Paul Jarman was unusually understated in his assessment of Rochester’s soon-to-be-released Place Based Plan (PBP) when quizzed about the content of the document.
He seemed to be channelling the likes of Allan Jeans and John Kennedy when responding to questions about what were the big ticket items of Rochester’s 2023 PBP, currently in the hands of the consultancy firm engaged by council to summarise the 800 community responses received during the engagement process.
For those under 50 years of age Jeans and Kennedy were “old school’’ VFL football coaches, famously in charge of the golden age of Hawthorn Football Club where the club won seven premierships.
He broke out of character, however, when describing the input of the Rochester community to the PBP.
“Rochester’s PBP response was the biggest we (Campaspe Shire) have ever had.
“Considering only 50 per cent of the population are living in the town at the moment, the number of people who contributed (800) was amazing. The plan has everything from grassroots stuff to major projects,” he said.
The Campaspe Shire councillor didn’t exactly say the town was “taking it one week at a time’’ (a famous football quote rolled out by coaches of traditionally high-performing teams), but he did say the committee would be looking for some little wins before tackling some of the town’s big issues.
“We are looking at some of the smaller short-term projects before tackling any of the bigger items. There are 25 projects that have been short-listed for attention after the community consultation process,” he said.
Cr Jarman, following former Australian armed forces chief Sir Peter Cosgrove around the town at the time of the conversation, explained that the town probably wasn’t at a point where things like a new aquatic facility, an alternate use for the Murray Goulburn Factory and the development of a circular walking trail along the Campaspe River, could be considered in the immediate future.
“This is very much a future-focussed PBP,” he said, in keeping with the Future Rochester Plan working title of the project.
He said not all projects involved infrastructure as respondents identified it was important the community “crawled before it walked’’.
Talk of major developments like a new pool appear well out of reach for the minute, although an aquatic facility of some sort was a consistent “wish list’’ item for people.
At a breakfast meeting a month ago Cr Jarman said Rochester having a heated pool was “unrealistic’’ and while it was clear people wanted a swim facility of some sort it would be in a different format to the previous facility.
"People want a pool back, but it is more likely to be a 25-metre pool with a splash park than what we previously had,“ he told the breakfast meeting.
Cr Jarman said the timing of the PBP was perfect, presenting the committee and those who contributed to the survey the opportunity to look to the post-flood future of the town.
“The last PBP was extremely successful, but there are things included in this plan that are longer-term projects,“ he said.
Cr Jarman said flood mitigation projects, like the installation of gates at Lake Eppalock were included in the plan.
“Continuing to advocate for a result at Lake Eppalock is a priority, but initially many of the projects relate to livability and sustainability of the town,“ he said.
While the Campaspe River was at the heart of the community’s demolition in October last year, feedback from the survey was clear in the fact that the community wanted to embrace the river as a central focus of the town.
“One of the projects is completing an end-to-end walking trail that includes the river.
“A few of the other larger projects are to investigate residential development in the land and further develop commercial land.
“There was also strong support for the development of a youth hub,” he said.
Cr Jarman said the completed report, detailing the community feedback, would be back in the hands of the committee in coming weeks.
“I would expect it to be delivered to the August meeting of council, at the earliest,” he said.
Members of Rochester’s Place Based Plan Committee are Maureen Chiswell, Justin Cleary, Beck Hocking, Donald Hughan, Megan Keating, Karen Laing, Amanda Logie, Dimity Pearson (committee chair), Peter Romer, Maree Trail, Heather Watson and Bec Wolfe.