Bronte Park

The years immediately following World War 11 brought major changes to the Commission. There was a new Commissioner in 1946, Mr Allan Knight replacing Mr W. McLean who had held the position for 13 years. There was also a dramatic surge in the demand for hydroelectric power.

This demand resulted in two schemes being presented to Parliament in 1947 for approval; the South Esk scheme for providing power to new developments at Bell Bay, and the Nive River scheme. The Nive River scheme proposed tapping the waters of that area of the highlands which lies between the Ouse River to the East and Lake St. Clair to the West. By building a series of canals and dams the water would be carried to the Tungatinah power station on the bank of the Nive River, on a site just opposite the Tarraleah station which was already contributing to the electricity grid of the State. This scheme was approved, and in 1952 further work was authorised which included a small power station at Lake Echo with associated diversions and dams.

Click on map to enlarge

The work force for this new scheme was to be housed both at Tarraleah, where labour was needed to rebuild the construction village and for work on the power station, and also at a site close to the West Coast highway near Bronte homestead. This new construction village was to be known as Bronte Park.

Bronte Park was the first of a new breed of construction villages. Consideration was given to the layouts and requirements of the area long before work actually began on site. Care was taken in the siting of the houses, leaving as many trees as possible within the village perimeter. Amenities such as playing fields were included in the early stages, and not left to be tacked on later.

This planning was thought necessary to ensure that attractive conditions prevailed, as cognisance was given to the fact that strong competition existed in the labour market. There was a shortage of labour throughout Australia, both manual labour and staff, with employers having to take steps to import the necessary manpower for the large scale expansion occurring in all States.

At Tarraleah and Butlers Gorge, the villages were erected on Crown land over which the Commission gained control when Parliamentary authority was granted. At Bronte Park the situation was different as the land required, at least for the village, was privately owned. This estate was bought by the Commission in 1947, though legal problems regarding this purchase continued until 1951. By the end of 1947, however, a survey camp in the Bronte area had been taken over by the construction branch ready for the start of work.

Work began in earnest in early 1948 with site clearing and levelling, using a small gang of men. On 16 April 1948 the first house was delivered to the site. This, and all the other houses at Bronte Park, was part of the contract with Luck Bros at Devonport. The houses, although initially quite expensive, were viewed as a sound investment as each house was given an expected life of about 15 years with an average of three moves for each demountable house.

By July 1948 electric power was supplied to the village. There were 134 men working under Mr Les Johnson who remained in charge of the scheme until 1955. The retail store from Butlers Gorge supplied the village with goods delivered twice a week. This proved unsatisfactory so requests were made to establish a store as a high priority.

Most of the work at this time was centred on the establishment of a large single men's camp to house the first group of Polish migrants to come to that area. In the middle of August 210 Poles arrived and began work. Since few of the new arrivals could speak much English at the time there were problems associated with the management of the camp. A shortage of materials led to a standard of hut accommodation which was lower than the Commission had hoped to provide. However they settled in as well as could be expected and work proceeded regardless of the fact that many of the men were trained in widely diverse fields such as medicine and law. Relatively few were labourers. Conditions were far from ideal in the first few months but it was reported that the men "seem to be good types and little dissatisfaction has been expressed with their conditions". Perhaps their inability to express themselves adequately was an advantage to the Commission.

The Polish migrants have played an important part in the building of hydro schemes since the war. At Bronte Park, where they formed half the total workforce for a while, their share was particularly valuable.   Other nationalities played their part, but by far the largest contribution came from the Poles. Tasmania is indebted to them.

By October 1948 there were 48 houses on site, 14 of which were occupied. A police station had been opened with Trooper Bob Hall in residence, a temporary retail store had been set up in a house and the cinema was built and films were shown three times a week. A full time medical orderly lived in the village, with Dr L. W. Bryant visiting from Tarraleah. A start had also been made on the foundations for a staff house, the school, the permanent retail store and numerous single huts and houses.      It was a time of great activity in the village.

