Longtime Tamworth resident Rodney Hobbs shares with readers a dream/nightmare he had, inspired no doubt by the council’s decision to sell off under-utilised assets.
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I WAS intrigued to learn that the parkland between Tamworth Rugby Park and Carthage St was called Angora Park (NDL September 28).
Since the late 1850s when mobs of goats frequently grazed on this hillside, this area has been known to locals as Billygoat Hill (sometimes also referred to as Nannygoat Hill). These goats were definitely not of the angora breed.
In 1947 my family moved to a house on top of the hill facing the park, and as a child I spent many enjoyable times playing with my dog on Billygoat Hill.
We were not ashamed to say that we lived on Billygoat Hill. I would be interested to know when and why the name was changed to the more “dignified” Angora Park (shown as Angora Heights on some maps).
Following the publicity about the proposed Prince of Wales Park development, I had a terrible dream the other night.
I tossed and turned thinking about all the “underperforming” public assets controlled by Tamworth Regional Council and the fact that council will not back away from reviewing community “white elephants”.
In my dream the under-used bottom half of Anzac Park was covered with concrete slab townhouses within walking distance of the CBD.
The underused Viaduct Park was converted into car yards with concrete slab buildings. The underused Tamworth Athletics Centre was made into an extension of the bulky goods area with concrete slab boxes occupying the site.
Thank goodness I woke up before any more horrors were revealed.
Following this dream, on my early morning walk, I deliberately went past some of Tamworth’s more attractive buildings including the Wesley Church, Tamworth Railway Station, the former St Andrew’s Church and the former Dominican Priory.
I closed my eyes when I went past the ugly Tamworth Court House but enjoyed passing the town hall, the Lands Building and the Tamworth Post Office. I went along Peel St remembering some of the grand old buildings long since gone.
Then I came to the new Centrelink building. Do architects design buildings any more? This building looks as if it was constructed out of leftover building materials from other sites – or the architect couldn’t decide what style or materials to use.
Finally my spirits were restored when I came to the community centre, a beautiful old building with a sympathetic and attractive modern addition.
Tamworth Regional Council needs to be very prudent about selling off community assets. Once these are gone it is very expensive to ever get them back.
Councillors, don’t end up like billygoats on the hill!