Valley Vision – A history of the Kangaroo Valley Voice

As we are introducing a new look for the Voice this month, the committee thought it might be timely to look back over its past.

Published 22nd January 2024 By Tony Barnett
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Looking back

I’ve had an admittedly quick inspection of every issue, and a comprehensive history would fill the whole of this month’s issue.

In May 1995 a workshop, organised by the NSW Department of Business and Regional Development (under its Small Towns Program), the Mainstreet Partnership (a group of consultants) and Shoalhaven City Council, was held at the Kangaroo Valley Country Club with the objective of allowing the local community to identify a vision for the Valley.

That workshop led to the creation of the Voice. The first issue appeared in July 1995, with Paul Marcus the first of several editors. He was succeeded by Win Palmer in February 1998; Carl Leddy, by far the longest serving editor to-date, in February 1999; an editorial committee of Jenelle Brangwin, Jason Horton & Diana Jaffray in December 2015; Delyse Wright in May 2016; Sally Latham in March 2019; Nick Levey in March 2021; and Paige Simpson (later Nutter) in February 2022.

There have been many recurring themes

  • Annual events, such as the KV Show, Anzac Day, Arts in the Valley and the Folk Festival;
  • The achievements, and passing, of local residents who have contributed so much to our community;
  • The activities of our community institutions and groups, including the Anglican Church, Fire Brigade, preschool and primary school, Pioneer Village Museum, Historical Society, Lions Club, VIEW Club, Environment Group, Garden Group, Bushwalking Group, Community Association (now replaced by Community Consultative Group), and bowls, golf and tennis clubs;
  • Regular columns on subjects such as nutrition (Rosemary Stanton’s columns have run for over 20 years), recipes, gardening, travel, seniors, books, photography, astronomy, and many others; and
  • Since July 2021, articles relevant to NAIDOC week.

Please forgive me if, in the interests of space limits, I have omitted names or activities worthy of mention.

The headlines

Front page headlines have often reflected one of the themes mentioned above. A few others, typical of many worthy of mention, were:

Pioneer Farm may close!

This (November 2001) was an urgent plea for someone to save our museum (then named ‘Pioneer Farm Museum’) from closure, given that it was being run by a trio of nonagenarian ladies whose declining health was threatening an imminent end to their long periods of service. Elaine Apperley, then a recent resident of the Valley, answered the call, and presided over many successful years at the museum.

Kangaroo Valley is mainland Australia’s first plastic bag free town

This (November 2003) boosted the environmental credentials of our community for locals and visitors alike.

Community achievers rewarded

The theme of locals’ achievements (July 2005) is covered above in general terms, but this recognition (July 2005), by the award of Orders of Australia to Jane Matthews (Officer), a judge of the NSW Supreme Court, and to Franz Mairinger (Medal), Founder and President of the Kangaroo Valley Lions Club, did deserve special mention.

Damn right we’re upset!

This (August 2005) referred to a proposal by the NSW government to raise the wall of Tallowa Dam, and the resulting protests by our community led to the proposal being dropped. It was one example of the Voice encouraging opposition to various proposals seen to have an adverse effect on our community. Other such proposals were a feedlot on Glenmurray Road, the closure of Hampden bridge for repairs and, more recently, a huge residential development on land adjoining the Bowling Club.

Kangaroo Valley’s own Broadband Network

This (July 2018) promoted an appeal by John Sinclair for support to create a broadband network just for the Valley – an Australian first. It reflected the fact that many locals were unable to access NBN, or were dissatisfied with its service. John duly received enough local sponsorship for the area covered by his initial proposal, and later government grants to enable him to expand the coverage in the Valley.

Baby Boomers bailing out

As can be seen, this front cover (December 2019) pictured members of the Voice committee who (with the exception of Sally Latham) wished to resign – in most cases because they were moving away from the Valley. It resulted, after a brief interregnum, in the election of new committee members who remain in place today.

Thank you for keeping us safe

This (February 2020) again reflects one of the themes mentioned above, namely community service. But I think it merits special mention, as it acknowledged the dangerous work undertaken by members of the Kangaroo Valley Fire Brigade battling the Carrowan Fire.

Covid’s effects felt in the Valley

This (September 2020) referred not to the effects of Covid on the health of Valley residents, but on community events and activities, starting with the cancellation of the Folk Festival and later many others, including the KV Show and the Arts Festival.

Letters to the Editor

For many years, letters to the Editor were a popular feature of the Voice. Regrettably, in recent years the number of letters has significantly declined. I find it hard to believe that today’s residents of the Valley have fewer opinions than their predecessors, so perhaps the decline can be attributed to a loss of ability or time caused either by age or by family commitments.

Publications and projects

In conjunction with the KV Tourist Association,.in 2012 the Voice published Art & Soul of Kangaroo Valley, “an artistic and culinary journey through Australia’s most beautiful valley”, which featured over 100 local farmers, growers, processors, purveyors, chefs, artists, photographers, writers, music makers and others in the general category of “creative pursuits”.

The Voice has provided financial support to a number of community projects, including Valley Movies, for which it generated a government grant, KV Public School, to buy new learn-to-read books, and the annual Swim Cup.

Mastheads

As can be seen, there was no masthead in the first issue. However, the third issue featured the masthead which, with some variations relevant to an event, such as the KV Show, or an occasion, such as Christmas, continued, with the introduction of colour in October 1999, until May 2007, when it was replaced by the image of Hampden Bridge and mountains, which remained until our last issue (December 2023).

Community spirit continues

Many years ago, Carl invited me to write a series of articles on our local community groups, covering one each month. To my amazement, I found that there were no fewer than 42 such groups in our small community. Not wishing to make the series last for 3½ years, I covered two groups in each issue. Since then, a few of those groups have ceased to exist – possibly due to the same factors as the decline in the number of letters. However, the community spirit in our Valley continues far to exceed its size. Long may the Voice contribute to the fostering of that spirit.

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