Document Type
Newsletter
Editor(s)
Dr Kayt Davies
Abstract
When change is happening, communities talk and some tales get taller in the telling. Opinions are often based on shared stories and collectively these opinions are the community sentiment that affects the way people live and act.
This magazine was produced by a collaboration between the ECU Journalism Program and the Shire of Ashburton that set out to track the shifts in the community sentiment in Onslow over the construction phase of the Wheatstone and Macedon gas hubs. The project aims to capture the stories being told in Onslow as the town changes, regardless of their factual accuracy. Where possible we have sought to verify facts and provide balance, but we have not excluded comments by community members on the grounds that they didn't check out, because if we did that, then this would not be an accurate record of what people are saying. In all cases we have been careful to correctly report what people said in our interviews.
The result is a sometimes optimistic and sometimes disgruntled reaction to the town's rapid, but in some ways not rapid enough, growth spurt. We hope that you enjoy this snapshot of what was being said in Onslow in the middle of 2013 and find it interesting food for thought about the impact of major resource projects on their host communities.
There is a digital version of the magazine available on the website so you can email a link to it to your family and friends in other places. The website also has soon-to-be updated galleries showing how parts of the town have changed almost beyond recognition and video interviews with Onslow locals.
We look forward to seeing you when we come back in early 2014.