NTSA Hahndorf - AGM2010 - Adelaide Hills

Minutes of Annual General Meeting - Hahndorf Branch, National Trust SA

20 Main Street, Hahndorf - Saturday 6 November 2010 at 5.00pm

1. Welcome and Apologies

Present: Anni Fox, Lyndell Davidge, Bryon Finch, John and Margaret Brook, Max Altmann, Tom and Donna Johnson.

Apologies: Reg Butler, Lyn and Algius Radzevicius.

2. Address by Jeff Bettcher

North Ward candidate for the District Council of Mount Barker; followed by discussion.

3. Confirmation of minutes of 2009 AGM

Held on Friday, 22 January, 2010. Moved Anni, seconded Lyndell, that minutes be accepted as read: carried.

4. Chairperson’s report

Attached - moved Margaret, seconded Bryon, that the report be accepted: carried.

5. Treasurer’s report

Attached; Moved Bryon, seconded John that the report be accepted: carried. A letter of thanks to be sent to the auditor, Judy Taylor.

6. Election of officers:

There being no other nominations the following positions were declared:

Chairperson: Anni Fox

Treasurer: Lyndell Davidge

Secretary: Annette Oien

Committee: John and Margaret Brook, Bryon Finch.

7. Other business

Report on Tom and Donna’s attendance at a talk on Matthew Flinders at the Darling Harbour Maritime Museum, Sydney.

8. Closure

There being no other business the meeting closed at 6.40pm, and a light supper was enjoyed.

Attached Reports

Presidents Report:

Anni Luur Fox, Chairperson.

Welcome and sincere thanks to members for their interest in matters of conservation. Founded in 1976 to lobby state and local government for planning controls favouring conservation of Hahndorf, our Branch played a major role in raising public consciousness of the town’s national significance. We were instrumental in –

Formulation of the Hahndorf Supplementary Development Plan 1979-1981.
Listing of Hahndorf by the National Estate (1983) following our work with Gordon Young’s Hahndorf Survey (1979-81) conducted with a grant from the Australian Heritage Commission. All historic sites known at that time were researched and documented.
Hahndorf’s declaration as a SA Heritage Area (1988).

These milestones were reached in what I call the ‘torrid decade’ of constant research and argument with government over developers aiming to remove or overwhelm the 19^th Century structural elements that made Hahndorf’s streetscape unique.

Thirty-four years after our founding, the Hahndorf Branch finds itself in yet another period where few planners or the politicians who vote on development applications, appear to have the knowledge required to ensure that modern infill developments do not usurp the well- documented historic character of Hahndorf. Nor do they appear to understand that Hahndorf as a drawcard to tourists should not look like every other suburb in Australia if this important aspect of the local economy is to remain healthy. The town’s layout dating from pre-Christian and also medieval times in Europe formed the first Australian settlement planned for non-British immigrants. It is unique. Fortunately a world-wide wave of nostalgia in the 1970’s as well as persistent media coverage of our battles over development, fuelled the tourism industry which still helps to fund maintenance of this place of national historical significance. Historic places are very costly to conserve.

Why then, has Mt Barker District Council allowed two chain stores a presence in Main Street? A legal precedent has been set for others to follow! How do such decisions meet the Development Plan’s objective to enhance this town’s identity as an historic place? Was there a legal threat Council wanted to avoid? Our Branch has had to take up three legal challenges in the past with success and has made numerous representations to government ministers to ensure Council upholds the objectives of the Development Plan. Do we really have to go back to the 1970’s and 80’s when we attended every Council meeting and vetted every development?

2010: Branch Activity

Events:

SA History Week, 30 May, 30 Anniversary of the National Trust’s discovery of the Hahndorf Pioneer Women’s Trail. This event was organized by Annette Oien and Lyndell Davidge with Terry Cleary from the SA Roadrunners Club Inc. I produced a number of banners to mark checkpoints and wrote a short book for the occasion. ‘Early Hahndorf and the Pioneer Women’s Trail’ was included in the fee. Lyndell sourced bags for all participants from NAB and Life be Active. Over 300 people took part on a very wet day. The Beaumont House Committee welcomed them with afternoon tea and the Hahndorf Lions Club provided a barbecue of Max Noske’s excellent sausages. Branch members and volunteers from SARC looked after the checkpoints to ensure no participants were lost. We will need to review the Trail’s markers in future.

Heysen Festival, October 2-10. As usual the Branch was asked by Barry Wilkins to run a Torchlight Tour of Hahndorf starting from the old Jaeschke House (Eve’s Classic Coffees). About 15 people took part plus an official from the Tourism Commission and her husband who gave up when their baby in a pram became restless. Two tourists from Sydney stayed the course and headed to the Inn for a whiskey. The Branch earned $150.

Advocacy: Submissions

To the SA Minister for Planning expressing opposition to the Mt Barker and Nairne Development Plan Amendment proposing to rezone high capability agricultural land for urban development. Estimated increase in population: 20,000. Delivered a paper on this matter on 1.9.2010, one of several community hearings held at the Wallis Cinema.

