THE TWEED
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Volume 3 #31 Thursday, April 14, 2011 Advertising and news enquiries: Phone: (02) 6672 2280 editor@tweedecho.com.au adcopy@tweedecho.com.au
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LOCAL & INDEPENDENT
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Casuarina centre to be built soon, developer says Murray Simpson
Nearly ten years of anguish for Casuarina residents may be over with the announcement this week that construction of the estate’s long-awaited town centre is about to start. Developer Don O’Rorke said the lengthy approval process had finally been completed clearing the way for work to begin some time in October. ‘I can put on the record that Consolidated Properties is proceding with the redevelopment of the town centre in calendar year 2011,’ he said. ‘We have already executed an agreement with Coles supermarket and all but one of the residential lots has been pre-sold.’
Divided community The start of construction will bring the curtain down on a protracted and bitter saga that has divided the Casuarina community. Residents had long complained that they had been promised a town centre when they bought in 2003 and it had been an important part of the marketing strategy of the estate, said residents association president Rob Bryant. ‘In fact we had some elderly residents who specifically bought close to the proposed town centre so they did not have far to walk to the shops,’ he said. ‘Instead for all those years we’ve had just a sandy wasteland in the heart of the development.’ Residents were upset at their last association meeting when a statement from the developer suggesting
the project could be delayed due to financial woes was read out. Consolidated Properties property development manager Stephen Pink had blamed an ‘unstable economic climate’ for the delay last week. Mr Pink told media the global financial crisis ‘dried up’ available funding and the banks weren’t lending any money, but he expected subdivision of the area to begin late this year. Mr O’Rorke said his company was currently working through the construction drawings to enable them to lodge a final set with the Tweed Shire Council for building approval. ‘The development application for the town centre from both the council and the NSW state government has now come through,’ he said. ‘It’s taken four years to get through the council and state government and that’s an unacceptable amount of time. But it’s par for the course for any development in New South Wales these days,’ he said. ‘The fact that the approvals have come through in the middle of the global financial crisis hasn’t helped any either. It’s been a very difficult financial market – and that applies to all projects across Australia.’ Mr O’Rorke said Coles had been committed to the project for the past five years. ‘Our company had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Casuarina and we’re committed to investing many more,’ he said. The way was cleared for the town centre to proceed in controversial
Indigenous performer Dennis Duncan with some of the children in the play group. Photo Jeff ’ Didgeridone’ Dawson
Revitalising culture is child’s play Kate McIntosh
A new Indigenous playgroup in Murwillumbah is helping put culture into play for children and their families. Kids Caring For Country was launched in February and is open to children aged up to five years old. Activities are centred around Indigenous languages, dances, crafts and values, as well as providing practical information on health and nutrition. The playgroup is the first of its kind in the Tweed area and it’s hoped it will eventually be expanded to include Byron Bay and Tweed Heads. The group was started by Tumbulcontinued on page 5
gum mum Lara Bennett, who came up with the idea while studying for an Indigenous Trauma and Healing degree at Southern Cross University. Lara said the group aims to connect Indigenous families through culture and revitalise cultural practices in the Tweed area. She has engaged local Indigenous facilitators to share their skills with the children and their families. A welcome to country is performed at the beginning of each playgroup and children receive instruction in Bundjalung language and songs, as well as learning traditional Torres Strait Islander weaving techniques. Stokers Siding performer Dennis Walker has been teaching children and parents traditional Bundjalung dances, which culminated in a special corroboree and concert held last week with students from Murwillumbah Primary School. Long term, Lara hopes the playgroup will strengthen ties amongst
the Indigenous community and help children grow up with a sense of pride and connection to each other and the land. ‘We really want to engage with the local Aboriginal community and share their ideas and the knowledge so that we can keep that culture alive,’ she said. ‘Being a caretaker of the land and local area in which you live, learning through play and connecting Indigenous parents with each other and skill sharing.’ Initial support for the playgroup is being provided by Murwillumbah Communities For Children and Tweed Shire Women’s Service, but Lara is hoping to secure funding to ensure its future. The plagroup is free and starts at 10am every Thursday in Knox Park opposite the Tweed Shire Women’s Service in Nullum Street. Non-Indigenous children and their families are also welcome to attend.
ABN 82 087 650 682
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