Inverell Courthouse Clock

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About this ItemSpeakers - Torbay Mr Richard Business - Private Members Statements, PRIV

INVERELL COURTHOUSE CLOCK
Page: 15718

Mr RICHARD TORBAY (Northern Tablelands—Speaker) [6.07 p.m.]: A can-do attitude is the essence of achievement: seeing a problem, finding a solution and achieving a successful outcome is really what it is all about. Today I want to acknowledge an inspiring project in Inverell, the man who took it on and the wonderful result he has achieved. As Councillor Larry Cameron tells it, about five years ago he was sitting at a polling booth handing out how-to-vote slips when he was approached by one of the voters. She asked him why he did not do something to fix the courthouse clock opposite where they were standing. The clock, made in England in 1879, had stopped two years before. Councillor Cameron took on the challenge. He told the woman, "I will do it," and he did.
His first step was to negotiate with the courthouse staff to allow retired jeweller and watchmaker Doug South to check the clock. Mr South had, in fact, wound the clock and looked after it for 20 years. Twice a week for all those years he climbed the 50 steep stairs and two ladders up to the tower to complete the 120 turns of the crank handle, which kept the clock ticking. When Mr South and Councillor Cameron checked the clock, they found that it needed new cogs and bearings. They contacted Gillett and Johnston in London, the firm that had built the original clock, for the parts. In an amazing example of record keeping, Gillett and Johnston held a copy of the original invoice and knew exactly what parts were needed. These were dispatched from London and the two community volunteers repaired the clock.
Because Mr South could no longer negotiate the stairs to the clock tower for the bi-weekly manual wind, 72-year-old Councillor Cameron took it on. Over the last two years he has been travelling the four kilometres from his home twice a week to keep the clock ticking and chiming. The response from the community has all been positive and he says it has kept him fit. However, he realised that the time would come when he, too, would find it daunting to climb the steps and ladders to the tower. He investigated automatic winding systems, which have been introduced in many similar towers over the years. Again the London firm was contacted and was able to supply an automatic system that matched the Inverell clock.

The councillor contacted the Attorney General's department and was told he would be reimbursed if he went ahead and paid for the order. The total cost is expected to be around $12,500 including the new mechanism, freight, GST, import duty, the cost of installing a power point in the tower and for other work. Mr South has offered his services free of charge to install the system, with Councillor Cameron as his offsider. Larry Cameron has personally paid the $10,000 necessary for the project to move ahead and for the new system to be airfreighted from London. Work is expected to be finished by the end of June. The councillor explains his commitment to the project as wanting to keep a promise to a ratepayer and his own wish to give something back to the community that has, in his own words, been so good to him.
Now retired, he spent his working life as a farmer and a commercial pilot in the Inverell district and has always participated strongly in community life. He has been a member of Inverell Rotary Club for 15 years, a trustee of Copeton State Park for 36 years, chairman of the North West Flying School for 20 years and an Inverell councillor for the last 10 years. I can safely say that this is a good news story, full of initiative and verve. All those involved deserve congratulations—Councillor Cameron, Doug South, the Inverell courthouse staff and the Attorney General and his staff, who have been supportive of the project from its inception. This is the sort of venture that makes our communities tick and deserves our acknowledgement and congratulations.