To the SA Development Assessment Commission regarding the Australian Rail Track Corporation’s proposal to build a loop track at Verdun which could damage the State Heritage listed Grunthal Copper Mine and pollute the creek below the track which feeds into the Onkaparinga River and thus, Mt Bold Reservoir. Letters had earlier been sent on this matter to Premier Rann, Planning Minister Holloway, Environment Minister Caica, Federal Transport Minister Albanese, Federal Member for Mayo, Jamie Briggs, SA Leader of the Opposition Redmond. To be eligible to receive the federal government’ economic stimulus package to fast track improvements to South Australia’s rail freight-carrying capacity, both Labour and Liberal MP’s had voted in 2009,in favour of waiving environmental laws. Mark Parnell’s was the only vote against it. Our Branch concerns were related to pollution of Adelaide’s water catchment.

To District Council of Mt Barker regarding Bartels Cottage, a SA Heritage Site. The application to build four two-storey motel units at the rear of this 1847 fachwerk cottage would destroy the amenity of this site, one of the few that has retained its open fields at the side and rear which were originally used for horticulture and animal husbandry. The application was refused.

To District Council of Mt Barker requesting they reconsider moving the Adelaide Visitor Information Centre into the Hahndorf Academy in order to gain $250,000 offered by the SA Tourism Commission. Our grounds were that there was insufficient space at the Academy to allow both organizations to achieve their operational objectives.

Advocacy: Raising Public Consciousness

Friends of the Lutheran Archives invited me to deliver a paper on ‘Saving Hahndorf’s German Heritage’ on 22 February at Bethlehem House. Over 100 people were present and a tape recoding was made for distribution.
Annette Oien continues to contribute her expertise by working at The Cedars.
Lyndell Davidge contributes her expertise to the Hahndorf Academy Board as a member. We assisted in setting up the History Week exhibition by adding a number of artifacts from the Schmidt/Rodert Farm.
Tony Finnis is the founder and organizer of the HahnWiki site disseminating information to the big wide world.
Margaret and John Brooks assist the Hahndorf Community Association Inc.
Reg Butler continues his painstaking work developing his database amalgamating shipping lists, title searches and genealogical research. He is currently solving riddles posed by his research into Adelaide’s publicans. He and I worked on St Paul’s Lutheran Hahndorf Heritage Walkway officially opened on 17 October.
I conducted a tour for the Jaguar Car Club on 19 September for $100 donation.
Annette and I conducted a bus tour on 24.8.10 for the Federal Dept. for Environment, Heritage Water and the Arts to expose a group of recent graduates to the department’s key themes pf Protecting and Enhancing Australia’s Culture and Heritage. They were studying a number of environmentally sensitive sites including the Lower Lakes. We received a donation of $100.
‘Researching German Women Pioneers: Putting the Jigsaw Together’, 22.5.2010. I was invited to give a paper at this event at the Barr Smith Library at a History Week event at Adelaide University.
Invitation from Mortlock Library to give a talk to Canberra students on 20 September. I later spoke to officials about the possibility of our Branch depositing its records in this library.
Lyndell and I attended the Adelaide Hills History Group at Norton Summit on a very cold wet night on 5 May. It is the turn of Hahndorf Branch to host the next meeting on 3 May 2011.
Belgian Professor Jan van Graev was brought to Hahndorf on 7.5.10 by Kelly Henderson (Adelaide and Environs Branch) to have a look at our original town plan which I was able to supply. Lyndell and I met with them briefly. He was in Adelaide to assess Col. Light’s survey of Adelaide with a view to World Heritage listing and a friend, Bob Linke, had suggested he look at Hahndorf. He told us that he would like to add the town to Light’s survey of Adelaide.
Wicks Reserve: We took part in the annual Broom pull on 9 Oct and will do so again on 13 Nov. Kept a record of native plants observed.

Significant Trees Register

Last year we proposed a number of Hahndorf trees for the Nattional Trust Register. This year Glenn Williams asked for our assistance in nominating significant trees at The Cedars. Annette Oien has agreed to liase with Allan Campbell to research this issue.

Ms Sally Paech, Director, Beerenberg Foundation, PO Box 240, Hahndorf, SA 5245

Subject: Support for Hahndorf Community Association’s request for assistance with the cost of replacing lost plaques on historic buildings in Hahndorf.

Dear Sally,

Attached is a copy of the Courier article of 18 January 1984 with a photograph of your father as president of the Hahndorf Traders’ Council showing one of the 30 plaques to the owner of Thiele’s Cottage. This was an initiative of the Hahndorf National Trust Branch which became a joint venture with the Traders.

Unfortunately, as properties changed hands and were renovated a number of the original plaques were lost, as were special commemorative brass plaques removed from the footpath. This meant that visitors no longer had the opportunity to gain a very quick insight into each site’s history which we hoped would help to raise public consciousness about the national importance of this town recently listed by the National Estate (1983).

We are very pleased that the Hahndorf Community Association has taken the trouble to raise funds to have new plaques manufactured in the style of the 1984 plaques. They were specially designed to be discrete but informative without cluttering selected historical sites in Hahndorf which already had a tendency to be obscured by commercial signage.

According to Gordon Young’s Hahndorf Survey conducted by historians, architects and other academics with a National Estate grant from 1979-81, there are over ninety 19^th Century buildings in Main Street alone. We hope that the Beerenberg Foundation will assist the Hahndorf Community Association with the cost of replacing the lost plaques.

With best wishes to all at Beerenberg,

Yours sincerely,

Anni Luur Fox, Chairperson, Hahndorf Branch, National Trust of SA, 20 Main St, Hahndorf, SA 5245 Ph 8388 7235