community Progress Group
(iii) Meeting venue – at the Harcourt Primary School, Wilkinson St, Harcourt
Decisions:
(i) Meetings on the 3rd Wednesday of every Month, 7-9pm – Next meeting 16th January 2013
(ii) Name of group – Harcourt Community Progress Group
(iii) Meeting venue – at the Harcourt Primary School, Wilkinson St, Harcourt
2.
(A&J)Community
Newsletter and Communication between Groups
Kelly Aitken, JP Frappier and Donna McMahon volunteered to from a sub-group with Jacque Cue (from previous meeting) to set up the Community Newsletter. They will liaise with the Heritage Association (the current group updating the website) about updating the Harcourt Valley website with contacts, a downloadable newsletter and investigate an email newsletter system.
Annette reiterated the school’s offer to print the newsletter for hardcopy distribution.
Council’s Community Planner stated that the budget for community planning could be used to cover the costs associated with mailing out the first few editions to re-build a following within the Harcourt community.
Decisions:
(i) The target date for the first newsletter – ready for the Australia Day Breakfast, 2013
Kelly Aitken, JP Frappier and Donna McMahon volunteered to from a sub-group with Jacque Cue (from previous meeting) to set up the Community Newsletter. They will liaise with the Heritage Association (the current group updating the website) about updating the Harcourt Valley website with contacts, a downloadable newsletter and investigate an email newsletter system.
Annette reiterated the school’s offer to print the newsletter for hardcopy distribution.
Council’s Community Planner stated that the budget for community planning could be used to cover the costs associated with mailing out the first few editions to re-build a following within the Harcourt community.
Decisions:
(i) The target date for the first newsletter – ready for the Australia Day Breakfast, 2013
3.
(F)Community
Events
What part can this group play in up-coming events such as:
a. Australia Day Breakfast – a Lions Club event
b. Community Marker – 3rd Sunday of the month
c. Applefest – Applefest Committee
d. Current cycling events – Castlemaine Cycling Club/Peter Grant(Duatholon)?
The chair suggested that this group’s role was to find ways to support these events and to value add to them by seeing what they could do around the edges to enhance these events and continue to ensure that they stay dynamic, entertaining and family friendly – for example catering and a small market at the next cycling event. Cycling events scheduled for 2013 are 18th and 19th May, 23 June and 15 Sept.
Given the success of the cycling events it was postulated that Orienteering Victoria could be approached about running events on Mount Alexander. This led to a discussion about the assets of the Mount, especially the Oak Forest. Robyn Miller, from Landcare, then informed the group of the work that Landcare had been doing in the Oak Forest including a weed eradication program, better sign posting and the ordering of picnic tables for the forest sight. Others stated that the Oak Forest needed to have facilities such as running water and toilets and a general consensus was reached that this group would assist with fundraising for those facilities.
Decisions:
(i) Peter Church will liaise with the Castlemaine Cycling Group about how the Harcourt Community Progress Group can assist and complement their events.
(ii) That HCPG concentrate their next two meetings to developing ideas about what this community may want to see come out of the action planning process.
(iii)That the items from this meeting of the agenda be used to continue brainstorming and engaging with other community members about their priorities.
What part can this group play in up-coming events such as:
a. Australia Day Breakfast – a Lions Club event
b. Community Marker – 3rd Sunday of the month
c. Applefest – Applefest Committee
d. Current cycling events – Castlemaine Cycling Club/Peter Grant(Duatholon)?
The chair suggested that this group’s role was to find ways to support these events and to value add to them by seeing what they could do around the edges to enhance these events and continue to ensure that they stay dynamic, entertaining and family friendly – for example catering and a small market at the next cycling event. Cycling events scheduled for 2013 are 18th and 19th May, 23 June and 15 Sept.
Given the success of the cycling events it was postulated that Orienteering Victoria could be approached about running events on Mount Alexander. This led to a discussion about the assets of the Mount, especially the Oak Forest. Robyn Miller, from Landcare, then informed the group of the work that Landcare had been doing in the Oak Forest including a weed eradication program, better sign posting and the ordering of picnic tables for the forest sight. Others stated that the Oak Forest needed to have facilities such as running water and toilets and a general consensus was reached that this group would assist with fundraising for those facilities.
Decisions:
(i) Peter Church will liaise with the Castlemaine Cycling Group about how the Harcourt Community Progress Group can assist and complement their events.
(ii) That HCPG concentrate their next two meetings to developing ideas about what this community may want to see come out of the action planning process.
(iii)That the items from this meeting of the agenda be used to continue brainstorming and engaging with other community members about their priorities.
Meeting Closed 8.50pm