Hawley Community Garden

A tribe of us headed to Hawley this afternoon to checkout their
community garden. It exceeded my expectations. People are allocated 4
by 5 metre plots which are a good size in my opinion. The gardens
actually take up 600 square metres with 17 plots available. There are
compost bins at both ends which are shared. People bring their own
tools and hoses. I was impressed by this garden. It was well tended
and productive. Rubicon landcare group manage the garden

This is all handy background information as we consider a community
garden in Sheffield.

30 Years at Tandara Lodge

Tandara Lodge this week celebrated 30 years of service to the community. With the finishing of a new wing recently happening Tandara put on a 30th birthday this Tuesday.

The Hon. Dick Adams officially opened the new wing which pretty much finishes all extensions that are possible at Tandara. They are now out of space.

I sit on the board of Tandara as a council rep and feel honoured to be there. It is an impressive and caring organization. Paul Crantock has a genuine care for the residents and sees them as people not a product. Tandara works hard to make the facility "homey" for the residents.

It is past time that the Federal Government gave more to aged care homes and eased off on all the regulation (or at least financially compensated them for it). I do not want to see Tandara ever swallowed up by one of the big players in the aged care scene. WIth strong community support this won't happen.

Community Garden

There is considerable energy around Sheffield at the moment to see a community garden established. It has my backing 100%.

Imagine a place where local people can come and grow vegies with others sharing ideas and having a laugh. There are many community gardens around the world. I am going to visit one this weekend at Hawley. Latrobe Council provide the land and a local group manage the garden. I am hoping Kentish Council has some suitable land that could be used in this project.

With the increasing price of vegetables this will be a great opportunity for people to get back to the soil.

Stay tuned. I hope we can see a public meeting to discuss this further by the end of the year.

Botts Road Lorinna

The above road is now the preferred new road access into Lorinna. Civil and structural engineer Chris Martin put together a report that was delivered to Council in November. The report is available on the homepage of the Kentish Council website.

The other option looked at was RIver Road. The engineer views this option quite dimly. One disadvantage is the extra distance. Botts Road will be about the same distance as Lorinna Road.

Council has decided to close Lorinna Road and upgrade River Road as an interim measure. Once the road is to a higher standard (spending $120,000) Lorinna Road will be permanently closed and residents will have to use River Road for a time. How long depends on how long it takes to get Botts Road built. Many anomalies in this equation ranging from securing funding to appeals against the new route. I would surprised to see a new road ready within 12 months. Very surprised.

Green Hall Railton

I moved a motion at the October Council meeting that we meet with residents to discuss the future of the Green Hall. This meeting will occur on Wednesday the 26th of November at the Green Hall in Railton.

The Green Hall is under-utilized at the moment and needs significant dollars spent on it. Asbestos checks also need to be regularly undertaken which add additional cost.

If the hall remains open what I want to see as a Councillor includes:

- a regular meeting and energetic management committee
- consistent community interest and involvement
- fundraising initiatives (like some other halls do), some way of getting the costs down.

I recognize that there is a need for the youth to have somewhere to meet and hang out. The Green Hall currently meets this need. Could we build a new and more suitable facility?

The hall is currently a financial drain for not much use. Not good value for ratepayers money. Yes the hall has special significance to some in Railton (for those that it does I expect they will be at the meeting).

So I would like to hear people's ideas about whether keeping the hall open is the best option.

I would only support the closure of the hall if there was something to replace it that would be low maintenance and a better all round facility.

One Year On

One year down and one to go. Visiting the Sheffield School Show today made me think back a year to when I visited last year. It was my first official invite to an event. I remember the excitement and awkwardness I felt.

The last 12 months has been a challenge. Council has been much more involved than I imagined. Taking more time and thought space as well. I have developed a thicker skin I think. I have learned to care less what others think of me and stand back and ask what is best for the municipality. Some will like it and some will not.

Being a Councillor involves trying to work with 3 groups. Other Councillors, Council staff and ratepayers. Not always having the same agenda. After a year of sitting around the table I think I have a decent feel as to where other Councillors are coming from. Sometimes they still surprise me. We are just a cross section of society so you can expect differences. The topic of Climate Change was raised recently and the spectrum around the table ranges from sceptic to whole hearted believer.

I have 12 months to decide on whether I stand again. I probably will depending on my employment and family life.