saving Henley Beach Library, social justice issues, and community health matters. WACRA’s extended relationships with like-minded community organisations feature prominently, including Friends of Gulf St Vincent, the Powering Poverty (2002) movement, and the ongoing AdaptWest team addressing the likely impacts of climate change. WACRA’s relationship with state and local governments, initially Henley and Grange Council and now Charles Sturt Council, are part of most of these stories. Often council funds have been granted to kickstart projects such as the Henley Community Garden, dune care and tree planting. Although there have been differences, the relationship between local government and WACRA has worked well in furthering the interests of the larger community. Fernando Gonçalves is a longstanding WACRA member and a professional photographer who has portrayed most of WACRA’s activities over the years. He has provided a visual history of WACRA’s community activism – the events and people behind the stories. In the beginning Don Lewis recalls the protests that were organised to stop rows of high-rise development in Henley and Grange in the early 1980s. The community did not want our shores dominated by the type of Gold Coast high-rise development that had already overtaken Glenelg. Thousands of signatures were physically collected and presented to the local counci l and SA Government. The (then) Henley and Grange Residents’ Association actively lobbied councillors and state government MPs when both were soon due for elections. The lobbied candidates eventually gained council positions and parliamentary seats in the subsequent elections – and we stopped high-rise development. Many residents found for the first time that community activism could actually result in desirable change. For some it was astonishing that a resident – an ordinary person in the street – could have a powerful voice and really change the world. The World Health Organisation set forth the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion in November 1986. In response, community health, primary health care and public health programs were set up internationally, within Australia and in local communities. The charter articulated the fundamental conditions and resources for health: peace, shelter, education, food, income, a stable ecosystem, sustainable resources, social justice and equity. In her interview, Virginia Paterson describes community development in the 1970s and 1980s. Her role as a youth worker coincided with local promotion of the Ottawa Charter. As a volunteer, she persuaded the Henley and Grange Council to open a shopfront for local unemployed young people to set up their own recreational activities. The project was a success. Young people got involved, learned new skills, and many found employment. The social inclusion tactics generated by Virginia back in the 1980s initiated a strong local focus on building a healthier community. It is no coincidence then that one of the key objectives of this residents’ association is Building healthy communities. WACRA believes a broad social view of health must include a clean environment, education available to all, cultural acceptance, ‘a fair go’ for pensioners, social inclusion, circles of friends, looking out for your neighbours, safety, a roof over our heads, and friendships between people of all ages. The association’s objectives are to:
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