We’ll Just Bung a Sign In

Gary Estcourt

OUTCOMES VS OUTPUTS

MURALS

SALOTE TUPOU III

OUTCOMES VS OUTPUTS

INTERPRETATION

Shallow and uninviting interpretation does not stimulate enough interest to result in return visits or increased visitation and subsequent

leading to lower incomes and little support to local communities livelihood

PLACEMAKING

Placemaking is a cooperative project or strategy about a public place which focuses on economic

and social wellbeing as well as quality of life

TENTERFIELD

TENTERFIELD

CHARLEYONG

CHARLEYONG

QPRC

Activating under-utilised Places and Spaces - think empty shops, laneways

Connect our region, honour our heritage and inspire a future of possibilities

PLACEMAKING

Done well this will start to have economic and social benefits. Interpretation is a key

part of making this sustainable.

10X

INTERPRETATION

CONNECTIONS

CONNECTIONS

GRENFELL

GRENFELL

GRENFELL

BENEFITS

People support what they help to create

BENEFITS

Councils can have a way to leverage interpretation on a regional scale

BENEFITS

Life is easier for the agency putting theinterpretation in

BENEFITS

Interpretation that is put in is relevant and will resonate with the community

BENEFITS

Interpretation that is put in is relevant and will resonate with the community

People support what they help to create

SLIDE 2

Bet you weren’t expecting that.

A few years ago I worked for a heritage grants program. Applicants would submit Expressions of

Interest for projects. These could be completely scoped and costed, or they be along the lines of ‘we

want to use our local heritage to develop connections in the community and increase visitation.’

Projects went through a co-design process. We would go out and talk to the applicant and get a

better idea of what they wanted to achieve.

From this we could start to build up the project. Were there other groups in the community who

could contribute to getting these outcomes? Are there local programs that could be leveraged?

Once the parameters were established the next stage was to get all the relevant people in a room

and together map a path to achieve that outcome, co-design what the project would look like. Hop

would do what, what the final products would look like. Funding, timeframes – that sort of thing.

This was the project that went up for final funding approval and it could look very different from the

original EOI.

I met with the local historical society in an inner west Sydney suburb that had been severely

impacted by some of the surrounding infrastructure development. They had applied for interpretive

signage around the suburb. They had worked out the text for the sign, the images and where they

were going to go. They just needed the funds to get the signs made and installed.

When I met them, my first question was what do you want to achieve not what do you want to do.

The answer to the second quest was easy they wanted to put in signs because that’s what they knew

and because signs generally get funded.

What they wanted to achieve was a very different thing. It took a bit but we got to an answer. They

wanted to celebrate their stories, create connections and reinvigorate a sense of community.

Suddenly, this project isn’t about just signs.

A historical society might put signs in.

SLIDE 3

A historical society working with the arts organisation could fill walls with murals.

Working with schools could be a way to teach students how to undertake historical research. They

could then come up with the stories that would go onto the signage to be installed. Giving a new

generation a connection and sense of ownership over the stories and history of the area.

We were walking around, because this is a very active process.

I asked if there were any other stories that related to specific ethnicities or cultural groups that

needed to be included.

Apart from the post-WW2 Italian migration, there isn’t really any of that sort of thing around here.

Plus, Leichardt already has an Italian Festival.

SLIDE 4

This is Queen Salote Tupou III, Queen of Tonga from 1918 to her death in 1965.

• Order of the British Empire.

• Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George.

• Dame Grand Cross of Order of St John.

At one point in our meeting one of the gentlemen, almost as an aside said - you see up the street

there , well the queen of Tonga and her entourage and family would come and stay there for months

at a time because of the strong influence of Methodist missionaries in the Pacific. So back to our

signs….

SLIDE 5

What I took from this experience was:

1. There is a difference between outputs and outcomes. You can eat all the brains you want

but what are you actually trying to achieve when you do that.

2. If you only speak to one person or one group you only get one story.

SLIDE 6

Giving the keynote speech at ITB (International Tourismu-Borse) in Berlin in 2018 Charles Banda –

Zambian Minister for Tourism said this.