In 1949 the remaining facilities in the village were completed. The Post Office was opened on 1 January under Mr Garth Summers, who handled a big volume of work virtually singlehanded. By July 1949 the Post Office was given official status. With the number of staff based on the volume of work handled, five men were now employed, an indication both of the importance that Bronte Park achieved, and how overworked the unofficial post-master must have been.

The school opened in February 1949 with an enrolment of 22 pupils and two teachers. The Education Department removed one of the teachers within the first two weeks, even though it was apparent that the student numbers were increasing almost daily.   The teacher was not returned to the school until the beginning of the third term, by which time there were 72 children, ranging in grades from one to 10. Some of the equipment for the school was supplied from an old school building at Marlborough, just a little way beyond the Bronte junction, which had ceased to function with the advent of Bronte Park. The Headmaster of the school, Mr Jim Horner who was without a car, travelled to the village with the truck carrying his furniture. He was accompanied by his wife and children who sat in the cab with the driver. He was obliged to sit in the back with his belongings.    The road from Hobart was unsealed from Gretna to Bronte, so he arrived in the village with half an inch of mud all over his face. It was to cause him some amusement later to recall the impression he made on the parents, and on the children who would be under his care at the school.

Still, no-one seemed to mind as they had often been in much the same sort of situation. There were few cars in the village. Local people had to rely on the bus service which ran regularly in three directions. Bronte Park was at the cross roads, being almost equally distant from both
Hobart and Launceston, with the additional feature of being on the route from Hobart to Queenstown. Being on the road to somewhere was a big psychological advantage. Butlers Gorge had been the end of the road, with residents often feeling at the end of the world and somewhat forgotten.   It was not that people from Bronte Park went away more often, or necessarily used the bus for quick trips away, but it was reassuring to know that they could if they wished.

Among the buildings and amenities established in 1949 was the dairy. Complete with milking shed and store, it was run along different lines from the Cow Companies of earlier Power Branch villages in that it was strictly a commercial venture. The Cow Companies were organisations where staff members bought shares in the cows and hoped to make a profit from the sale of milk.

The hospital too was completed by October of that year. Plans had been submitted to the Department of Health for this establishment, which was much larger than usual for a village of this size. It consisted of a four bed ward, a two bed ward, consulting rooms, surgery, waiting rooms, pharmacy and dental surgery, together with two bedrooms, and a sitting room, kitchen and bathroom for the resident Sisters. Although the establishment was approved by both the Department and the doctor, it was a trying situation for the nurses to have to live so much on the job. After a considerable amount of pressure a cottage was built close to the hospital, but unfortunately at the top of 14 steps. How the Sisters hated those steps when they were called out at all hours of the night to see patients in the surgery, or when they climbed wearily back home when their work - sometimes seeing 80 patients a day - was done.

The doctor visited Bronte Park regularly, but the job of Resident Sister required more from a nurse than a hospital situation. She not only had to be firm with the malingerers, but also capable of quick confident diagnosis.           Things were especially difficult when a Polio epidemic struck Tasmania in the early 1950s. Being permanently on call made life difficult for the nurses, especially if one of them accompanied the ambulance to Hobart. As there were often only two nurses in the area, Fostering time off was difficult.

Help was not readily available from the women in the village, as it was rather frowned upon by the Commission for the wives of employees to work. In theory the jobs in the village were offered to the older children of residents, giving them the opportunity to remain with their families. While this in itself was a welcome move, these young girls did not have the necessary training to work in the hospital. This restriction was disregarded on occasion as it was a real boon to find a trained nurse resident in the village who was willing to help out.

In addition to the Retail Store completed in February 1950, and Post Office buildings, the shopping area included a butchers shop, a newsagent, a barber and a laundry. The barber was given a contract for his business which he was able to extend to other areas as the Commission moved from one site to another. This business was run by Mr Murray Boon, who became almost as much part of the establishment over the years as many of the Commission employees. He not only provided good service in his trade, but his shop sold many items not available in the Retail Store. It was a case of supply and demand for him. If the demand existed Mr Boon and others like him tried to fill it, sometimes incurring the wrath of Head Office which felt that the Commission should be supplying these needs.

