It’s a surprise to realise that the Northern Valleys News has been in production for exactly 15 years as we go to print with this issue. What began as a fun project to promote the lifestyle of the region lived on to become a true community publication and I’m proud to have seen it survive and grow all the way from its humble beginnings.
For those who don’t know the story, the Northern Valleys News was born when my neighbour Jackie Shervington asked me to help her produce a newsletter to support her emerging real estate business. As a graphic designer at home with toddlers, it seemed a fun opportunity to get back into work and get involved in the community I had just become part of.
Not so long afterwards we discovered the local Chittering Times was up for sale — the editor and owner retiring and leaving the area for Queensland. A quick Google search of ‘How to start your own community newspaper’ and several hundred phone calls later and we had ourselves a new business.
We stood on the deck at my place and looked out at the fantastic view of the rolling hills — freshly turned to green just as they are right now. We thought about how our lifestyle was spread across the region — swimming and sport at Gingin, playgroup and school in Bindoon, Sunday visits to New Norcia Hotel and Gallery, and produce from all around — and we knew that the newspaper needed to cover this whole area where as residents we travelled to work, rest and play.
We coined the name Northern Valleys, not least because of the green valleys of Mooliabeenee in front of our eyes. The Northern part seemed obvious and we thought described quite clearly that we were north of Perth city, and distinguished us from the Swan Valley area.
The NVN rolled off the tongue and quite fortuitously the V also nicely represented the fork of the Brand and Great Northern Highways which I quickly formed into a logo ready for our first issue on May 2011.
With a keen interest in local food, growers, hospitality, and farming we decided the cover story would always feature a local producer or business — and so it has. Initially we worried that we would run out of ideas —however 197 issues later here we are. The stories have never stopped flowing, and new producers and businesses just keep popping out the woodwork just when I think there can’t possibly be another!
For the first few years, Jackie was the driving force of the paper, scouting for stories and locking in advertisers — some of whom have stayed on board all 15 years!
Later when her children reached high school her life shifted to Perth, I stepped into the drivers seat — for a few years juggling the design, stories and advertising on my own! Fortunately, I eventually found the multi-talented Kyra Burns who now shoulders the day-to-day — or month-to-month work, reaching her own milestone of seven years as Editor, and ten years with the NVN in 2026.
People often ask me how we do it all, and think that there’s a team putting the paper together. The truth is that it is both a very large team of citizen journalists, volunteers, and community members who create the content, and a very small team of two who put it all together into a legible format.
Just as our initial Google search suggested, the NVN is a community-driven publication that is both a reflection and a record of this place we call the Northern Valleys — its people and its produce, its problems and triumphs, but mostly its a guide to living here — a calender of events and way to connect, learn, and enjoy!
A bonus of our endevour has been the organic emergence of a name that describes this region, and it seems fitting that the Northern Valleys will be recognised and promoted as a distinct area by Desination Perth, WA’s peak tourism organisation from this year.
The story continues to evolve and develop thanks to our wonderful readers who pick up their copies of NVN from Bullsbrook to Greenhead and everywhere in between, and thanks to our amazing advertisers who make the physical printing of our newspaper possible – they are too many to mention here, but please watch this space. Our 200th issue will aim to recognise everyone who has contributed over the years.
