Be the change

• community centre where young people are offered free driving and road safety lessons, free bike lending and repair, support centres for drug and alcohol clinics and support centres for family violence
• facilities for start-up companies and entrepreneurs
• career, training and professional advice agencies
• retraining programs, including computing, for the elderly
• business mentorship programs for young entrepreneurs
• re-skilling centres
• computer programming training centres for school leavers—Digital Revolution.

• protection of this site of ancient and ongoing cultural, religious and historical significance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
• an Education and Environment complex, owned and managed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including elders
• educational tours to locals and visitors (about the local environment’s religious, cultural, environmental, historical and social significance), as well as a nature reserve for relaxation and native plant growth
• training to locals based on environmentally sound agricultural and horticultural techniques, which would be modelled in the block
• an artist residency for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artist (a writer, musician, visual artist, poet or filmmaker) who will also deliver education sessions to community members.

• skate park
• coffee drop-in centre
• footy, netball, soccer clubs, and other sporting complexes
• local arts centre where young people can learn and play instruments
• collaborative mural/street art
• computer/programming co-op
• support centre or ‘chill out’ centre for young people to network and connect (mental health)
• film club
• utilising the local history and heritage to crowd-fund for a community centre where young people, people experiencing homelessness or newly arrived migrants can gain hospitality skills and employment, for example through a restaurant or café staffed by volunteers, where visitors can also tour the site.

Some young people have expressed interest in using the block as a working site to investigate natural resources/ecology/climate change. At the same time they wish to mount night time watches to count the number of Leadbeater possums still in the area.

• setting up a water watch program at the creek
• testing erosion
• planting trees and plants to naturally filter and purify the water
• setting up a Leadbeater possum survey, protection and regeneration program
• bird feather identification program
• community garden spaces for locals to raise their own vegetable plots
• creek bank rehabilitation
• community environmental education walks
• frog-watch program to monitor environmental health of the area.

3 full-time park rangers.

One Action Plan has suggested a fast food store on the abandoned block, which would give the kids some jobs but may result in closure of small local restaurants.

• a good meeting place for kids
• providing much needed jobs
• stopping people trashing the block
• generating some waste, rubbish or run-off into the creek.

• preserving the archaeological pub and cemetery sites
• building a display and interpretation centre
• taking guided tours to the areas of importance
• creating an area of world quality heritage education
• using national treasures to create a sense of pride and achievement for the whole community
• Young Guides program to re-skill and employ young people to lead tours.

26 permanent full time jobs for park rangers, education people, etc.

$1 million needed to run it annually. Income from visits will be $0.5 million annually.

There is a need for a new area of housing, especially low-cost housing as there is an increasing number of people ‘living on the streets’. This problem is worsened by the fact that support centres are some 80km away. Supporters of this option argue that the majority of problems facing young and disillusioned people in this area stem from inadequate housing.

• a planned estate which will provide low cost housing for low income earners and people with disabilities
• medium density and energy efficient housing, which will therefore be ecologically sound and a model for the rest of Australia
• a wide range of community facilities will be included—for health, recreation, welfare and education
• housing will have the latest access measures for people with disabilities.

200 initially during building.

Rates etc. will bring back income of $2 million annually.

Strong benefit to disadvantaged.

One option is to do nothing. This is a democracy and you can’t be forced to take action.
You can leave it to others to make decisions for you and for your community.