Recently, children from Gulmarrad gathered to express their need and desire for a playground. Gulmarrad has no playground or park or any facilities at all! And, most importantly, no public land available that could be used for grant applications to develop facilities. Clarence Valley Council needs to buy a property first.
However, each month ‘Gulmarradians’ do get together on a narrow strip of crown land on the verge of the Brooms Head Road in central Gulmarrad.
Unfortunately, it is too unsafe to have children’s events here due to the proximity of the 80km/hour Brooms Head Road. There are two aims for these adults only gatherings, one is to raise awareness, both within the community and with council that there is no appropriate place to gather in Gulmarrad. Nowhere for residents and their children to gather for a play outing, a birthday party, a function, information sharing or just to meet other families in the neighbourhood. Research shows that this sort of social isolation can lead to physical and mental health issues. The children in Gulmarrad are asking for a playground. They desire and need a place to gather and play. Adults need a place to gather. So, Gulmarrad residents have been proactive in asking local government representatives to buy a property for a playground and community centre in central Gulmarrad.
However, support is hard to find in the current economic climate within our local council, and for the third year, submissions to the CVC budget have been rejected. To be fair, some individual councillors, the mayor Jim Simmons and councillors, Debrah Novak, Greg Clancy and Peter Ellem have expressed support and offered suggestions, but when it comes to the crunch, there is just no council money for Gulmarrad.
Currently the Gulmarrad group is contemplating the best way forward. Any ideas? In the meantime they continue to gather together around a range of adult activities and themes. Last month an enthusiastic crowd of Gulmarradians gathered to eat pizza together. Thank you to Maclean Tartan pizzas for their support. A lot of new relationships were formed and friendships strengthened. The theme for the August get-together will be a walk through part of the large 100 acre block of crown land in south Gulmarrad. So, on Saturday August 10 they plan to meet at 3pm at the red bench then drive to the start of the walk. For those who just want to socialise at the red bench, there will be tea and coffee making facilities.
Bring your own afternoon tea etc. to share.
The public can help by emailing council asking them to support the cause and joining our Facebook page to stay up to date.
