Notes from the Mayor - May 2022

Notes from the Mayor - May 2022 image

INFORMATION FOR THE ISLAND BOATING COMMUNITY

The Island boating community will know that Council set up the Flinders Boating Special Committee in 2021. The Boating Committee comprises:

* Anne Rae            
* Kevin Haines       
* Rob Holloway      
* John Holloway
* Norm Hunt
* Richard Harley
* Robin Walker
* Dennis Cooper     

* Annie Revie – Chair
* Warren Groves – General Manager
* Chris Wilson – Infrastructure Airport Manager
* Aaron Burke – Councillor
* Vanessa Grace – Councillor

In May 2021, Council was promised $120,000 from the State Government to maintain Council boat ramps and to build further boat ramps if considered necessary. Members of Flinders boating community had been seeking boat ramp maintenance for several years and Council considered it appropriate to create a Committee that included community members. At one of the first meetings, the Committee examined its priorities and decided that the Whitemark Boat Ramp should be the first focus for attention.

The commitee has identified the following as priorities:

  • Car and trailer parking to the area
  • Improved access way from the Esplanade to the car park
  • Car park marking so that the best use can be made of the space
  • Fenders all round the jetty so that boats can be retrieved safely
  • Access steps of some kind
  • Lifebuoy on a stand for safety
  • Rubber edging on the ramp itself
  • An additional ramp on the northern side of the jetty to enable improved boat launch and retrieval when challenging weather is coming from the south or south-west.
  • Chris Wilson, Council Infrastructure Manager, created a concept plan at the recent meeting, with $52,096 the current total.
  • Work will be done by Island volunteers, so the total above is an estimate only.

Chris Wilson will take the concept plan to Marine and Safety Tasmania so that they can recommend who will draw up accurate plans. The Committee is very enthusiastic about getting the project under way.

If you are interested in input or further information on this project, please talk to one of the Committee members.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR GENERAL MANAGER, WARREN GROVES

Warren has now been heading up operations at Council for two years. You may know that the Local Government Act 1993 ensures that there are accountability structures in place in order that the community is well served. There is a General Manager Performance Review Committee that carries out a full performance review annually. The committee comprises:

  • Mayor Annie Revie – Chair
  • Deputy Mayor David Williams
  • Councillor Rachel Summers

The review was carried out in recent weeks and, for obvious reasons, the contents are confidential they were approved by Council during the 12th of April Closed Council Meeting. I would like the community to know that Warren came through the review with flying colours. As part of the review the Council has also approved key performance indicators to drive the General Manager’s achievement over the next twelve months.

IT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU MAY THINK TO BUY LOCAL

I am aware that everyone on the Island sometimes make purchases by ordering on-line. I certainly buy goods on-line myself sometimes. But I do try to only buy things that cannot be bought on the Island. I simply want to encourage our community to consider a few points:

  • Yes – purchasing goods on Island is always a little more expensive than buying on-line. But our business proprietors have to pay for freight charges.
  • Our business owners also have to make a living. I do know that they keep prices as low as they possibly can.
  • If more and more people purchase on-line, especially from the big stores like Coles and Woolworths, our local proprietors will eventually not manage to keep their businesses open. How will that affect residents I wonder?

Living on an Island can be tricky for us all. Just a reminder then, to myself and to residents, to buy local when we possibly can!

THE ISLANDER WAY

Learning about the Islander Way is a gradual process. Everyone learns at different speeds and in different ways. We all learn better when we are interested in what we are learning about. All of that is OK. Every single person is good at things that other people might be hopeless at. I just ask everyone to hang in. Everyone will understand the basics in their own time and way.

The last seven or eight months have focused on consulting with the Community.

There are mixed feelings on the Island about how tourism is managed. The Islander Way first Principle is that visitors are important to the Island - for many reasons.

CONSIDER THESE REASONS:

  • Yes - tourism supports Island economy, but the money visitors bring to the Island is not the only important thing.
  • The Island Community and the Island Environment are every bit as important.
  • The Island Lifestyle that we all enjoy is the main reason we live here after all.
  • Very few people want to lose the excellent lifestyle we have through living in this ‘paradise’ we call home.
  • Tourism has to be managed in ways that allows for the residents to maintain their much-loved lifestyles.
  • Tourism must be managed, as far as possible, according to Flinders values.

Dianne Dredge and Sarah Lebski are leading the Islander Way Project, assisted by Roberto Daniele. Over the last six or so months:

  • Islanders have completed surveys.
  • Islanders have answered questions on post cards and sent them in.
  • Islanders have agreed to be interviewed – both in groups and individually.
  • As a result, over 400 Islander beliefs and values have been written and gathered.
  • At the Whitemark Gallery, people have written comments about how they would like tourism to be managed.
  • What Islanders have said is currently being analysed - both the positive and the negative
  • In the near future, the data collected will be shared with the community.

Community projects will help attract visitors who really “get” what this Island is about.

This is why the project is called ‘the Islander Way’. There is a special culture here and your data informs what we value and what we do not want. The data tells the story and I look forward to it’s being shared so that everyone will gradually understand how this project will protect the Islander Way!

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