INSIDERS and outsiders. 

Gordon Forth has lived in Warrnambool for four decades but is still somewhat on the margins, or so he says, with birth the only ticket to being a fully-fledged regional city “insider”.

The social researcher says it is with this background — long-term residency as well as growing up outside the Western District — that gives his new book a unique perspective on Warrnambool’s recent history.

A Tale of Two Cities — Warrnambool’s Modern History uses the title of Charles Dickens’ novel but the subject matter is far removed from the poverty depicted in the famed British writer’s work.

The book starts with the late 1980s manufacturing slump, compounded by the early 1990s recession which resulted in the demise of Fletcher Jones, Warrnambool Woollen Mill and many associated trade jobs.

Few are nostalgic about that period — particularly Pyramid investors following the building society’s collapse smack bang in the midst of the economic slump. 

Shops were shutting, sporting clubs were penniless and headline after headline confirmed the state of malaise.

However, Warrnambool’s woes reversed within less than a decade. 

Dr Forth had long been fascinated with this sharp change of fortunes. He commented on the social and financial turnaround to then Warrnambool mayor Glenys Phillpot at an art gallery function some years ago. 

“We both said ‘someone’ needed to write about the city’s transformation,” he said. “The more research into our recent history, the more I thought ‘this story needs to be told’.” 

The basis for the book is a sentence from Peter Yule in the updated By These We Flourish where he writes about imagining Warrnambool without Fletcher Jones and without the woollen mill.

“It would have been unthinkable in the late 1980s but here we are today — a successful city without those gigantic factories that employed so many people,” Dr Forth said.

He argues that Gateway Plaza’s 1986 opening split Warrnambool into two cities — the established central precinct and its new flashy competitor on the eastern fringe.

The impact of Gateway Plaza was not so much the building itself but the retail trend it set. The Harvey Norman complex popped up next door in the early 2000s, closely followed by nearby centres. 

“This is a trend seen in many regional cities,” Dr Forth said. “Whereas once people would do most of their shopping in the Warrnambool CBD and buying things like milk and the newspaper at the corner store, the lines have been blurred. Some families bypass the corner shop and go straight to the suburban supermarket because they’re more conveniently located than what they once were.”

Modernisation of the south-west’s largest city has not been without its problems. Intangible factors such as the “loss of community mindedness” are examined alongside crime and punishment.

“That chapter of the book is titled ‘the dark side of Camelot’ because Warrnambool by and large is a safe place to live,” Dr Forth said. “Alcohol-related violence is a problem right across Australia and Warrnambool had a particular problem in this regard during the 1990s. That was the time when Timor Street was given the ‘Gaza Strip’ nickname and it has stuck ever since, even though conditions have improved with extra security and surveillance cameras.”

The transition from industrial to service industries is put under the microscope by Dr Forth with chapters examining the education and health sectors. The retired academic said the region’s low year 12 attainment rate had been static for a generation and this would likely impact on the provision of tertiary education in the coming decades.

“It’s unlikely Deakin Warrnambool and South West TAFE will remain in their present form by the next decade or thereabouts,” Dr Forth said. “The internet is altering the way undergraduates study already and there is less demand for face-to-face contact with lecturers.”

Demographic researcher Jeremy Reynolds worked for the state planning department and contributed to Dr Forth’s book. He said Warrnambool’s greatest selling point was its location compared to other regional centres.

“Warrnambool is the only coastal city in Victoria,” Mr Reynolds said. “Melbourne and Geelong are bay cities, on Port Philip Bay, while Bairnsdale is a tad inland.

"Warrnambool’s distance from Melbourne is both a blessing and a curse. Some people looking to relocate may be attracted by having some space away from the urban sprawl while others will feel the travelling time is too great.”

Distance wasn’t a big concern when Dr Forth moved to south-west Victoria in 1975. The university lecturer gained a position at the fledgling Warrnambool Institute of Advanced Education (WIAE) and he was immediately taken by his new home city. 

“I was teaching at the University of New South Wales in Sydney and sharing a flat with (wife) Penny and our baby daughter at the time I saw the job ad for the WIAE role,” Dr Forth said.

“We had another baby on the way and wanted a new home that was more spacious, so at the time we were thinking about moving out to Sydney’s north-west. But that would have meant several hours of commuting each day, so the idea of what was later to be described as a ‘seachange’ was pretty appealing.

“It’s always been an attractive city, the coastal location was a big selling point. “But the Warrnambool of 2015 is far better for newcomers than 1975 Warrnambool. Today the city is more progressive, shopping options are far greater and we’re a lot more connected with the rest of the world.”

n A Tale of Two Cities — A history of Modern Warrnambool will be available at Collins Booksellers and Warrnambool Books later this month.