Deer farmer’s journey to Meander Valley Council
Michal Frydrych of Springfield Deer Farm at Mole Creek is Meander Valley Council’s latest councillor.
Sharon Webb
Meander Valley’s latest councillor was in St Petersburg, Russia, when he noticed a Mole Creek deer farm for sale on the internet.
‘I asked my family back in Sydney to have a look. They visited and said, ‘Dad, let’s do it’.’
Ten years later, Michal, born in Prague, experienced in worldwide shipping and ports development, is a replacement on recount for the third Meander Valley councillor to resign in three years.
‘Obviously I had no idea Frank Nott was going to resign but I was happy to take it on,’ Michal said.
‘It’s an interesting, challenging time. Tasmania’s economy and population is growing and the council’s work is even more important. There’s so much happening that could affect the way we live here in Tasmania.
‘All people can expect from me is a fairly straightforward person who can understand the issues and needs coming up.
‘I’m not doing it for the hell of it. There must be some benefit to the community.’
From the huge window in Michal’s living room, you can see all the way down into the Mole Creek Valley, miles of green, speckled with farmhouses.
His front ‘yard’ is dotted with grazing deer and characteristic grey limestone protruding through the karst landscape.
Michal and Connie Frydrych live as far you can drive without hitting the Western Tiers, whose foothills rise directly behind their property.
It’s an intriguing choice for a man of the world, whose work for shipping companies took him from Vietnam to the Congo and further, with space galore, privacy, fresh air and an intensely green environment.
After 10 years on the deer farm, COVID-19 brought challenges.
‘I wanted something interesting to do with a healthy product,’ Michal said.
‘It was meant to be a different way of living, if not retirement, a way to be with family more. I used to work away three months at a time.
‘The farm isn’t going well at the moment because we depend on tourism. But our B&B is doing well on local tourism.’
Michal is a man used to the privations of events with worldwide impact.
In 1968 when Warsaw Pact troops led by the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia, he left his country and couldn’t see his family for 25 years. In comparison family restrictions imposed by COVID seem smaller.
Michal is the current chair of Rural Business Tasmania and formerly was vice president of Meander Valley Tourism and president of the Mole Creek Progress Association.
How will he deal with the Tasmanian Planning Scheme?
‘With my work I got used to that sort of thing. Like everywhere else, the council has rules and regulations. You have to navigate through them.’
So far Michal has attended the September council meeting as a guest before being formally inducted. Does he think he’ll stand again for the council in October 2022?
‘A number of people asked me to stand in 2018. I wasn’t surprised because I’m not a person to stand on the sidelines,’ he said.
‘This opportunity is almost like training wheels. You’ve got to take it seriously, give it your best.
‘At the end you ask whether it was worth it for you and the council.’
