The 'Village Pump'
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FREE MAY 2016 Linking the Communities of Broke Fordwich Bulga & Milbrodale AL DIGIT The ‘village pump’ noW GONE VILLAGE LIFE ALIVE AND WELL - ONLINE ALSO - THIS Australia’s Got ISSUE Bulga Milbrodale Talent, 2016 Heritage projects to benefit residents decide: Thank winner to appear from conservation funds you - but no thank you in Broke Our magazine - named after Cockfighter Creek - So named in 1820 by John Howe and B. Singleton because one of their horses called Diary Cockfighter was bogged here on their return trip from Wallis Plains (Maitland) to Patrick 7 May DatesGo for Broke bike ride Plains (Singleton) May 2016 Berowra to Broke 7 May Stonehurst Rock & Blue FROM THE EDITOR: April Rainfall 12 mm Revival Cedar Creek WATER WATER Year to date 262 mm 27 May (from) The God of Carnage play Laguna Hall EVERYWHERE unresolved promises under current approv- 29 May Taste of Wollombi (BUT NOT A DROP TO als. Because of previous mining lapses,in Wollombi Village DRINK) fact, work is still needed on neighbouring 5 June Olive Long land, as well as on Wambo-owned property. Lunch Whispering f this issue of our little sandal sheet Brook Vineyard Broke seem somewhat waterlogged, there In this connection, bear in mind that the 13 June Long Weekend Market Iare good reasons for it; for one, the subsidence impact on the creek is signifi- Wollombi Sale Yards talk of the townships has been the cant, with repair work not carried out under 26 June Taste of Wollombi promise of a water supply to certain conditions of approval and management Wollombi Village parts of our sub-region, and we are plans. In short, the whole shemozzle has 7 August Hunter Valley French Car been a festering disgrace since longwall Club Nightingale Vineyard grateful for John Krey’s appraisal of Broke this in other pages. Speaking person- work started 25 years ago. And to (un)cap it all, the dam wall at the mine collapsed in 26 August 25th Laguna School Art ally, I can’t wait, having been cursed Show Laguna Hall with fractured tanks for some weeks January last year, resulting in pollution of waterways and demonstrating harmful and 27-28 August Wollombi Country Fair before facing the inevitable in the form 3 September Wollombi Wild Ride of a new container; but John covers lax project management. Seven years ago, Wambo’s South water Storage Dam failed 10 September Stonehurst Long Table all the bases but not the marvellous Lunch Cedar Creek suggestion by a certain wit that all we on one occasion when it overtopped with mine waste water. 11 September Broke Village Fair Broke need is donkey power to carry buckets 17 September Sawmans Wine Club to a standpipe somewhere between If there is a glaring fact, a singular sin Lunch Noyce Brothers here and Singleton. I know just the of omission in this saga, it concerns the Wine Wollombi neddy for this—his name is Humphrey interchange, the reaching out to the com- 24 September Wollombi Music Festival and he is one of (neighbours and pals) munity which is so absent in Peabody’s Wollombi Stirling and Sarah’s beautiful visitors reaction to the voice of the people (contrast 2 October Catherine Vale Jazz Day who cut my grass so well. the well-established and informative Q Broke and A sessions which Glencore’s excellent 3 October Long Weekend Market But another aqueous aggravation is upon Wollombi Sale Yards us—or at least threatens to do so: the plan environmental team provide regularly for the Broke-Bulga-Fordwich-Milbrodale 1 November Melbourne Cup GNTP of Wambo Mine (between Bulga and Jerrys Laguna & Wollombi Tavern Plains in the Upper Hunter) to modify the bailiwick). Information which has been provided by Peabody is considered poor 6 November Meet the Makers Broke underground workings and extend the open 12 November Folk in Broke Broke cut does nothing to allay fears that this will and in fact inaccurate by the landholders who are mounting the current protest. They November (all) Sculpture in the Vineyard cause additional environmental and social Wollombi Wine Trail point to the token company links in 2012, damage. I hesitate to bore our readers 3rd December Community Christmas with the facts and figures of this develop- followed four years later by mention at the Party Bulga Hall April 2016 meeting of Wambo CCC. Ad- ment but something has to be said,if only 10 December Outdoor Cinema Grays to acknowledge the travails of locals like ditionally, opponents ask why a plan devel- Inn garden Wollombi the Kidmans; these are our neighbours and oped in 2012 and then withdrawn could 12 December Community Christmas friends who have fought the multinational somehow resurface four years later. At this Party Wollombi sprawl of Peabody in