How does this relate to placemaking?

SLIDE 7

Placemaking should focus on economic and social wellbeing and quality of life. Heritage

interpretation has the ability to be a major component of this.

But Gary, I hear you ask, how does this relate to isolated infrastructure?

SLIDE 8

This were two timber trestle bridge on the outskirts of Tenterfield on a disused rail line that was

removed for safety reasons. The bridges weren’t heritage listed but this one crossed over part of a

heritage listed stockyard. The SOHI recommended putting an interpretation sign in with an

associated walking trail.

SLIDES 9

Except the trail would be isolated, on the outskirts of town, off the New England Highway between a

fenced off rail corridor it is illegal to enter and the Council works depot.

Shallow and uninviting or meaningful and accessible interpretation?

SLIDES 10

Charleyong Bridge between Braidwood and Nerriga in the Queanbeyan and Palerang local

government area. This is an Allen type timber truss bridge (built in 1905) that is being removed and

replaced with a new concrete bridge, the interpretation is to be a sign in a small lay-over area on the

history and significance of the bridge, relevant images and the relationship with the Wool Road.

SLIDE 11

The Wool Road was constructed in 1841 to transport wool and other goods from Braidwood and

surrounds out to the coast.

This might be fine, but the history of the Wool Road is not highlighted in the tourism/heritage

products of the Queanbeyan-Palerang Council area. The Visitor Information Centre, about 20km

away had no information about it.

The proposed interpretation isn’t relevant to the stories that the local Council is telling.

SLIDE 12

The Placemaking Team at Queanbeyan-Palerang Council says their focus is about activating under-

utilised Places and Spaces.

Their Tourism Plan has a vision to connect the region and honour its heritage.

Getting people to move between towns and villages is the focus of tourism.

Getting people to create local places that are valued and admired by the community and visitors is

the role of placemaking.

This siloed nature both within and between government agencies leads to a missed opportunity.

Charleyong and Tenterfield – are just 2 examples of work being undertaken on behalf state

government agencies in regional or rural areas that have a commitment to interpretation.

SLIDE 13

So, if local councils don’t have the resources to invest in isolated sites what about leveraging the

agencies that are doing it anyway?

The Roads and Maritime Services manages 357 heritage items or precincts, the vast majority of

which are in regional areas. The Country Regional Network, 170 – Australian Rail Track Corporation,

109.

If a State government is going to put in a signage at a site. Then the local Council should be able to

leverage that to tell a story that they want to tell, a story that will have been informed by their own

engagement with the community.

Done well this will start to have economic and social benefits. Interpretation is a key part of making

this sustainable.

SLIDE 14

This idea is a few years old now, but the Project for Public Spaces put forward the idea of the Power

of 10.

It goes something like this.

A region needs 10 destinations.

A destination needs 10 places.

A place needs 10 things to do.

The number is not relevant it will always be constrained by the scale of the place. But the idea is to

create multiple places in a region and link them.

SLIDE 15

When it comes interpreting a bridge, we could just give the what, when and how. But how important

is a bridge?

SLIDE 16

There is a speech in of Season 9 of The Walking Dead (zombies again). Ezekiel says a bridge is not

just a bridge. Bridges connect us all, roads are the lifeblood of civilization.

A little dramatic I know but the underlying idea is sound. Bridges and railway stations are not

isolated artefacts. They connect people and places.

SLIDE 17

The Wool Road has, if not physical at least historical connections, with all these places from

Vincentia at its end on the coast to Goulburn and Canberra

Good, meaningful and thoughtful interpretation at Charleyong Bridge should be a tool to reinforce

these connections. It should be viewed through the lens of how it can contribute to the economic

and social wellbeing of the region.

SLIDE 18

JHR was looking at putting some interpretation in at Grenfell Railway Station, about 400km from

Sydney. The Station is located at the outskirts of the town and is listed on the NSW State Heritage

Register.

This is what was proposed. Install another interpretive sign, next to the existing one at the railway

station that will focus on watering facilities as an elemental aspect of the steam locomotive era.

