Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Gerry Wood wants the word RURAL incorporated into the name of the new Palmerston Fire Station, particularly as it's to be located in the rural area

Transcript

Gerry Wood wants the word RURAL incorporated into the name of the new Palmerston Fire Station, particularly as it's to be located in the rural area · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: And now my next guest, Well, you all know him
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  Speaker 1: very well. We haven't had him in the studio for
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  Speaker 1: a little while. He's obviously retired, but I don't think
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  Speaker 1: he can ever really retire after you've been the local
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  Speaker 1: member for how many years?
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  Speaker 2: Jerry would.
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  Speaker 3: In a fair number of years on the council of
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  Speaker 3: thirteen before that. So it's hard to get politics out
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  Speaker 3: of my blood. It is, and I've always been interested
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  Speaker 3: in politics, but so you know, I do try and
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  Speaker 3: keep it my finger on the pulse a bit, but
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  Speaker 3: try not to be too too much of a sticky beak.
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  Speaker 1: No, it's good to keep your finger on the pulse,
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  Speaker 1: so I know exactly what's going on now before I
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  Speaker 1: actually talk to you about the fire station, Emma Stark,
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  Speaker 1: we spoke to the n Junior Sportsperson of the Year
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  Speaker 1: just a little while ago. Now you know him well
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  Speaker 1: of it. You're still umpiring, aren't you. Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: I stilled down at Casperin at the moment on the weekend,
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  Speaker 3: so I enjoy it. It's a really great activity for me.
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  Speaker 3: Oh yes, I have umpired occasionally with him, but him
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  Speaker 3: is much faster than me, and a lot fitter than me,
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  Speaker 3: and a lot younger than me, so I don't actually
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  Speaker 3: umpire for with her. Very often she umpires with the top,
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  Speaker 3: top grade umpires. Now, she's a lovely lady. She's very
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  Speaker 3: skilled in football, and she's very skilled in umpiring, and
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  Speaker 3: she well, you know, is a great it's a great
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  Speaker 3: award that she's been given because she truly deserves it.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. An impressive young woman.
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  Speaker 3: That's absolutely, yes, yes, and very mature for her age.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Now, Jerry, there's lots happening. I know there's always
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  Speaker 1: plenty happening. But you and I spoke just a couple
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  Speaker 1: of weeks ago about the new fire station. Now at
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  Speaker 1: this point in time, is it still called the Palmeston
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  Speaker 1: fire Station.
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  Speaker 3: It's still up there. I got an email on Friday
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  Speaker 3: from the Minister and thanking me for my comments because
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  Speaker 3: I've written to the minister and said, yes, we are
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  Speaker 3: going to change it. We're going to put Parmesan a regional.
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  Speaker 3: I thought, no, no, no, no, no, We're not Parmesan and regional.
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  Speaker 3: I don't live in the Parmestan region to start with.
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  Speaker 3: We have always been in the rural area. The rural
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  Speaker 3: area existed in twenty years before Parmeston was even thought of.
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  Speaker 3: We are an area which covers Bees Creek. We co
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  Speaker 3: all of the area, but from the Northern Territory Fire
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  Speaker 3: Service point of view, our volunteers cover Beest Creek, Virginia,
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  Speaker 3: parts of Humpty Do parts of Herbert Girrowen mcmn's Howard
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  Speaker 3: Springs Holts. That's the area that we regard as the
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  Speaker 3: rural area. Are part of the rural area, but there
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  Speaker 3: are rural volunteers at work there, and I think people
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  Speaker 3: that live there say I live rural, I don't live reginal,
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  Speaker 3: and I just it might be just being pedantic, but
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  Speaker 3: it was also when the Parmesan hospital went up, they
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  Speaker 3: call it the Parmestan Regional, which had been called well
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  Speaker 3: at least the Parmetan and Regional. They're little things, but
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  Speaker 3: it sounds like bureaucrats get hold of they make up
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  Speaker 3: their mind what the name will be called. And yet
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  Speaker 3: that fire station, which is built in the rural area,
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  Speaker 3: is there also to work for people in the rural area.
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  Speaker 3: So there's a major fire like a house fire or
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  Speaker 3: car accident, not only do you see our volunteers go,
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  Speaker 3: but you would expect the full time fire people from
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  Speaker 3: that fire station go out and work in the rural area.
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  Speaker 1: And so Jerry, obviously you wrote to the minister about this,
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  Speaker 1: so she came back to you and she said that
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  Speaker 1: it would be called the Palmeston and Regional.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and you work out when you put and rural,
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  Speaker 3: you have the same number of letters, so it won't
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  Speaker 3: cost them any more money. But it would just be
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  Speaker 3: nice that the government recognized the rural area as the
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  Speaker 3: rural area. You see the stickers go around, Let's keep
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  Speaker 3: rural rural. And I think there's a few others. Don't
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  Speaker 3: mess with me on rural because people's that's reflecting who
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  Speaker 3: they think they are.
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  Speaker 2: So why do you reckon it's so important?
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  Speaker 1: Why do you think it's so important that you know
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  Speaker 1: that this is changed and it's Palmeston and Rural rather
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  Speaker 1: than regional.
