Carols by Candelight

Carols were held in Sheffield last Saturday night. The town hall was full. We sang all the old classics including "Away in a Manger". The event was organized by the Sheffield Baptist Church. They ran the evening well and brought in an M.C from Wynyard.

A highlight for me was a short play put on by the Sheffield Uniting Church. John Hawkins played King Herod (a despot king who ruled Judea at the time of Christ). His common phrase was "heads will roll)!

Instead of candles glow sticks were used and were very popular with the children.

This was the first carols I had been to in a while and really enjoyed it. It is great to see the Town Hall full with enthusiastic people.

Christmas is pretty special to me thinking about the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. An amazing man who led by serving people. Something us Kentish Councillors must remember to do.

Merry Christmas.

Wilmot Christmas Festival

We had a chance to attend the Wilmot Christmas Festival last Saturday. The event was put on by the Wilmot Tourist and Progress Association. There was a jumping castle, BBQ, pancakes, stalls and Santa even showed up.

The mayor and I had to judge the children's bike decoration competition. We both interviewed the children with Spirit FM radio station broadcasting the results live. It was a fun afternoon with my younger children enjoying themselves.

I was impressed by the event. Council helped financially by putting $400 towards the event and from next year on will contribute $750 per year.

Wilmot residents can feel isolated from the rest of Kentish because of it's the town's location. I am glad I made effort to attend.

Tidy Town Award

Good news. Sheffield has just been awarded State winner of the 2008 Tasmanian Tidy Towns 1001-2000 Population Category. We received a trophy, certificate and $500 prize money. Great stuff.

Also 8 Kentish community groups received Outstanding Awards:
- Railton Topiary Group
- Redwater Creek Steam and Heritage Society
- Mt Roland River Care Catchment Inc
- Sheffield Garden Club
- Mural Fest Sheffield
- Kentish Museum
- Wilmot Tourist & Progress Association
- Wilmot Museum

Kentish obviously did well.

Sheffield Market

Well the Wilsons went along to the Sheffield Market last Saturday.

The market kicked off this year and is run around the precincts of the Town Hall. Kentish Council gave the Kentish Chamber of Commerce just under $2000 to help kick start the market.

The organizers have been wise when running the market often trying to tie it to some other event running in Sheffield at the time. My son Josh was given a toy boat by one of the nice stall holders. My other son brought home a dart board.

Keep an eye on the community noticeboard for the date of the next market.

Annual Report 2006 / 2007

Kentish Council has just released their Annual Report for 06/07.

A few miscellaneous bits and pieces:

- Kentish has a population if 5965 as of July 2007
- Bridges 107. (Yes we need to maintain them all).
- Citizen of the Year in 2006 was Ann Ridgeway.
- $1500 was donated to Steamfest.
- $1961 was donated to help start the Sheffield Market.
- 150 building applications were processed.
- 1167 dogs were registered.
- 16 complaintes about barking dogs.
- 4 water main breaks in Sheffield water pipes.
- $2454 spent on building a new BBQ in King George V park in Sheffield.
- $76,000 spent on councillor allowances.
- $900,000 spent on roads and bridges.
- $1.1 million set aside to fund new council offices.
- New town welcome signs installed in Railton, Wilmot and Sheffield.
- Aaron Cables successful in obtaining the $1000 youth grant to help him continue his studies at the Maritime University.
- Closed circuit cameras used to inspect sewer network.


The Annual Report will be available online soon. So have a look on the Council website www.kentish.tas.gov.au in a week or two.

First Council Meeting

Well last Tuesday was my first council meeting at Barrington Hall. We read our declaration that we would be good councillors, do the best we can in our roles and act with integrity.

There were probably around 20 people who came to see proceedings. Some of it must have been pretty boring for them. We spent a long time working out which councillor would be on which committee. It was hard to choose committees as we didn't have the dates and times that some of them met.

I have joined a few committees. Tandara meet monthly and Rivercare meet monthly. I will join the Wilmot Hall committee and the Sheffield Recreation Ground as a proxy.

I led my first motion at this meeting. I moved a motion that we discount the rental of the town hall for the Kentish Lions Club. The Lions Club received a bill for $1665.50 from council. This was the list price that Council charges. The Lions Club had intended to apply for a concession rate as they have in the past. So the Lions Club wrote to ask retrospectively for a concessional discount.