The retail stores run by the Commission in its construction villages were not renowned for their ability to serve the community adequately. There were always things that were unavailable in the stores, so other traders moved in to fill these gaps. There was, of course, no way that a retail store in such a situation could compete with a city equivalent, but the supply of goods was sometimes hampered by the bureaucratic nature of the purchasing procedure.     The ability of the local store manager to make immediate changes to his stock was thus very limited. The Commission had to carry the retail stores through unprofitable times as well as the busy times and would often willingly have handed over the responsibility to others.

During his time with the Commission, though not an employee, Mr Boon had a most important function.     He was Father Christmas. This tradition grew from the first year that he was in Bronte Park, when he held a small Christmas party for his family and close neighbours in their garden. The next year many more were invited, until he found all the children in the village attending.   He would buy the toys in Hobart, collect a tree from the bush to put up in his garden, and play Christmas Carols on a record player in his shop over the road with a loudspeaker relaying the music to those outside.          Father Christmas has usually remembered to visit the Commission villages, but he has never become quite the tradition which Mr Boon established, first at Bronte Park, then at Poatina and finally at Gowrie Park.

The population at Bronte Park was rising rapidly, with 86 houses occupied by the end of 1949. The Staff House was completed that year. Here the single staff were catered for by a tenant housekeeper, who was responsible for all domestic matters, but who did not control the letting of rooms to visiting staff. This arrangement was to prove rather unsatisfactory.     A set of rules of conduct was produced in 1950, with a committee formed to represent the opinions of the residents of the Staff House, to organise entertainments, and to liaise between the residents, the caterer and the Commission. This committee did not win the approval of Head Office which felt that the residents had no rights in relation to the use of the premises. The committee however presented the opinion of its members when it submitted to the Commission a log of complaints about conditions in the Staff House.

Relations between the three, the committee, the housekeeper and the Commission were strained for some time. The situation was resolved when the housekeeper left. Following this episode, the contractor supplying the food for the single men's mess also catered for the Staff House, in a similar fashion to the arrangement then working at Butlers Gorge.

In 1954 there were again problems when a circular was sent to all staff members, advising them that cooking was not permitted in their rooms.   This directive was chiefly aimed at the single teachers who also resided in the Staff House. The teachers were most indignant, complaining that they could not afford the high cost of meals in the dining room. Arrangements were made for them to pay for accommodation only, but they were still not allowed to cook. There was really nowhere else for people to buy meals.

When consideration was given to the requirements of the village, most of the thought centred around the conditions and facilities for the married personnel, with scant attention being paid to the amenities or social needs of the single people. The canteen was available for the men to have a drink, the cinema showed films three times a week and by 1950 there was a small welfare hut run by Mr Reg Gillam. Here tea was made at 9.00 p.m. for those present, but there was no food available. Anyone wanting food had to visit the laundry in the shopping area. The proprietress was endeavouring to supply the laundry facilities for the New Australians, and she was also permitted to sell hot pies. Since hers was the only establishment open in the evenings, her shop was a social spot for those at a loose end. So, after a day's work, if one had no desire for a beer, or had seen the film, the choices were rather limited as the welfare hut could only seat about 25 and the laundry was hardly geared up for a crowd.

Sunday was the really black day for single men however. Overtime was common during the week and on Saturdays, thus filling the time, as well as providing welcome additional pay. However everything was shut on Sundays with nothing to relieve the boredom except perhaps a drink or visit to the two-up school, both against the rules. Drinking was permitted in the canteen, but not in the single men's camp, although sly-grog shops did a roaring trade.     The rule was that married personnel could apply for a permit to have alcohol in the house, but the only other drink available had to be bought and consumed in the canteen. The choice of drinks available was limited to beer, gin, vodka and rum, so anything beyond that range had to have been obtained elsewhere and was therefore illegal.

The other Sunday activities included potshot rifle shooting or fishing in season and poaching out of season. There was a story of group of Polish migrants who one Sunday were sitting outside their huts having a quiet glass of vodka, and sharing some with the black jays which scavenged in the area. The antics of the jays when drunk caused considerable amusement for they literally fell asleep on their feet. When one member of the party was similarly afflicted they put him to bed in his hut, giving him some of the drunken jays for company. It was not quite so funny the next day when the unfortunate victim woke to find his hut full of irate hung-over birds, and he himself requiring medical attention. Sundays were indeed a dull day. 