I thought it might be a good idea to speak to Council about this and see what they thought.

Their advice was:

• The Council is reconsidering its position on static interpretation signs in the town because

there are already quite a lot and Council has to maintain them.

SLIDE 19

• There is a set of well-preserved shop fronts, including early bank buildings, in the town that

were built during its heyday. There is a direct relationship between the railway, the wealth

of the town and the development of the shops and banks. That is part of the story that they

would like told.

SLIDE 20

For those of you old enough to remember feel free to hum the Dad’s Army theme.

• The Station and O’Brien’s Hill bookend the town. O’Brien’s Hill that has been the focus of

tourism and interpretation efforts. There is a desire to get pedestrians moving across and

through town between these sites.

So, if we were to put up the signage that was originally proposed it would almost entirely,

completely not meet any of the objectives that Council has.

The approach that I have taken is to talk to Council and see how they want to proceed. We are

looking at options that could bring the wider community into the project. The next step is likely to be

a co-design session that would involve different groups. Schools, tourist organisations, artists.

But it is going to be a collaborative process and I will be guided, by how Council wants to play this.

Afterall, it is their town, their community and their stories that are being told. Part of the approach

acknowledges that it is going to be a longer process than if we just went to a consultant and said

come up with a sign and words to go on it and install it. But that’s cool. We want to put good

interpretation in, not fast interpretation.

How is this approach beneficial?

SLIDE 21

If people get input into telling the stories that are relevant and important to them these stories are

going to have more resonance. It has a better chance of leading to the use and activation of places

leading to social and quality of life benefits.

SLIDE 22

Having a framework for how they want their stories told can give Councils a way to leverage

interpretation on a regional scale.

This means any interpretation that is installed can be used to create or reinforce linkages between

places. Getting people moving through the landscape, increasing visitation and having economic

benefits.

SLIDE 23

I don’t think that I am telling you any secrets when I say that for government agencies responsible

for infrastructure assets, heritage interpretation is not their core business.

If you can give me a set of stories that you want told that makes my life easier. I don’t have to find a

consultant to do the research for me. I might even be able to save money. Or I can do more with the

budget I have.

SLIDE 24

This is perhaps the greatest benefit. It goes back to my earlier slide – people support what they help

to create.

SLIDE 25

How can this be done?

Well the first step is talking.

My abstract speaks of ‘Participatory Design’. This approach is one where all stakeholders are

involved in the design. In the context of heritage interpretation to needs to happen at different

levels.

There needs to be participation at the local level – between Council’s and the communities they

represent. This needs to engage as many people as possible.

Once placemaking and tourism and heritage start to work together you can create a framework that

can be used to make heritage interpretation serve a wider purpose. Any framework doesn’t have to

be prescriptive; it might just be a set of guidelines. Then comes the next step, talking to the State

government agencies.

It was suggested to me that local Councils lacked the power to talk to State government agencies

about these things. This could only be done by regional tourism or council bodies.

As I said heritage interpretation is not core business for infrastructure agencies. If you can give me a

set of stories that you want told that makes my life, as the person responsible for installing heritage

interpretation, easier. You might find your ability to influence is greater than expected.

Consider a world where heritage and placemaking and tourism work together at the local level work

together with their local communities. And then those ideas and approaches are used to influence

how heritage interpretation is done at a State government level.

SLIDE 26

I was told that this was just would just be some sort of Rainbow Unicorn Land.

On the contrary, having a system that says engaging different parts of government and local

communities in how they tell their stories is not the norm – well that’s just broken.

When we start to have these conversations, we can develop active and sustainable placemaking

across regions that leverages isolated sites to help strengthen connections between people and

places.

An isolated bridge or railway station can be a waymarker, a step in a larger story.

When it comes to interpreting regional infrastructure, we could just bung a sign in. Or we could start

to find ways to make interpretation a key component of sustainable placemaking and storytelling

contributing to social and economic benefits and even improving quality of life for visitors and locals

alike.