numerous protests stage,it would seem the approvals author- 31 December New Years Eve fireworks ,leading to court action and attempts at ity will have to trawl through some turbid Wollombi Tavern resolution. waters to get to the bottom of Peabody’s Hunter Valley Protection Alliance Annual expansion plans. General Meeting Some background: American giant (Tom Jackson) 5pm Saturday 28th April Peabody Energy has filed for Chapter 11 @ the Broke Hall Bankruptcy, which could cast doubt on their financial capacity to comply with obligations under the mining rights. The The Willows Restaurant & Broke Village Store operators have been many and varied The focal point of the Broke community and surrounding area since mining started in 1969,but Peabody The Village Store serves many needs: has been there for ten years. It digs up Groceries, Newsagent, Coffee Shop, Dine-In Restaurant, Delicatessen, more than eleven million tonnes of ther- Post Office, Bottle Shop, Petrol Station & Tourist Information Centre. mal coal yearly, but at a significant cost to The Village Store also stocks an exclusive range of Broke Fordwich Wines. the environment. Subsidence has cracked Wambo Creek, with the side effect of drained (perma- nent) pools and the subsequent impair- ment to local agriculture—to say nothing Enjoy a meal at of our wildlife. North Wambo Creek was 4 Wollombi St, Open: 7 days: The Willows Restaurant divided for a couple of kilometres arund Broke Sunday to ALL DAY MENU the open cut. Landholders maintain that NSW 2330 Wednesday till 8 p.m. BEER ON TAP Thursday to Saturday Ph: 02 6579 1056 the subsidence commitments in the exten- Dine in or al fresco till late. sion proposals overlook outstanding and 2 May 2016 The ‘village pump’ noW GONE DIGITAL he village pump –was a place in the mall. where village life was outlined in Tconversation. Of course gossip was Of course there is no substitution for real the mainstay of the gathering but a people meeting in real places but the online more serious and beneficial community opens up opportunities for peo- activity takes place ple to physically gather. Take for instance when community a recent post by Simon Everett calling members meet. Dis- for community members to meet to plan covery of neighbours events. This activity is funded by a local in need, updates on mine to help local communities conduct farming and business events that bring people together – as part techniques, knowledge of the Villages Master Plan mentioned sharing at a positive above. level covering everything New technology always comes in with from how to bottle olives a flourish and seems to overwhelm and to mechanical know-how threatens to destroy established practic- form part of the interac- es. Take the prediction of the paperless tion associated with the office. Didn’t happen – instead you ‘village pump’ gathering. can buy a printer now for $30 because Many in the Broke, Bulga, the manufacturer is confident Fordwich and Milbrodale com- you are going to use munities (the bailiwick of this so much paper print- journal!) are currently lamenting ing that you will end the loss to digital media, of the up spending a fortune face-to-face meetings that contrib- on ink cartridges uted so much to village life. – Why -because information looks At a recent meeting at the Broke Hall to and feels better on review a presentation of the ‘Villages paper. And, as reported Master Plan’ comments were made about recently, the number of the need to build paper books published interest in communal in 2015 outstripped the gatherings to help number of digital books – not vitalise community because digital book purchases togetherness. went down but because paper But perhaps all is book sales have gone up. It is OK. Over the last few often not a competition to see years, the Facebook which technology wins but a site “Broke Notice process of ‘levelling out’ to a Board” has been stead- point where both technologies ily growing and fulfill- exist side by side. ing much of the lost Those of us old enough to re- village pump action. member, saw the closing down It is often thought of cinemas as TV became pop- that neighbours not ular – how wealthy you would knowing each other be if you had invested in is a syndrome of city living, movies back then. – yet another but with dual income families, example of mutual existence, increased travel times and other as TV, downloading movies demands on people’s times, it is and old fashioned ‘going to the not unusual for rural neighbours movies’ exist together. to not know each other. So by all means lets get back The Broke Notice Board seems around the village pump but to be opening up people to don’t be too much of a snob – each other through conversa- bring your iPad with you.