The social life at Bronte Park was divided into fairly distinct groups. There was little opportunity to overcome this division and largely no great desire to do so. The married residents had very little contact with the single men except on the work site or in the canteen. The single staff, male and female, had the opportunities to join clubs but not perhaps the chance to attend many of the parties.  It has been said that -there were more parties at Bronte Park than in any of the other Commission villages.

This phenomenon is perhaps not difficult to explain. The bulk of the married population was settling down after the troubled years of the war. Most of them were young with young children, or were newly married, which might have given both groups more enthusiasm for endless late nights and torrid mornings than the more mature population in other villages. As the workforce moved on to other villages, the age group of the population became more mixed, with a larger proportion of older inhabitants who had perhaps grown wiser over the years.

The sporting clubs flourished, with two ovals for football, tennis courts, badminton and cricket facilities. The football team was successful in 1956, winning the Premier's Trophy for the Derwent Valley area. Dances were held on Friday nights, often raising money for the various clubs.

One big advantage of a company town is that the facilities have been provided without cost to the residents. Admittance money taken at a dance did not have to be spent on renting the hall for the night, though if a band was brought up from Hobart the cost was considerable. To get around this problem a local band was formed - Bill Gough and his Y Coffs.

This group included a piano, piano accordion, bass fiddle, drums, trumpet, electric guitar, and Wild Mick the Irishman on fiddle. They were well regarded and provided some lively music. They were invited to perform in other Commission villages at times, once travelling to Waddamana in a blizzard, only to spend much of the evening thawing out in a private house before reaching the dance. Since most of those attending were also guests in the house at the time, it was of no great importance.

A further advantage of a company town was that all residents had a guaranteed income. There was no such thing as unemployment, and this gave all comers the same opportunities. The cry of "I can't afford it" really meant that priorities lay elsewhere.

As well as the usual sports, there were occasional gymkhana days. There were chopping competitions, women's football matches, races for both adults and children, merry-go-rounds and candy floss, together with all the fun of the fair. These days would bring the locals from outside the village to join the fun, with residents from Tarraleah and Butlers Gorge in particular swelling the numbers. Although most of these functions were self-supporting, occasional grants of money were received from the so-called amenities fund.

The profits from the canteens, cinemas and retail stores were used to offset the costs of providing amenities for village residents. It was called the Amenities Fund although it was never so cut-and-dried as to have a separate account. The purpose of the fund was to support local groups from within the villages with grants for equipment, transport costs and other outgoings, so to many residents this was its chief purpose.

However, the bulk of the money available was used for less obvious community purposes - paying off the loss on the dairy at Bronte Park, or providing playing fields and tennis courts. Requests for grants were handled in Head Office. Certain conditions had to be met. Groups asking for money had to be properly constituted with accounting records available. The club was to be open to all members of the community and not to just a select few.    Perhaps there was a lack of communication between Head Office and the villages in this regard as the amenities fund was often a source of some village discontent.

Other social clubs which flourished at Bronte Park included the Country Women's Association which established a branch in early 1949, running until 1957 when the population was beginning to drift to Poatina or to Wayatinah. This group was instrumental in getting suitable films for children's matinees in 1951. They also won praise at a State competition for their presentation of one-act plays. The Country Women's Association was flourishing around the State at this time with increased membership in all areas. In 1952 the Derwent Region was split into two, the Central Plateau group and the Derwent group. Of the 10 branches within the Central Plateau group, five were in Commission areas, namely Waddamana, Tarraleah, Bronte Park, Butlers Gorge and the newly formed group at Wayatinah. The Central Plateau group was to remain a separate group until 1966 when the two remaining branches at Waddamana and Wayatinah reverted to being part of the Derwent Region.

