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| In defence of the Big Potato: a robust retort to galloping gentrification | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A few years ago, my dad caught a smalltown whisper: plans were afoot to pave paradise and put up a parking lot. | A few years ago, my dad caught a smalltown whisper: plans were afoot to pave paradise and put up a parking lot. |
| The “paradise” was the Big Potato, generally regarded as one of the least spectacular of Australia’s “Big Things”. The parking lot was a parking lot – earmarked for a new supermarket to be built in Robertson, the town of 1,942 souls he had serviced in his Friendly Grocer right next door for the past 27 years. | The “paradise” was the Big Potato, generally regarded as one of the least spectacular of Australia’s “Big Things”. The parking lot was a parking lot – earmarked for a new supermarket to be built in Robertson, the town of 1,942 souls he had serviced in his Friendly Grocer right next door for the past 27 years. |
| At the age of 62, my dad took out a mortgage on half an acre of land, not only to save his business but to save a Robertson icon. And, as a result, if I play my cards right, I am the Big Potato heiress. | At the age of 62, my dad took out a mortgage on half an acre of land, not only to save his business but to save a Robertson icon. And, as a result, if I play my cards right, I am the Big Potato heiress. |
| Robertson is a sleepy New South Wales town on the top of the escarpment that overlooks Wollongong. It is two hours’ drive from Sydney and half an hour from the closest big supermarket or high school, which is a polite way of saying it’s in the middle of nowhere. | Robertson is a sleepy New South Wales town on the top of the escarpment that overlooks Wollongong. It is two hours’ drive from Sydney and half an hour from the closest big supermarket or high school, which is a polite way of saying it’s in the middle of nowhere. |
| Even in the middle of December, the town is thick with mist. It is greener than Ireland and, for many years, its rich red soil produced famous potatoes and cheese. The cheese factory has been split up into various shops and cafes, and the potato fields have been made into luscious weekenders for moguls to show off in the district’s glossy property and society mag, Highlife. | Even in the middle of December, the town is thick with mist. It is greener than Ireland and, for many years, its rich red soil produced famous potatoes and cheese. The cheese factory has been split up into various shops and cafes, and the potato fields have been made into luscious weekenders for moguls to show off in the district’s glossy property and society mag, Highlife. |
| Yet towards the end of the main street, without much fanfare, stands a beacon of Robertson history and folklore that no gentrification can take away: the Big Potato. As big as the most luxurious road train, the cement tribute to the potato-growing history of the town sits proudly in a green park surrounded by trees and picnic benches. | Yet towards the end of the main street, without much fanfare, stands a beacon of Robertson history and folklore that no gentrification can take away: the Big Potato. As big as the most luxurious road train, the cement tribute to the potato-growing history of the town sits proudly in a green park surrounded by trees and picnic benches. |
| It’s fair to say its reputation is modest. The blogger Jacqui Kennedy told Guardian Australia for last week’s exploration of Big Things: “A lot of the Big Things – the Big Banana, the Big Pineapple, things like that – they’ve got souvenir shops and things around them. The big turd is just a big turd in the middle of a field. That’s it. There’s nothing to buy around it, nothing else to attract you to it.” | It’s fair to say its reputation is modest. The blogger Jacqui Kennedy told Guardian Australia for last week’s exploration of Big Things: “A lot of the Big Things – the Big Banana, the Big Pineapple, things like that – they’ve got souvenir shops and things around them. The big turd is just a big turd in the middle of a field. That’s it. There’s nothing to buy around it, nothing else to attract you to it.” |
| Raised from cement mixed with local soil in 1977, the Big Potato was the vision of a local farmer, businessman and councillor, Jim Mauger. Always looking for ways to get people to his beloved Robertson (he also convinced Kennedy Miller to shoot Babe there), Mauger says the idea did not require much original thought. | Raised from cement mixed with local soil in 1977, the Big Potato was the vision of a local farmer, businessman and councillor, Jim Mauger. Always looking for ways to get people to his beloved Robertson (he also convinced Kennedy Miller to shoot Babe there), Mauger says the idea did not require much original thought. |
| “It was when everything big was going on. The Big Banana, the Big Pineapple, the Big Prawn. It was a good idea at the time.” | “It was when everything big was going on. The Big Banana, the Big Pineapple, the Big Prawn. It was a good idea at the time.” |
