Ever wondered what exactly the PDCA does during the year? I did before I joined the Executive Committee, but found that reading through past President’s reports was a very useful primer on how the PDCA works to improve facilities and services in the village. Several past reports can be found on our website, and I am posting my contribution to this here.
Please contact me (or add a comment) if you have any questions about what has been reported, or if you have any suggestions for what we need to concentrate on this year.
Jamie Oliver
PDCA President’s Report – 2018-19
Over the last year several important milestones have been
achieved in Paluma. For each of these the insights, planning and management
needed to achieve these outcomes has been the result of the efforts of many
people over the course of more than just one year, including all members of the
PDCA executive. I think that all Paluma residents should feel very proud of
what a small community such as ours can achieve across a range of issues if we
work together with a common vision.
Key outcomes for the year that I would particularly like to
highlight include:
- Completion
of the new Community Hall Extension. All members of the PDCA executive
contributed significantly to this outcome but it is the early work of previous
executive members such as John Tubman and Michael Drew that was important in
designing the hall, finding funds, developing plans, and managing the building
contract. Without Michael’s effort we would never have had sufficient funds to
start this extension, and without his efforts in chasing up a builder who could
do the work within our budget it would never have been completed. In appreciation of the efforts of John
Tubman, on this and a myriad of other contributions to the PDCA, we named the
extension the John Tubman Room. All members of the Executive, especially
Wilfred and Lynn, also played a crucial role in identifying areas requiring
attention during the constructions, thus ensuring a Room that will serve our
purposes for many years to come.
- Completion
of the new Water Treatment Plant.
This had been a prolonged and controversial project that might never
have happened without the persistence and determination of most Paluma
residents to hold the council to its obligations in providing clean potable
water. The quality of our water now exceeds that of Townsville and many of its
suburbs.
- Opening
of the High Ropes Course. It was
fantastic to see the opening of the first new commercial facility at Paluma in
many years. The PDCA cannot claim any responsibility for this but we have been
enthusiastically supportive of the efforts and vision of Sam Stedman and Wilfred
Karnoll who partnered in developing the facility. It appears to be a success with regular use
by schools and other private groups
- Repair of
the Hussy Rd turnoff and paving of the beginning of Hussey Rd. This has been an ongoing issue for many years
but thanks to the efforts of Michael Drew and other residents of the “Republic
of Hussey Road” it has now been completed.
- Installation
and commissioning of the new Telstra Mobile phone tower. This has had a major impact on our community,
providing high quality digital and voice communication throughout the village
and out to Hussey Road. The ground work for this project was laid by several
previous PDCA executive members.
- Construction
of a new Website – Paluma.org. We now have a highly functional website that
provides information on the attractions and history of Paluma. It also allows regular contributions from our
prolific nature and social bloggers (Colwyn Campbell and Michele Bird) as well
as other residents. A review of website usage indicates that we get about 350
visits per month. Most of this traffic is directed at the various posts, but we
have also had more than 1000 downloads of documents from the Maps and History
sections of our library. Currently the
website has of 54 pages of information (separate from regular posts) and more
than 200 photographs that can be displayed in slideshows or used for illustrative
purposes.
In addition to these major
milestones, the PDCA has also continued to carry or promote our annual program
of social, cultural and sporting activities. These include:
- Paluma Push – our role was to provide assistance
at check points and hold a end of event BBQ for all volunteers
- Paluma Races –provided a venue for the start,
assistance with promotion, logistics and checkpoints
- Our regular Social Nights organized by Lynn and
Les Hyland with help from many others
- Garden Competition
- Bush Dance with Wattle and Gum
- Sunday Markets
Lynn continued to do a fantastic job managing hall bookings
this past year. We have attracted a number of interesting groups up to Paluma (Blankets
of Love, Buddhist Retreat, Plant Identification course) and this not only helps
to enhance our visibility as a great place to hold workshops or retreats, but
also continues to make an important financial contribution to the Association.
In addition to the construction of the new Hall extension,
the Paluma Community Centre Management Committee (SES, PDCA, PRFS) has reviewed
the need for major maintenance of the rest of the building and has arranged for
the existing roof to be re-screwed, gutter brackets replaced and new skylights
installed. Further maintenance and
improvement works such as a covered walkway between the back SES door and the
back stairs to the new Hall extension, and the installation of a concrete slab
under the hall for a generator, is being planned for this year.
The PDCA spent some time looking at safety issues this year.
We held meetings with Transport and Main Roads to discuss the need for upgrades
of the range road at several spots and have been informed that efforts will be
made to include this work in the next bid for road funding in 2019-20. The PDCA
has had several discussions with relevant authorities about speeding in the
village and we will continue to lobby for appropriate signage and other
realistic measures to make are village roads safer. We have also reviewed arrangements
for the location of the Royal Flying Doctor Service kits. It will remain at the
Ivy Cottage with Ian Marshall acting as the key contact person. We have also investigated options for access
to a defibrillator. Currently there is a defib (currently being serviced) in
the Paluma Fire Brigade vehicle, and Michael Drew has arranged for a second
unit (in service) to be made available over the Easter weekend in the Hall. To
cater for other injuries, Juanita Poletto has organized the placement of a St John’s
Ambulance first aid kit (with additional kits for burns and snake bites) in the
hall, together with appropriate signage.
Building on the capabilities of our new website, we have
undertaken a major revision of the format for Turkey Talk. Given that our web
posts now cover over 90% of traditional Turkey Talk content, the newsletter is
now circulated as a quarterly digest of new information posted to the Website.
Although the PDCA has accomplished quite a bit during the
year, we still have a list of issues and jobs that we started to address but have
not reached full completion or resolution. Some of our priorities for next year
include:
- Finalize discussion with TMR on road closure
policies during and after road slips, vegetation clearance schedules, and on
funding for a major works program to address safety hotspots on the road
- Construction of a platform and interpretive
signage for the Star Valley Lookout
- Development of new garden beds along the main
roads of the village
- Construction of a walkway with Platypus viewing
platforms
Jamie Oliver
PDCA President