The Returned Services League formed a sub branch in 1950 which ran until 1959. At the inaugural meeting, one of the speakers was noted for his remark that he hoped the movement would spread from Pole to Pole, which given the large Polish population, might have indicated a large membership. An application was made to Head Office for a site at Bronte Park, together with materials so that the League could construct a Club Room. No liquor was to be consumed on the premises except on Anzac Day or the Annual SmoKe Social. With a membership of some two hundred they felt a club room was warranted. Unfortunately for them the Engineer in Charge replied that as materials were in such short supply it was not possible at that stage, and he did not in any case feel a building was justified. In 1952 application was again made, this time for a building from Waddamana, which was transported and erected using voluntary labour.

Anzac Day was always observed in the village, with a children's sports day held at around the same time, although not always on the same day. This was organised by the Returned Services League who also provided sweets and ice creams for the children.   Empire Day was another half holiday for the school children. The morning would be spent mostly on topics associated with the occasion, followed by a short ceremony, after which the children were dismissed.

Another group which ran successfully at Bronte Park for a while was the Buffalo Lodge. Its aim was Harmony, Philanthropy and Conviviality, all of which were apparently achieved.

The other organisations in the village included a Parents and Friends group at the school, who were active fund raisers, and providers of good support for the Headmaster. There was also a Welfare Committee run on similar lines to the one at Butlers Gorge. This consisted of representatives of various sections of the village. There were four members of the Parents and Friends Association, four single men, two members of the Returned Services League, two from the Country Women's Association and one from the Staff House.

The aim of this association was to aid and advise the Commission in the maintenance and improvement of the township, to improve the amenities, and to aid in the entertainment by conducting dances and by organising a library. Other functions were to give assistance to individuals in necessitous circumstances and to promote sports and entertainment especially for the youth of the community. This was an all embracing charter which received the blessing of Head Office. The Committee's aims were difficult to achieve in total because of the lack of supplies to make improvements.

One of the first jobs however was the formation of a library, with a request for an adequate supply of books. This was established in 1950 and ran, like most of these facilities, for the duration of the construction village. In 1950 the Welfare Committee wrote to the Commission seeking the provision of a swimming pool, the completion of the tennis courts, extended hours of opening at the Post Office, and local transport for the school children because of the poor weather. Mr L. Johnson, the Engineer in Charge, agreed to the provision of a pool but this never materialised because of the materials shortage.

A letter of complaint was also sent to the Commissioner relating to the inadequate number of visits by the Doctor. The Commissioner replied that he considered the arrangement adequate. This did not satisfy the residents, who then sent a letter through the Attorney General to the Premier. First on the list of complaints included in the letter was the problem of medical facilities. In addition there were complaints regarding the trading hours of the canteen and the Post Office, together with complaints of inadequate supplies of poor quality goods in the shop.

Once again the Commissioner, Mr A. Knight stressed in his reply to the Premier that he considered the medical facilities adequate, but an extra medical officer was sought. The Commissioner felt unable to extend the canteen hours owing to a shortage of beer, and it was not considered desirable to cater for mixed drinking, although permits were freely given to married residents. In relation to the Retail Store he felt it was similar to all country stores with good supplies in season. The shortage of bread was said to be the fault of the residents for not ordering sufficient. The question of Post Office hours was beyond the control of the Commission and the Postmaster General's Department felt that an adequate service was provided.

With some validity both in the complaints and in the reply, it should also be acknowledged that Bronte Park, about this time, was among the top 10 townships in the State in population numbers. This perhaps gave the residents the right to expect similar standards to more established areas.

By June 1951 the village had taken on a more sedate appearance. There was none of the rush and bustle of village construction; all the work was centred around the Pine Tier Dam, just a few miles north of Bronte Park, together with the canals, flumes and minor dams along the route to Tungatinah. The road linking the two areas directly had been completed in 1950. Over 300 houses were now occupied in the village, with 730 men living in the camp. Until this time the New Australians were either British or Polish, of whom the British migrants proved least likely to stay, some 95 remaining out of a total of 1176 at the end of a five year period.

