It has been a long slog! Indeed, the Covid-19 pandemic has stretched out for so long, has been so tedious, has wrought such deep and lasting destruction on businesses, livelihoods, relationships and community structures that it truly numbs the mind. So battered do we all feel that it is becoming hard to remember exactly how and when it all started.
Thinking back, the sequence has been: the first Australian Covid-19 clinical case was identified on 25th January, the day before Australia Day: the Prime Minister applied the term ‘pandemic’ at the end of February, a full two weeks before the World Health Organisation officially called it one on March 12th: all borders were closed to non-residents on the 20th March: social distancing and stay-at-home regulations followed on the next day; and then we hunkered down! It was not until May 1st that the first nascent ‘openings’ began to be tentatively applied. Even now, some state borders remain closed and a vast array of varied restrictions, soft and hard, remain tenuously in place.
In Lorne… doubly prostrated by (1) the closed services and lost employment that has been common to all communities but (2) the added loss of all the external tourism and visitor supports that are its lifeblood… the initial focus was directed toward town and dweller support and survival. Support for and the survival of as many of its tourist-oriented businesses as could be saved: support for and the survival of as many of the inadvertently ‘trapped’ seasonal workers and local disadvantaged families that could be firstly identified and then cared for. Most – if not all – appear to have come through this harrowing time, scarred, yet largely whole.
Lorne can be justly proud of itself and its community. As a direct result of the pandemic, a community group emerged that has been remarkably nimble in its response and in its capacity to ‘get things done’. Indeed, I would challenge readers to find many other places where similar swift, decisive, and effective internalised intervention has been achieved with as much success.
But… and here’s the thing… that’s not the half of it!
As the hard yards are yet to be covered by the national economic recovery, Lorne must face a smaller, but equally complex task of recovering our local institutions: businesses; shops; restaurants; large and small, public and private accommodation choices; and adventure and Otway ‘experience’ venues, as restrictions slowly lift and a ‘re-opening’ of the town begins.
The Covid-19 re-opening projects an odd parallel… the six-foot Amorphophallus titanum [or corpse flower] that opens once every 7-10 years, smells unbelievably rancid, but attracts the flies that ultimately pollinate the flower and continue the survival of the plant. Countries, states, cities and towns must learn to ‘re-open’ [perhaps without emitting a rancid smell] yet offering ‘against-the-odds’ inducements that will ensure the organism will thrive.
With this thought in mind, and while negotiating what is being called ‘the new normal’… social distancing, restaurant table separation, patron number limitations, and more… a new Lorne must emerge, flaunting inducements [like Amorphophallus titanium].
Lorne must be a safer, wiser, and more thoughtful Lorne: a Lorne that through well-considered and re-structured presentation, offers a new, fresh-faced experience of its undeniable and unique charm to holiday makers and local or distant visitors/passers-through alike.
To be truly successful in the post-Covid world, Lorne must upgrade “the way we have always done things”. It must reinvent, imaginatively but safely, so it can emerge a stronger and more resilient community, and one that has adopted a lasting 21st century ‘look’.
The first steps have already been taken.
The ‘welcome mat’ has been cleaned, dusted, laid out, and is clearly visible. But, it must be ‘interpretable’ for our holiday and traveller visitors, whether of state, interstate, or international origin. It must list ‘what Lorne offers’, how to ‘maximise a Lorne experience’, and devise a ‘how to let us know just how we did’ feedback loop… and it must all be ready to ‘go’ when the travel barriers are lifted.
Clear, innovative and engaging information that details the many opportunities and experiences that Lorne offers to ‘re-engage and re-connect’ must be presented in multi-media formats that cater for all levels of our visitor strata. To this end, representatives from the LBTA, service and sporting clubs, the arts, and the accommodation sector are now working hard in the background to ensure that a post-Covid Lorne can present a fresh face.
Lorne must be agile. It must recognise changes in its longer-term demographic as they occur – and re-structure accordingly. Many who have ‘self-isolated’ in Lorne these past three months have expressed surprise and pleasure at many of the quiet charms of the town they had not previously fully appreciated. Many appear to be considering a more permanent ‘sea-change’ – whether in retirement, or from a realisation that the town is a great place to live and from where ‘to work from home’.
To ensure their full integration, these newer ‘residents’ must be fully introduced to the wealth of local services, sporting and other clubs, and fine-living opportunities that Lorne offers for those who might choose permanent residency. This is part of the brief of the local working group.
As for our seasonal worker ‘impermanents’, many have come to love Lorne as they have endured, but also appreciated, the joys of the town during the ‘lock-down’. Some seem intent on staying.
Hooray, I say, and we must be ready to welcome them with an open heart into the fold of the town.
John Agar
