News from yesteryear: Take a look at some of the news stories from the Chronicle pages of August 15, 2007:
Sewerage scheme in pipeline
The state government will provide more than 50 per cent of the funding for a reticulated sewerage scheme for Clarence Town. Dungog Shire Council is now crunching numbers and will call for tenders for the project, hopefully within the next few weeks. Council’s general manager Craig Deasey said they are currently costing out the scheme and the financial impact it will have on the Clarence Town community. “We are looking at reviewing our operations and how to streamline our costs overall. “The state government funding is capped and additional costs will have to be borne by the ratepayer. “There is significant rock in the area and we need to carry out a geotechnical survey to work out the extent of it. “We are very mindful of the costs escalating. “Council is reviewing numbers and fine tuning everything before we call tenders. “We are also negotiating with lenders as we have to raise a significant loan to pay for the project,” he said. Mr Deasey said council will go to Clarence Town to meet with the community once they can inform them more fully about what the cost will be. The government has committed to funding 59.5 per cent of the project, and minister for water utilities Nathan Rees said that this injection follows $231,000 previously provided to the council for preconstruction activities. “This is a major win for the environment as Clarence Town is currently unsewered and is located in an environmentally sensitive area of the Williams River,” Mr Rees said. “The scheme will protect the environment and provide a safe and reliable sewerage service to the 800 residents of Clarence Town.” A sewage treatment plant will be constructed, with wastewater to be used for irrigation purposes.
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Traineeship accolades
Not only did Megan Honnery excel as a student at Dungog High School, she can now add a trainee of the year to her resume. An employee at the Master Builders Association (MBA) in Newcastle, Megan, 19, was named as the Hunter Region’s Trainee of the Year in Business Administration Certificate 111 at the Apprentice Traineeship Awards held on July 13. Megan commenced work at the MBA in February last year after completing year 12 at Dungog High School. “I did Certificate 11 through a VET program at high school and did really well,” said Megan. “I applied for a traineeship at the MBAand was successful and they then put me through Certificate 111. “They also nominated me for the award, and prior to an interview with the judging panel, I had to submit a 10-page essay which included why I should receive the award. “I was thrilled when I found out I had won, as were the MBA.” Megan, who lives at Clarence Town, has been promoted to senior payroll office after she completed Certificate 111 and has now embarked on Certificate 1V.
Film festival runs at a loss
Despite a $13,000 loss, organisers of the inaugural Dungog Film Festival are still planning to hold the event at the same time next year. And the historic James Theatre, which was the centre attraction for the three-day event, will only receive $280 to go towards its restoration fund. Festival organiser Allanah Zitserman said expenses far outweighed the income from ticket sales and sponsorship. “We did make some money, a total of $30,000 but our expenses were $43,000,” she said. “There were a lot of man hours in the event and none of us have been paid. “We had decided to give $2 from every opening night ticket to the theatre restoration,” Ms Zitserman said. “But we only sold 140 tickets – the rest were sponsored for guests and filmmakers who were invited. “Next year we will give $5 from every ticket, but they will be more expensive. “It was hard this year because we didn’t know what to expect.” Festival organisers are trying to buy an $18,000 projector to donate to Ken Reeve at the theatre. “We are trying to get equipment to improve the cinema,” Ms Zitserman “Our goal is to have the new projector installed by the end of next year. “It is an ongoing commitment we want to see happen. “To run the festival costs a lot of money and a lot of our sponsorship was in-kind. “The trailer (which was shot in Dungog and featured local residents) cost $70,000 just to be shot, but we managed to secure in-kind assistance to cover our costs. “We have got a lot of industry PR people helping us to get cash money for next year as we feel it is going to grow every year from now on. “We want to raise the bar and it takes a lot of time and money too.” Talk at the wrap-up meeting last Tuesday night also centred on the problems of accommodation in town, food and the general lack of a festival atmosphere in the town. It was mentioned that the cafes and restaurants in town were unable to cater for the amount of people at the festival. Ms Zitserman said people who were attending the movies just wanted to slip out for a coffee and sandwich and get back for the next screening. “But there wasn’t anything available close and the other eateries were flat out serving other customers. There was a general lack of seating as well. “A professionally produced booklet outlining where to eat, what to do and where to stay that can be used not only for the festival but all year round would be great.” Flag poles decorated with flags in the main street six week’s prior to the event would also add a festive atmosphere to the event too, Ms Zitserman said.
Move afoot for Stroud library
The relocation of stroud library and office of the Great Lakes Council is being discussed. Councillor Karen Hutchinson put the proposal to council and it was mentioned in the June meeting business paper. Initital investigations were undertaken to relocate the office and library to the Community Health Centre. However Cr Hutchinson said the building is too small to house both. “There is also access issues with pedestrian access from Cowper Street. “So now we are looking at a refurbishment of the RSL hall to house the office, library and baby health centre. “The community health centre is only used for eight hours a month for visiting health services and this could be sold, along with the library and office, to finance the refurbishment of the hall. “There will also be funding available through the State Library for the relocation.” Cr Hutchinson said the potential relocation of the office and library to another location is a means of making commercial space available within Stroud to meet demand when it arises. “I actually had someone ring the other day wanting to set up business in Stroud,” she said. “There is a real shortage of retail premises available in town. “Everyone at council is in favour of the move and the residents appear happy too. “It is not a foregone conclusion but it is heading in that direction.” It is estimated the health centre is valued in the vicinity of $220,000 and combined with the library and office, could generate between $420,000 to $440,000 if sold.