Owing to the poor staying record of the British migrants, the Commission sent an employment officer Mr C. Best to Europe in July 1950 to recruit labour. He went to London and Germany, looking for up to 180 skilled tradesmen. The following February the labour position had deteriorated so badly that Mr Best was again sent to Germany to recruit up to 600 suitable unmarried men for general labouring work. In 1952 Mr J. Coates was sent to Europe to recruit additional men, but owing to the curtailment of loan monies and increasing construction costs it was decided to halt further recruitment, so Mr Coates returned to Tasmania.

In total the number of migrants recruited were 1176 British, 796 Polish, 853 German and Italians, and 432 displaced persons. Of the original number in excess of 3000, only 1073 remained at the end of 1952.

The addition of the German migrants to the work force at Bronte Park was viewed with some trepidation by members of the staff in the area. The memory of the war was still fresh in the minds of everyone, especially the Europeans, so thought was given to minimising the likely friction. Various areas of the camps were regarded as relatively isolated from each other, so the incoming group of German migrants were allocated accommodation in one of these areas, and so a natural barrier was created.

In fact their fears were largely unfounded. There were, of course, problems from time to time, but there was none of the trouble which had been expected.     The Commission policy of not allowing any films with a war theme was most rigidly enforced at Bronte Park, sometimes leading to disappointment when films were cancelled. Bronte was first on the circuit of films an the hydro tour so if a programme mistake was made, it was possible to switch films for later in the week, but no changes were possible on the first night.

Sometimes the arrival of new migrants brought reunions. An Englishman arrived at Bronte Park and found to his surprise that one of the cooks from the prisoner-of-war camp in Germany, where he had been held, was walking towards him in this far away village.

With the stability of the village came the request by Church authorities for a building in which to hold services. The Tasmanian Council of Church was keen to erect a church, but this would not have included the Catholic Church. The Commission was not prepared to assist unless all parties agreed to use the building.

In 1951 an agreement was reached whereby the Commission would pay £500 towards the total cost of £900 for a church which would then be owned by the Council of Churches, but moved to successive villages when no longer required at Bronte Park. There was no resident Minister at the time, although Mr R. Gillam, the Welfare Officer lived in the single men's camp. Rev M. Maddock from Hamilton and Mr R. Scrimageour of Bothwell visited the area regularly for services.  In September 1951 Fr J. Conskie the Polish Catholic Priest who had been stationed at Tarraleah left, to be replaced by Fr J. Flannery. He chose to live at Bronte Park and requested a house, which he was given. This was granted in lieu of assistance with a church building.

In December of that year Fr Flannery wrote to the Commission asking for assistance with the building of a Catholic Church, with the contribution from the Commission being £500. The local community would provide the additional finance to cover the total estimated cost of £1,000. This request was rejected by the Commission even after representations from the Hon Tom D'Alton, the Government Leader in the Legislative Council.
Whether as a result of additional pressure, or just a change of heart, permission was given in July 1952 for a Catholic Church to be built on a site provided by the Commission. This building was of demountable construction, being moved to Poatina in January 1959.

The Mercury Centenary Magazine of July 1954 described the Catholic Church at Bronte Park as being "unique in the Commonwealth. Known as the Church of St. Michael the Archangel, it was built in 30 days by new and old Australians working together. The great percentage of men who live in the temporary township of Bronte Park and work in the camp around are from countries distant and often behind the Iron Curtain, men who are for the most part strangers in a strange land, in need of hope and faith. "People of 15 nationalities built our church and not all were of the Catholic faith" recalled Fr Flannery the parish priest. "It cost us only £450 to erect. We did not charge for our own labour of course. "

During the period from 1956 until the churches were moved in 1959, Protestant services were conducted by Rev W. Warburton of Tarraleah who visited the village on alternate weeks. A Sunday School was held in Bronte which was well supported, with as many as 115 children at some sessions. A request was made for a building which had been used at the Hilltop camp to be moved to Bronte Park, where it was to be used by the Sunday School children, until that too moved on to Poatina. The Commission certainly obtained good use from many of its buildings.

In addition to the problem of labour and materials shortages, the Commission was beset by a larger problem. In March 1951 power rationing was introduced. Owing to the shortage of water in the storages and lack of generating capacity, consumers were asked to cut usage to 75% of the past year's use. This was not a popular move, however necessary, so a Select Committee was set up to investigate the causes.     It reported that "rationing was necessary because of a failure in the past to develop a capacity sufficient to cope with mounting demand, coupled with a failure to admit the situation and deal with it earlier than March 1951."

