February 20, 2013

Minutes of the Harcourt Progress Group

Date: Wednesday  20th February 2013	Harcourt Valley Primary School
Present: Jarrod Coote,  Mez Woodward, Sharlene Farrugia, David Heath (chair), Melva Graham, Annette Smith (minutes), Judy Foster, Donna McMahon, JP Frappier, Kelly Aitken, Graeme Francis, Kay Francis, Brian Nunn, Andy Graham, Peter Church, Ayron Teed, Helen Grainger, Craig Watkins, Faye Hards, Ian Foster, Paul Mizzi
Apologies:  Judy Kent,  Tyrone Rice,  Robyn Miller
Welcome:  David talked about the objective of the group and a way to pull together things that are happening and finding a way to progress Harcourt
Business		Action/ Who	When
Minutes
Business Arising
·         Cycling Club – CWA to do catering, waiting on cycling club for calendar of events.  Peter Church reminded them of events already on in Harcourt
·         Bress Break out cancelled
·         Future of the tavern – Melva wrote to Abbeyfield group,  no answer. Spoke to Jock McCrae and Brett Fitzpatrick, who thinks this is a possibility, which they might be able to explore.
·         Craig to contact the Council re BBQ facilities etc  at ANA hall. This might be included on the last lot of funding, organised through the Harcourt Reference group.  Ayron explained the purpose of the Reference group.  Need to clarify amount of money – think it is $240000, Suggested people come to the Reference Group meeting on Monday night. Craig suggested that using granite might be a feature to use and trade on it as something unique.  Throw in some extra design elements. Possibility of Men’s Shed idea to be developed
·         Oak Forest – Landcare ideas – Map showing the Hancocks lease area 500 HA circulated. Reverts to Crown Land as unallocated land.   Oak forest is at the end of Market street.  Possibility of a community group managing all or part of this area.  It is already damaged and it could be used for the damaging activities, such as horse riding, motor bikes etc. as well as redeveloping and regenerating the area. ·         As a community are we willing to manage this area.  Suggested that any work should done now while things are not settled. ·         Annette talked about the school’s management of crown land and suggested it is a great opportunity for the group ·         Question about legal liability – a decision will need to be made about this shortly ·         Landcare quite happy to participate in some management of the Oak forest but not on their own.  Landcare would give some support. ·         Jarrod spoke of the possibility of taking some land or all of it.  Authority needs to be passed on to a group.   ·         Oak forest is under resourced and needs work.  ·         Landcare is doing some additional work already		Annette to contact DSE regarding management of crown land.  Mainly an envelope around the Oak Forest.
·         The Core :How often do we produce the Core in its printed form and distribute it. Suggested once a month.  Kelly is creating this from the blog
General Business
Sharlene Farrugia- Community Planning Coming together to draft a community plan, discuss ways of going about developing a plan Need clarification of status of reference group and desire of this group to be the main representative for Harcourt community What is the view of the Shire about this? Distribution of Taradale Plan Need to have a day to develop the plan  Presentation of plan is up to the group. Plan needs to be done by the end of March, possibility of an extension to do this.  This most likely would be a day workshop. Invitation to  the community conversations program on 27th March Concern about timeline for Community Planning Day –need to seek an extension for planning Suggested that we allocate a time from each meeting to do some planning. Allocate half a meeting next time. This was eventually the consensus of the group. Council consultation processes need to be explored further.
Regional Arts Grant Introduction of Mez Woodward, who explained how to go about applying for a grant A significant amount of money is available as a grant to do projects in the Arts area Looking at regional arts small towns grants.  Must have a connection to the Arts. Suggestion  Use the unique nature of Harcourt – apples – to create a sculpture First step -  is what do we need as a community, grant money is about social inclusion, self supporting and sustainable communities. – planning for this could come out of the Community plan. Don’t leap into design until you have worked out what you want.		Sharlene will ask the Arts officer of council to speak with the group about grant applications
NBN tower Judy Foster spoke about the planned NBN towers to go in Harcourt. Concern about the positioning of the towers and the health effects of the towers.  Objectors to the towers can speak to council about this. Craig spoke of the reasons for NBN towers – cost is a factor. Positioning of the towers could be such that it has minimal effect on landholders. Judy has someone coming to talk about the radio pulses tomorrow. Discussion of value of towers in our community Loss of amenity is the main way in which to fight against this.  Battle needs to be taken to the council meeting next Tuesday at Elphinstone. Need to find someone to talk about what NBN means for Harcourt.		Judy will email the group about the council meeting
Railway Station The mysterious meeting for the Railway station – Andy, Melva and Ayron attended. A long term project – what are the mechanics of this?
Role of Council Invite council officers as needed. There is a concern about what the Master Plan involves.  Can we have someone talk about this.  Should we do our own plan first? What involvement should Tim Barber have in this group?  Ayron has invited him to the last two meetings – no response.
Coliban Water Report on the pipe system by Craig.  There is nothing in writing and need to keep in mind there are some concerns.
Chairperson for next meeting Craig to chair the next meeting
Meeting finished at  8.55pm
Next meeting :  Wednesday 20th March, 2013 – 7-9pm at HVPS