| Originally he planned for the potato to house a potato museum or a takeaway store but this never eventuated. | Originally he planned for the potato to house a potato museum or a takeaway store but this never eventuated. |
| “The vandals drive you crazy. Originally, the doors weren’t locked so they’d get in there and write bloomin’ obscenities and go to the toilet in the place.” | “The vandals drive you crazy. Originally, the doors weren’t locked so they’d get in there and write bloomin’ obscenities and go to the toilet in the place.” |
| Um, guilty. If you’re a person who grew up in Robertson, you will have either gone to the toilet once or twice inside it, or at the very least laughed until your stomach hurt as one of your friends did. | Um, guilty. If you’re a person who grew up in Robertson, you will have either gone to the toilet once or twice inside it, or at the very least laughed until your stomach hurt as one of your friends did. |
| The potato sat alone in a bare field, a public toilet without plumbing and a national laughing stock until 2008, the International Year of the Potato, when a community group led by Judy and Allan Hollis decided to spruce it up. | The potato sat alone in a bare field, a public toilet without plumbing and a national laughing stock until 2008, the International Year of the Potato, when a community group led by Judy and Allan Hollis decided to spruce it up. |
| “I just got sick of the look of it,” Judy Hollis says from her home in nearby Wildes Meadow. “It was disgusting.” | “I just got sick of the look of it,” Judy Hollis says from her home in nearby Wildes Meadow. “It was disgusting.” |
| Judy and Allan began by cleaning it back to its original soil brown. They went on to raise funds for picnic benches, while local nurseries donated trees and locals volunteered their labour. They even had a local celebrity or two drop in for planting. | Judy and Allan began by cleaning it back to its original soil brown. They went on to raise funds for picnic benches, while local nurseries donated trees and locals volunteered their labour. They even had a local celebrity or two drop in for planting. |
| Judy recalls: “Artist Ben Quilty came to the park one day and said, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘Planting daffodils,’ I told him. ‘What are you doing?’ He said he was meant to be painting but would rather be planting daffodils, so that’s what he did.” | Judy recalls: “Artist Ben Quilty came to the park one day and said, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘Planting daffodils,’ I told him. ‘What are you doing?’ He said he was meant to be painting but would rather be planting daffodils, so that’s what he did.” |
| The potato now sits proudly in the peaceful park created by Judy, Allan and their team – a park where a farmers’ market or a tai chi lesson would not seem out of place. | The potato now sits proudly in the peaceful park created by Judy, Allan and their team – a park where a farmers’ market or a tai chi lesson would not seem out of place. |
| But many Robertson residents still have complex feelings about the potato. | But many Robertson residents still have complex feelings about the potato. |
| Local Christopher Welsh is almost philosophical: “True, perhaps, that the Big Potato may not have the status of a prawn or a merino but neither does a potato have the same complexity and finesse of some other natural phenomena. But do not undersell the surrounding ambience. Sometimes one just has to linger and let the richness of the place overwhelm superficial judgments.” | Local Christopher Welsh is almost philosophical: “True, perhaps, that the Big Potato may not have the status of a prawn or a merino but neither does a potato have the same complexity and finesse of some other natural phenomena. But do not undersell the surrounding ambience. Sometimes one just has to linger and let the richness of the place overwhelm superficial judgments.” |
| Former Robertsonian Anthea Murray, who now lives in Hong Kong, says: “I do love it though, even though it’s like a giant turd by Hoddle Street. It’s ours and it’s fab.” | Former Robertsonian Anthea Murray, who now lives in Hong Kong, says: “I do love it though, even though it’s like a giant turd by Hoddle Street. It’s ours and it’s fab.” |
| Nurse Jill Keft says the Big Potato is “quirky, individual, humorous, a nice public space now that it is landscaped”. | Nurse Jill Keft says the Big Potato is “quirky, individual, humorous, a nice public space now that it is landscaped”. |
| I tried to get my dad to comment for this article but he declined. Someone told him it’s now called “Tait’s Turd” in town and he’s feeling a little sensitive. | I tried to get my dad to comment for this article but he declined. Someone told him it’s now called “Tait’s Turd” in town and he’s feeling a little sensitive. |
| • Melanie Tait is the presenter of the ABC podcast Tall Tales & True | • Melanie Tait is the presenter of the ABC podcast Tall Tales & True |