A Board of Inquiry in 1941 had referred to a slow rate of planning and construction. This same sluggishness was evident during the war and in the time taken to complete the Clark Dam. Undoubtedly the labour troubles set back the Commission development several years during the war. After 1946 progress was retarded by the lack of trained staff, lack of labour and materials, and the slow delivery of construction and generating equipment.    The Select Committee was of the opinion that the Commission would be strengthened if there was a technical consultant of high qualifications appointed as an Associate Commissioner.  Later that year Prof Alan Burn of the University of Tasmania was appointed to that position. Not long after that, in 1954, Mr J. H. O'Neill, a prominent Trade Unionist, was also appointed as an Associate Commissioner by the Cosgrove Government.

There was considerable editorial comment at that time on whether he was the right man for the job, since he had been instrumental in bringing the work at Butlers Gorge to a halt during the war, thus necessitating the rationing. Perhaps with this appointment it was hoped that less union trouble would ensue. The rents for the houses in Commission villages were lifted from £1 a week to nearer £3 a week. While there were many complaints there was no great wave of industrial unrest.

State-wide rationing forced the Commission to rethink its policy of free electricity to village employees, so meters were installed in every home, though a discount rate was applicable on the power consumed. Householders at all construction areas were given a ton of free firewood a month.

The single men's huts were now fitted with electric heaters, which appears ironical in the light of the rationing, but the cost of rebuilding burnt out huts was saved. The fire brigade also had fewer calls on its time, though it had to deal with a fire in which 10 huts in the single men's camp were burnt out. There was also a fire in the Retail Store but the prompt action of Mr G. Summers, who lived next door, in detecting the fire and calling out for assistance, saved more severe damage to the area.

Fire was a very real danger in all the highland villages. All the houses were weatherboard construction and the huts too were very combustible. Local fire brigades were formed to combat the fact that outside help was often a long way away.    They needed to be self sufficient in this regard.

One of the problems confronting a policeman living and working in an area such as a construction village, was that he mostly knew everything that went on. The difficulty lay in treading the fine line between being human and keeping the law. Two-up schools were regular features of all the construction camps, as was the supply of sly-grog to the single men. Usually action was only taken when there were complaints from other residents, or in the case of the two-up where a family was being kept short of money, the wife would sometimes complain. Following a complaint, steps were taken to raid the premises. One other disadvantage for the policeman was that everyone else in the camp knew what was happening too, so he often arrived to find everything cleared away and the evidence gone.

Many of the men owned guns, and there were some nasty accidents. In 1952 a Bill was presented to Parliament banning the use of guns in Commission areas. This Bill failed but similar restrictions were later imposed. One side effect of this restriction was that there was even less opportunity to keep the rabbit population of the area within manageable proportions. Various attempts were made to poison them, including one occasion when five tons of poisoned carrots were used, but to no avail.   In December 1952 a Myxamatosis campaign was introduced. This had the required effect for a few years, but rabbits were reported to still be a problem in 1959. They were very much a fact of life in the village so those wishing to grow vegetables had to erect adequate fences. This was one area where the residents were obliged to do the work. Materials were provided but not the labour.

The big highlight of life at Bronte Park was the Coronation Day celebration on 2 June 1953. The occasion was filmed for release in London at the official Coronation television broadcast on 15 June. The film was also included in a programme called Australian Diary. All good publicity for the Commission. The first ceremony of the day was the opening of the Pine Tier Dam by the Hon Charles Hand M.H.A.

Six inches of snow lay on the ground which had caused some last minute problems, but the day dawned clear and sunny, which made an impressive backdrop to the scheme. Over 1000 visitors had come to Bronte for the day and they lined the banks by the dam to watch the first official release of water into the canal. There were speeches by the Commissioner and Mr Hand. Then the party returned to the village which was decorated with red, white and blue bunting and flags. The stage had been set up for a Naturalisation ceremony which was to take place later in the afternoon, and it too was draped with flags and a large portrait of the Queen.

