Discussions on the history and historiography of Australia's New England

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

History Revisited - Armidale aspired to become 'Cambridge of Australia'

"HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY": Jim Belshaw says that the Creeklands' area contributes to the harmony of Armidale
The opening of the Malpas dam in 1968 was important to the greening of Armidale because it removed water constraints. However, other forces were at play as well.

By 1963, Armidale was in the midst of a building boom that would continue for almost twenty years. By 1974, NSW Government population projections suggested that Armidale’s population would pass that of Tamworth, reaching 40,000 people by the year 2000. Few realised just how vulnerable Armidale had become to downturn because of its now overwhelming dependence on a single industry.

In October 1959, the Hon Lionel Brett, a representative of the British Council and a leading town planner, commented during a visit to that “Armidale appeared as a city which could be greatly improved”. Earlier, in August of that year, J H Shaw from the University of NSW had said that with proper planning, Armidale could become the Cambridge of Australia.

These two ideas of civic improvement and of Armidale as a unique education centre were conjoined and could conflict. Civic improvement included modernization and development, while life style was central to the university city concept. 

In retrospect, the Arboretum debate in the first part of the sixties was something of a turning point. Worried about the rate base relative to servicing costs, Council was split between the subdivision of the open space around the lookout or the open space on South Hill that was the site of the proposed Arboretum. 

A resumed proposal to rezone the Arboretum land for residential purposes again led to protests from a variety of civic groups. For the first time, aldermen found themselves greeted by demonstrators with placards. It was a friendly affair, and in the end the land was maintained for public purposes. The Arboretum itself would not officially open until 1988, but the practical effect was to save open space in the north and south of the city.

In 1966 as part of the continuing interest in beautification, recreation and civic improvement, a recreation and playing fields advisory committee was formed following a public meeting.

There was rapid progress. In Armidale in 1968, there were twelve hectares of recreational land. Ten years later there were 26 hectares, with a further 7 hectares nearing completion plus another 8 hectares allocated for equestrian clubs. A further 59 hectares had been allocated for future open space.

The Creeklands were now emerging as a central unified east-west meander, adding to the harmony of the central city in its valley.

Growth in pupil numbers meant expansion in schools as well as in student numbers, leading to new schools and not always appealing new building. Visually, the sympathetic extensions at TAS were especially important in helping anchor Brown Street, while also starting to create a new eastern visual strip from the Police Paddock to the Creeklands.

The transformation period that we are talking about (1963-83) also saw the beginning of the museum precinct in Kentucky Street with the opening of NERAM in 1983, as well as the revitalisation of Beardy Street.

One can argue about Beardy Street, but that’s a different story. 
Note to readers: This post appeared as a column in the Armidale Express Extra on 10 February 2016. I am repeating the columns here with a lag because they are not on line outside subscription. You can see all the Belshaw World and History Revisited columns by clicking here for 2009, here for 2010, here for 2011, here for 2012, here for 2013, here for 2014, here for 2015, here for 2016.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

History Revisited - Armidale's blooming colour palette

ADDING TO THE GREENERY: Jim Belshaw discusses the colours usually associated with the city and how they have evolved over time
In 1963, the Armidale palette was heavily white, green and red. White for the weatherboard houses, red and green for the galvanized iron roofs, patches of green for the parks and established gardens. There were other colours, but from the air white, red and green seemed to dominate.

Twenty years later, the colours had greatly changed, become more varied. Part of this was due to the new “heritage” paints. I have put heritage in inverted commas because, at least so far as Armidale was concerned, they were not really heritage at all. But they were attractive, transforming apparently ugly ducking weatherboard into visually appealing houses.

Of more importance was the spread of greenery with its pronounced splashes of autumn and spring colour. Armidale now seemed to nestle among its trees and parks, creating both visual unity and variation. It all seemed to happen very quickly.

The reality was a little different, for the apparently sudden transformation had deep roots.

Armidale had always had great civic pride. Building on earlier work by groups such as the Armidale Horticultural Society which had been involved (among other things) in attempts to create an arboretum in East Armidale to help beautify the city, an Armidale Improvement and Beautification Committee was formed in the 1940s. Between 1948 and 1964, 1500 trees were planted in Armidale streets on the recommendation of the committee. The plantings were a community undertaking with residents planting trees provided by Council.

The Committee had a clear long term objective. Margaret Waters whose father Alwyn Jones was instrumental in developing the project, defined the group’s objectives in this way: “They wanted to create summer shade and autumn colour, that prior to the plantings was non existent in Armidale.”

