Building healthy communities

Building healthy communities

Jim Douglas

In 1975, a group of concerned residents formed the Grange Ratepayers’ Association Incorporated that mainly took up issues relating to proposals and decisions of the then Henley and Grange Council.

In 1994, the name changed to the Henley and Grange Residents’ Association Incorporated and at the same time the rules were changed to allow a greater area for membership and broader issues of interest and coverage.

In 1997, the association became heavily involved in opposing the Holdfast Shores Development and in particular the construction of the boat launching facility and Barcoo stormwater outlet at West Beach. This community campaign involved over 600 people and more than six months of blockading in an attempt to stop the rock walls being constructed, as science advised that sand would be depleted from West Beach and create significant damage to beaches further north. History now shows that the science was correct.

In 2006, the association’s name and rules changed again to become the Western Adelaide Coastal Residents’ Association Incorporated (WACRA) to provide more scope for membership and to better reflect local, state and federal government issues that WACRA presently addresses. This change gave the association the opportunity to make submissions, presentations and representations to all levels of government on behalf of its membership and the broader community relating to living standards and building healthy communities.

Emphasis on building healthy communities

Our interest in building healthy communities was affirmed in 1999 when the Henley and Grange Residents’ Association was contacted by a researcher from the Public Health Department at Flinders University, asking us to be part of a case study in a project on Health Development and Social Capital. We jumped at the opportunity. The project explored the role community groups and organisations play in the development of health and social capital. A survey of 40 community groups with questions about group aims, structure, membership, activities, resources, partnerships and future plans was conducted. Twenty five case studies were carried out, one of which was our residents’ association.

Case study: Henley and Grange Residents’ Association (1999)

Many of the association’s activities cited in this book are told in future sections: Henley and Grange Australia Day Festival of the Coast, lobbying for the right to keep the local gymnasium, traffic management, advocating a youth needs study, the Save Our Beaches campaign, Association of Citizens Against Telecommunications Towers, and cleaning up the River Torrens. The actions taken brought people together, ‘reinforced optimism for the future, strengthened a belief in the power of the collective community, led to the formation of other groups, and increased the capacity of residents to facilitate change in their community’ (Social Capital in Action Report, 1999).

Survey findings focused on being a caring community, inclusivity of youth and older people, and the importance we place on wellness and social inclusion. Great emphasis was placed on the need for a clean environment as it relates to our health. At the conclusion of the study,

recommendations were presented. The central finding was the way in which people interacted, in both social and civic circumstances, and how the quality and type of interaction positively impacted on health and wellbeing.

The final report had an impact on our residents’ association members. We organised a community forum on Building healthy communities. It was held in October 2001 at the Fulham Community Centre with over 150 attendees who came from many western Adelaide suburbs and various organisations. The Flinders University Public Health team presided over the gathering. Sharing the findings of this research with a larger group of local residents aimed to encourage our community to 'develop ideas and actions for change for better health’. The group work and sharing of various ways of interacting with this audience of 150 people was inspirational. We also had great fun in between all the serious work, being entertained by Dave Clark providing wonderful music to tap our feet, dance and sing along. Feedback from the participants was exciting and encouraging to the Henley and Grange Residents’ Association. We continued to put a great effort into implementing initiatives from this forum towards building a healthy and vibrant community.