In the meantime the residents were preparing themselves for the afternoon's activities. There was a parade of floats, all magnificently decorated and adorned. They represented a wide variety of organisations, from the Cubs and Scouts to the Rufus Ski Club, and one from the Commission itself. A tremendous amount of work was put into this display. The school children in particular had worked hard, both in helping to make and then riding on the floats, and also at their own display of maypole dancing, country dancing and marching. This spectacle was brought to a close by a march-past of a platoon of soldiers.

The visitors then came together for the Naturalisation ceremony, when four migrants became Australian citizens. The day was rounded off with a Coronation Ball. The hall too had been splendidly decorated for the occasion, with the addition also of some paintings by two or three of the German migrants. It was a memorable occasion, lasting until the early hours of the next day.

In 1954 the Power Station at Tungatinah was completed, and the scheme was officially opened on 20 May 1955 by the Governor-General of Australia, His Excellency, Field Marshal Sir William Slim. Although this was the end of the first stage, life at Bronte Park continued virtually unchanged until 1958, with the men working on the Lake Echo scheme which was also to feed water into the Tungatinah station.    There were about 850 men on site at the beginning of 1955, including those from Electrical Branch, though their numbers never constituted a major proportion of the total.

The cinema was now showing films four times a week because of the strong demand. The average attendance was in the region of 550 adults and 230 children a week. The cinema continued to run until 1959 when the population had dropped to a level where the expense could no longer be justified.

The beginning of the end was in 1957. Mr Les Johnson who had been the Engineer in Charge was moved to another area, with Mr Reg Ballantine taking his place. He remained only a year, his place being taken by Mr R. Pennington. Mr Ballantine was moving on to Poatina, which was the later destination of most of the village and villagers at Bronte Park. In 1957 five houses were transferred to Tarraleah, leaving a total of 215 occupied.     By the beginning of 1959 this number had dropped to 151, although there were still 219 children in the school.

Power Branch planned to assume control of the Bronte Park area in the usual manner when construction ceased.    They requested 24 permanent houses, the Staff House and the school, although this was moved from its site and classes were held in the disused hospital building at that time.   The Staff House remained, under the control of the Secretarial Branch which leased it out for use as a guest house. The various amenity buildings were dismantled, transported to Poatina and re-erected.

The police station closed in June 1959, with the policeman transferring to Poatina on the request of the Commission. The old school was moved and re-established at Poatina together with most of the smaller buildings. On 1 February 1960 Power Branch took control of what was left of the village. The retail store had closed down in January of that year, when the last of the Civil Branch employees were transferred.

The transition period from a construction town to a quiet small village was always difficult. At Bronte Park the construction work had taken men over a wide variety of areas, some a considerable distance from their homes. There was no local power station close to the village where the horsepower of the State needed tending. The Tungatinah Station was run by staff from Tarraleah, with the Lake Echo Station being remote-controlled from there.     This left Bronte Park without a nucleus of trained staff, most of the remaining residents were involved with patrols and care of the equipment in the area, men sometimes given the name of the Water Rats, as they guarded the waterways. While this function was vital to the smooth running of the power stations, Bronte Park quickly slipped into a role where Tarraleah was the dominant community, supplying not only the necessities of the job, but to a large extent the organised social activities.

By 1961 there was a school population of 57, but this did not accurately reflect the village population, as children would travel from as far as Derwent Bridge to the school each day. The local sawmill employed a constant number of men, who while not being part of Bronte Park as a Commission establishment, nevertheless contributed to the community activities.

The situation has remained fairly constant since that time. The village is still a community, however small.      The school has a new well equipped building, which together with the Chalet form the hub of the community. As it is situated at the cross roads of the highlands it is an area well placed for serving the needs of tourists.       The Chalet is now leased from the Commission and used as tourist accommodation.
Bronte Park did not die in the manner of Butlers Gorge, but it is a very muted shadow of its former self. Those driving past now are largely unaware of its size and dominance during the period from 1949 to 1959, but it will always remain a place of note to those who lived there.