The Lions Club are great contributors to the Kentish Community. They have given $2000 for a sound system in the Sheffield Town Hall and over $11,000 for an Enabler unit at Tandara that helps residents in muscle movement. Pretty impressive.

A concessional discount seemed more than fair to all councillors. So I proposed a discounted rate of $500 and an amendment to add cleaning costs was added by Councillor Willock. It was passed unanimously by the councillors. After the motion was passed the gravity of being a councillor hit me. The decisions we make affect people's lives in Kentish. So decisions are not to be made likely.

I had a local tell me that he thought we made a mistake and we should not have charged the Lions Club a cent for the use of the Town Hall. I have had a good think about the comment and given the very tenuous financial climate in which Kentish Council finds itself I still feel the fee is fair and balances the need to support a valuable community group while also acknowledging that Council needs to be careful about it's spending.

So on the topic of financial sustainability I suggest that if you want to get a feel for some of the challenges facing especially smaller councils in Tasmania have a read of this. It is very sobering reading and will not be ignored by me. We really have to be responsible with the finances that we have. Going broke is not a good look and we must avoid that path at all costs.

Well that's it for now.

New Mural at the Working Art Space

Well I attended the opening of a new mural yesterday. The mural depicts an elderly man looking back over his life and remembering his life in the Lighthorse. The drill hall where the Working Art Space is located was used to host a ball to raise money for the local soldiers.

Having the mural located at the Working Art Space is a very good idea. The mural will be added to the Mural Map of Sheffield. This will bring more tourists around to Albert St. The location of the Working Art Space is a little out of the way for tourists. SO I hope the mural helps to bring them.

I only learnt today there is another Working Art Space at Wynyard.

Pictured is Mayor Don Thwaites officially opening the mural.

Sheffield School Show

I went to the School show today. I was really out of my depth with the cattle. Where I grew up there were sheep, wheat and cherries. I was amazed at how technical the judging was. Terms like "pins", "feminine qualities" and "good udder" were among the many that were new to me. I was told numbers were down. This surprised me as there seemed a lot of people when I was there. I took my son Joshua with me.

We were given a "special pass" which meant that food and refreshments were provided over lunch. Josh must have had 4 jelly slices and kept hovering around the sweets.

The big politicians were also there. Richard Colbeck (Liberal Senator), Geoff Page (Liberal candidate for Lyons) and Rene Hidding. I know Richard from the mid 90's when we did the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme together at TAFE. His career has really taken off since then. It was a bit strange to be introduced to them as a councillor by Don Thwaites. It is all a bit strange being a councillor now. I am sure the shine will wear off over time.

The Kentish Area

I did some letter box drops in both Railton and Wilmot during the elections and spent time at both places talking to locals.

I was struck at how large many of the house blocks were in Railton. There seems to be lots of space around houses. While in Railton I booked the Kings Hall in case any locals wanted to come and talk about issues that were a concern to them. Only one came! However the fellow who did come was a wealth of information for me. Railton and Sheffield are towns with similar populations but have a very different feel. I suspect that the Cement Works has shaped much of the feel in the town today.

WIlmot is a very rural area. Some locals feel "out of sight and out of mind". It is a 35 minute trip to WIlmot from Sheffield. As th crow flies it is a much smaller distance. The creation of Lake Barrington has isolated WIlmot within Kentish. It has not been good for Kentish as a whole. Yes it is a lovely complex but it has made access much harder.

I made it!

It was a real roller-coaster ride getting onto the council. Once the first preference votes were counted I really didn't think I was going to make it. With only 77 first preference votes it placed me in 11th place.

Thankfully once Don Thwaites and Andrew Keddie's quotas were broken up things started to look brighter. I moved from 11th to 8th. Brian Inder, Coralanne Walker and I tussled for 7th and 8th place. I finally ended up being 7th.

So this is how the new council looks:

Mayor: Don Thwaites

Deputy Mayor: John Deverell

Councillor: Andrew Keddie

Councillor: Penny Lane

Councillor: Annie Willock

Councillor: Peter Cooper

Councillor: Jan Rootes

Councillor: Tim Wilson 

Councillor: Coralanne Walker

We have our first induction tomorrow night. Get to meet the other councillors and check out the lay of the land.