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  Speaker 3: Because I think for a long time we have problem
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  Speaker 3: with governments recognizing who we are. So we fight over
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  Speaker 3: whether you should have this greater wholes area turn into
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  Speaker 3: a suburb. Why do we fight over it because we
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  Speaker 3: won't think it should stay rural Because there's a whole
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  Speaker 3: big piece of land just south of palmestan cardwidell which
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  Speaker 3: has been designed for suburbs now they take the shortcut. Well,
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  Speaker 3: we'll just remove that part of the land and make
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  Speaker 3: it into a suburb. So there are times here when
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  Speaker 3: I don't think we get recognized as who we are
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  Speaker 3: because we like living in the rural area, or we
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  Speaker 3: love living in the royal area. We think it's a
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  Speaker 3: great place to raise families. I've always said that people
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  Speaker 3: want to live in the suburbs. That's fine, but we
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  Speaker 3: should also be allowing people to enjoy living in the
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  Speaker 3: rural area because the opportunities there for children, chooks, dogs, space, bush, motorbikes,
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  Speaker 3: whatever you want, you've got a little bit more space.
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  Speaker 3: So I think a lot of us define ourselves as
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  Speaker 3: being part of the rural area, and when you get
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  Speaker 3: told it's a region, you think, no, no, no, why
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  Speaker 3: don't you put something up that reflects who the fire
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  Speaker 3: station will be working with?
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  Speaker 1: So, Jerry, have you got many people in the area
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  Speaker 1: that are backing what you're saying at the moment?
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  Speaker 2: Is there a few of them that are.
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  Speaker 3: Saying, yeah, come on, look, I haven't gone around and
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  Speaker 3: done a survey. Sometimes you go with your gut failure.
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  Speaker 3: I've been round along enough. You said I was nineteen
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  Speaker 3: years as a local member and thirteen years on the council.
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  Speaker 3: I have a fair idea why people get a bit
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  Speaker 3: uptight about not being recognized as rural because they like
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  Speaker 3: being rural and it's not. And again I'll probably say
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  Speaker 3: that people say, oh, yes, been p dandy perhaps, but
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  Speaker 3: once the sign has gone up, that's the end of it.
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  Speaker 2: Well, you've actually got some messages of support.
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  Speaker 1: There's one here that says definitely rural needs to be recognized.
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  Speaker 1: Keep up the good work, Jerry and Katie. So look,
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  Speaker 1: you have got people that are out in the rural
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  Speaker 1: area that are listening and that are thinking that it.
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  Speaker 2: Does need to go that way.
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  Speaker 3: It's also reflective of the volunteers that work on our
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  Speaker 3: fire stations. So we got fire stations Howard Springs, We've
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  Speaker 3: got Kolpina, We've got bees Creek, Virginia. We've got Humpky Dew.
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  Speaker 3: I hope I haven't missed anyone there, but they're all
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  Speaker 3: work as our rural volunteer fibrigades. The rest of the
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  Speaker 3: Litchfield area is done by the bush Fires people and
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  Speaker 3: they're fantastic. But that area there is the area that
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  Speaker 3: I suppose I used to represent, and I think that
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  Speaker 3: that also that name reflects what those people are doing.
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  Speaker 3: They'll be connected to that fire station, that'll be like that.
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  Speaker 3: You know, you might say the headquarters of the area,
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  Speaker 3: but they'll be part of it. And so I just
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  Speaker 3: think that's also important that they be recognized through that
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  Speaker 3: through that title.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Jerry would we will see what ends up happening
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  Speaker 2: in this space.
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  Speaker 1: Give us an update. If you hear anything more, please
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  Speaker 1: make sure that you let us know.
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  Speaker 2: It's good to catch up with you. We always we
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  Speaker 2: miss your mate.
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  Speaker 3: Oh. I keep listening every now and then. I do.
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  Speaker 3: I've got five acres to try and get under control.
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  Speaker 3: I also care for my good wife who is here
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  Speaker 3: today see Melbourne. Yes, I brought her along. Yeah, So
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  Speaker 3: I keep pretty busy when I can, but I do
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  Speaker 3: keep an ear and an eye out for you know,
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  Speaker 3: there's there are changes in local government at the moment
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  Speaker 3: about some unincorporated areas being pulled into existing councils. I've
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  Speaker 3: written about a fifteen page report on what I think
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  Speaker 3: should happen. There's also changes in the rating system for
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  Speaker 3: some people in the in the rural area. So I
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  Speaker 3: keep in touch with those sort of those issues.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, look do keep us up to date with
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  Speaker 1: not only the fire station, but also with those un
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  Speaker 1: brighter there is. I'm going to have to make sure
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  Speaker 1: that we get somebody on.
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  Speaker 2: About that as well. But we really appreciate your time.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you and and Amelda for coming in this morning.
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  Speaker 2: It's to see you both.
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  Speaker 3: I told you she had to sing you know when
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  Speaker 3: the rain tumbles down at July, but she said no way. Okay,
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  Speaker 3: she's a mad Slim Dusty fan. Okay, thanks Katie.
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  Speaker 2: Good stuff, Thank you. Thanks Jerry,