Later, this approach would be challenged by the native is best school. However, the plan made sense in visual terms, taking Armidale’s varying seasons into account.

The campaign struggled to a degree because householders did not always look after the trees, more because Armidale’s limited water supply made watering difficult during drought. Trees died and then had to be replanted. 

Armidale’s limited water supply had long been a problem. As early as the 1920s, there had been proposals to build a dam at Malpas to meet the city’s water needs. By the 1950s, the city’s growth made a new water supply critical, with drought periods bringing major water restrictions.

An intense battle followed. There were those who opposed a new water supply on the grounds of cost to ratepayers. Local landowners among others objected, arguing that the Malpas site was unsuitable,. that the water would be undrinkable, that the dam would quickly silt up. A strong group led by local engineer Zihni Buzo argued that the alternative Styx River site was far better.

The argument raged back and forth. Finally, a decision was made to build a dam at Malpas.

The new dam opened in 1968. Whatever the arguments for and against the dam, it meant that Armidale had a secure water supply. Now water was readily available to support the beautification of Armidale.
Note to readers: This post appeared as a column in the Armidale Express Extra on 3 February 2016. I am repeating the columns here with a lag because they are not on line outside subscription. You can see all the Belshaw World and History Revisited columns by clicking here for 2009, here for 2010, here for 2011, here for 2012, here for 2013, here for 2014, here for 2015, here for 2016.

Wednesday, February 03, 2016

History Revisited - the changing face of Armidale architecture

PRESERVATION: The practical effect of these various changes was the preservation of a remarkably high proportion of the varied  housing stock within the old city boundaries and especially the older houses. 
In part one of my story of Armidale’s transformation, I said that the city began with good bones, a creek and two hills.

The demolition of the old gaol and the construction of the Armidale Teachers’ College provided a building on one hill that was large enough to be monumental but did not dominate the town. This was potentially matched by the parklands on North Hill, although their development was slow and somewhat patchy.

The area now known as the Creeklands began as private land along the creek, but was also used for recreational purposes such as the first golf club, sometimes creating conflict. Over time, the land transferred to public ownership.

The potential use of the Creeklands as public space was always there. However, the Creeklands as we know them today did not exist in 1963.

Following the end of the Second World War, the Australian population grew rapidly. There were shortages of building materials, while governments struggled to provide services.

Armidale shared the shortages, but initially lagged the population growth. The great Wool Boom that began in 1947 increased rural incomes and consequently town business. However, limited government resources initially limited the growth of the city’s two tertiary colleges.

By the early 1950s, growth was underway. School numbers were increasing, as were student and staff numbers at both the Teachers’ College and University College. Building and construction were also growing.

This growth had a number of features that would be important to Armidale’s subsequent transformation.

Both the Teachers’ College and University College were residential. Pending the establishment and growth of the on-campus college system, students were placed in town houses. This protected some of the old larger homes that might otherwise have been demolished.

The residential requirement had another effect too. In the 1920s during an earlier period of rapid Sydney expansion, the member for Amidale David Drummond quipped that if God had invented the country and man the city, then the Devil had invented the suburbs and built flats.

There was some truth in that. Australian architecture in the 1950s was mediocre. In Sydney, the spreading flats were quite ugly. The requirement that students live on campus initially limited flat construction in Armidale.

As residential requirements were relaxed at the University, flats did begin to appear to house students and single staff, as well as other singles or couples drawn to Armidale by its growth. However, many students in particular went into smaller investor owned rented weatherboard homes in the main city area, effectively preserving them.

For their part. the new staff coming to Armidale after the War began living in rental accommodation before buying or building. Given the size of the city, there was not a lot of choice, nor were housing expectations as high as they are today. Some purchased existing cottages and later extended them, others rented the older, larger homes now being released by the University, still others built new homes on vacant land within the city or, more frequently, outside the city boundaries.

The practical effect of these various changes was the preservation of a remarkably high proportion of the varied if somewhat polyglot housing stock within the old city boundaries. This was central to the transformation now underway. 
Note to readers: This post appeared as a column in the Armidale Express Extra on 27 January 2016. I am repeating the columns here with a lag because they are not on line outside subscription. You can see all the Belshaw World and History Revisited columns by clicking here for 2009, here for 2010, here for 2011, here for 2012, here for 2013, here for 2014, here for 2015, here for 2016.