This week's Episode 43 of Stepping Back in Times brings us to the conclusion of our series on Mayors of Tamworth - all 37 of them. If you've read all of them, how would you rank them for community leadership and contribution from 1 to 37 - a difficult task !
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Our 35th Mayor was James Morrison Treloar who served two mayoral periods - 1995-2000 and 2001-2010, becoming our longest-ever serving Mayor over a period of 14 years, after previously being a Councillor since 1987 and continuing on as such for several years after his mayoralship concluded.
Born in 1955 and attending Tamworth Public School (good opening batsman), and then The Armidale School (TAS), he worked with Grace Bros in Sydney before returning to Tamworth to work in partnership with father Bruce and brother John in the Treloar retail organisation, long established in Tamworth at Treloar's Corner. James had unsuccessful attempts to enter State Parliament in 1991 and 1998.
On becoming Mayor in 1995, he continued the impressive Peel Street re-development from Fitzroy to White St, and later from Brisbane to Bourke St, very much a success story considering, as our Times historians will already know, Peel Street was never designed to be our main street in the original 1849 Town Plan.
The TRECC complex was opened in 1998, the incentive being largely to service the growing Country Music Awards.
It was rather a "white elephant" for the first few years, but has now well and truly grown into itself, with a very busy calendar of entertainment, displays, conferences, etc. 1997 saw Council relocating from Peel House in Fitzroy Street to Ray Walsh House, and the opening of the World War II Memorial at Bicentennial Park.
Treloar oversaw many developments in 2000, including the opening of the Coledale Centenary Park; UNE establishing a significant campus in Fitzroy Street; the commencement of plans for the Westdale Water Treatment Works; discussion on possible amalgamation of Tamworth City and Parry Shire Councils.
That same year saw Mayor Treloar being required to stand down for four months following controversy over a possible extension of Shopping World into the Tamworth West Public School site.
After Warren Woodley was elected as Mayor in September, 2000 during this stand-down, Treloar was re-elected as Mayor 12 months later. Considerable re-organisation took place in 2004 when the City Council became a Regional Council after merging with Barraba, Manilla and Nundle, and later Parry Shire.
There followed much positive growth with tourism, Country Music, Tamworth Airport and our health services all showing significant progress. Controversy over Sudanese refugee re-settlement arose in 2006, eventually being resolved into what is today a very successful immigration program, as instanced this year by the large number of various nationalities in our city accepting Australian Citizenship.
How many of those opponents at the original public meeting in the Community Centre (I was there!) would have now changed their minds?
Two great facilities opened in 2008, the new Capitol Theatre and the AELEC, both huge success stories from the start. History must be repeating as Chaffey Dam was down to 13% in 2006/07 following drought conditions, leading to the re-commissioning of the Paradise Wells.
In 2009 Tamworth Regional Council was again honoured with the A.R.Bluett Memorial Award amongst 151 other local government bodies. In 2010 James Treloar stood down after a record 14 years as Mayor of Tamworth, and to this day is still involved in community affairs.
Our 36th Mayor was current well-known local identity Warren Woodley, the Woodley family name being associated for over a century and a half with the Tamworth district.
Turning 83 this year, Warren had attended Tamworth High School, before entering the family upholstery and panel-beating business, which later grew into today's Woodley's Motors which his son Mark now manages. Apart from his one year Mayoral stint (2001) Woodley served as a Councillor for a record term of almost four decades.
His strong community involvement included assistance of the Aboriginal community, improvements in tertiary education opportunities and much commitment to drug and alcohol education. As with previous mayors, addressing Tamworth's growing water needs led to further developments, with the establishment of the Murroon and Hills Plains Reservoirs.
Airport-related training facilities grew apace. Towards the end of Woodley's mayoralship in 2001, Tamworth won the NSW Tidy Towns Award, receiving great praise from Premier Bob Carr. Warren Woodley's many years of contribution to the Tamworth Community was recognised with an OAM Award in 2002, and again in 2011 with the prestigious Noel Park Award.
And now to our current Mayor Col Murray, Tamworth's 37th, over 144 years of our Borough, City and Regional Councils. He is now in his 10th year as Mayor after serving as Deputy Mayor for two years prior. He has been recognised as a leader in local government, having chaired Regional Cities NSW, Country Mayors Association and Namoi Councils, and is now the current Secretary of Regional Capitals Australia. Many important projects have come to completion within the boundaries of the Tamworth Region during his tenure.
These include the Westdale Water Treatment Plant in 2011; the Split Rock to Barraba pipeline in 2013; the opening of the Tamworth Regional Youth Centre in 2015; the commencement of a 250 hectare industrial site in Westdale; the augmentation of Chaffey Dam in 2016; the securing of State government funding for Stage 1 of the Tamworth Rail Freight Intermodal; the Manilla Road upgrade (2012-2019); the Fitzroy Street Beautification Project (2018/19); the Northern Inland Centre of Sporting Excellence - synthetic athletics track, velodrome/criterium track, equestrian arena, etc (2019) with additional hockey and cricket facilities to be completed in 2020; the Viaduct Park Regional Skate Park (2019).
As Mayor, Col Murray has made a priority of keeping a focus on strategic initiatives to ensure the Tamworth Region continues to grow and develop where future generations can thrive while enjoying a quality lifestyle and a variety of educational and employment opportunities.
As with the leaders of many other local government councils recently, Mayor Murray and his workforce have been under considerable pressure in finding solutions to our water deficiency in the current severe drought conditions. Water has largely dominated discussion at recent TRC meetings, with perhaps human accelerated climate change being the elephant in the room.
Our 37 community leaders over the 144 years of our local government have dealt with a myriad of major problems, and this will no doubt continue into the future.
Well done guys, and only one lady - keep it up ! And most of all - listen to your broad community. Also remember the words of the first European to pass through our valley - John Oxley in 1818, who said - "No place can afford more advantages to the industrious settler." Go Tamworth!
In conclusion, I must pay special tribute to Del Brooke OAM, long-time Tamworth resident now living in Coffs Harbour, for her painstaking research leading to the 2015 publication 'The Mayors of Tamworth', which has assisted me greatly in putting together these Times episodes. Copies are available for purchase from Calala Cottage, the Tamworth Historical Society HQ.
Tamworth Historical Society
Graphic caption - James Treloar, our 35th Mayor, who served in that position for a record 14 years.