A local identity
Outside John Oxley Cottage, Camden Visitor Information Centre at 46 Camden Valley Way Elderslie, is a memorial plaque with a story to tell of local identity, Jennifer Eggins, and her legacy that still echoes across the district.
Jennifer Eggins is one of the founders of the local tourist industry.
The plaque was originally located adjacent to the Macarthur Country Tourist Association Information Centre at 470 Hume Highway, Liverpool, on the corner of the Hume Highway and Congressional Drive.
The MCTA tourist information centre opened in 1987 and was demolished in 2005. The plaque is the only remnant of the official opening.
Eggins and others founded the Macarthur Country Tourist Association in 1978.
Camden Tourist Association (1906)
This was not the first attempt to form a local tourist association. In 1906, 30 local businessmen formed the short-lived Camden Tourist Association under the leadership of Camden Mayor GM Macarthur Onslow. Their aim was to promote the ‘magnificent scenery around Camden’ in the Burragorang Valley. (Camden News, 10 May 1906)
Seven decades later, events cast a pessimistic view of the world across the Camden business community. The Hume Highway was shifted from Argyle Street in 1973 to the Camden Bypass, removing the passing trade and the main street was blocked when the 1975 flood destroyed the decking of the Cowpastures Bridge.
Macarthur regionalism had been turbocharged by the establishment of the Macarthur Growth Centre by the Whitlam Government in 1974 and the Macarthur Development Board (1975-1992) as the state authority to direct the urban growth in the Campbelltown area.
In May 1978, Eggins called a public meeting to form an organisation to promote tourism in the Macarthur region. Betty Hunt (Yewen) attended the meeting and was hooked.
At the time, Jennifer was employed at a doctor’s surgery in Camden, and Betty was working for a Camden dentist.
The dynamic duo
Eggins and Hunt had a wider vision of tourism in the 1970s.
The former Member for Macarthur Michael Baume recalls, ‘while some lamented that Camden would wither on the vine, two women took the view that a great opportunity only required imagination and energy to exploit’. Jenny Eggins and Betty Hunt (Yewen) became ‘the female double-act to show Camden was alive and well’. (Yewen, My Story)
Macarthur Country Tourist Association (1978)
The May meeting led to the formation of the Macarthur Country Tourist Association. The aims were to (1) promote local tourist attractions, (2) encourage further development of tourist facilities, (3) and foster new attractions. (Camden News 14 June 1978)
The new association intended to do this by setting up a tourist information centre and pursuing the association’s aims through advertising, literature, and community involvement. (Camden News 14 June 1978)
Eggins and Hunt were an unstoppable duo. They attracted a motivated team of supporters around them and set out to achieve the aims of the new association.
Association membership gathered pace over the following months under the direction of Betty Hunt (Yewen). By December 1978, there were 200 paid-up members.
Over the following decade, there were many events and activities. Lunchtime bus tours, festivals, promotional events, creation of the position of tourist officer, Camelot open house, visitor guides, filmmaking, and a host of other activities.
The MCTA Tourist Information Centre (1985)
The association successfully lobbied the Wran Labor Government to create a tourist information centre at Liverpool on the Hume Highway.
The land for the tourist information centre was allocated to the association by the state government in 1985, which also provided $350,000 towards the construction of the centre. Liverpool City Council, Campbelltown City Council, Camden Municipal Council, and Wollondilly Shire Council jointly met running expenses.
Demolition (2005)
In the early 1990s, Liverpool City Council and Campbelltown City Council withdrew their support for the information centre. The centre closed in 1998, sat empty and was demolished after vandalism in 2005.
The site of the former tourist information centre is now vacant and has been converted into a park.
Legacy
The dynamic duo of Eggins and Hunt (Yewen) left a considerable legacy that has left an indelible mark on today’s tourist industry.
The duo were responsible for many firsts. These include the first bus lunch tours, the first dedicated visitor’s guide, the first tourism promotion booklet, the first tourism promotional business in the region, the first tourist officer, the first tourist information centre and others.
Sometime around 2005, the Jenny Eggins memorial plaque was relocated from the Liverpool site to a location outside the John Oxley Tourist Information Centre on Camden Valley Way at Elderslie.
Read more about the Macarthur Country Tourist Association in Betty Yewen’s My Story.
Seek it out at your local library.
Read a story written by Betty Yewen in Camden History about the creation of her book, My Story.
Discover more from Camden History Notes
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
