My Community Projects

The NSW Government is providing $250,000/electorate via a public voting system under the My Community Projects Grants, the aim of which is to improve the wellbeing of people and communities in NSW.

There are 16 projects listed for our local electorate of Lake Macquarie, 7 in the Greater Toronto Area.

You can vote for 3-5 projects. Funding will be allocated to the projects that receive the most votes.

Grab a cuppa and do your part to change our community and don’t forget to encourage your family and friends to do likewise.

Voting is open until 15 August 2019. You have to have a MyServiceNSW account to vote and verify your identity. This is easily done at the Toronto Service NSW centre or My Community Project online portal. 

Coal Point Public School Naturespace and Community Hub $198,086. A naturespace for the school and wider community to gather, make connections and enjoy healthy outdoor exercise during leisure time at Coal Point Public School.

Toronto Community Kitchen $34,000. We will provide a free meal and Food bank to the marginalised in our community and all who are in need.

Textile Recycling and Sewing Hub – 118,370. Create a community sewing hub and textile collection point in Toronto to reduce textile waste and build community.

Installation of a Swimming Stroke Lab $82,115. Swimming machine that analyses a swimmers’ stroke, while providing both coach and athlete instantaneous, real-time feedback via cameras and mirrors at Toronto Swim Centre.

Grandstands for all the community to enjoy! $36,510. Sun-safe covered seating to give community, supporters and families an enjoyable environment to watch football or cricket at Finnan oval.

Woodrising Neighbourhood Centre Solar Project $21,496 .To place solar panels and solar hot water on the roof of the centre’s building.

Managing Big Emotions $28,830. Working with children and their carers to build skills and strategies to manage children’s big emotions.

The CPPA has been approached by some of the local project coordinators to sharing their community project, The Coal Point Public School has included an insert and below are projects by TRASH Inc and the St Josephs community. 

Coal Point Public School Naturespace and Community Hub $198,086

Textile Recycling and Sewing Hub($118,370.)

This project aims to tackle a growing problem – textile waste in landfills. Kilaben Bay local Geraldine McCabe intends to collect textiles bound for landfill, offer sewing classes and courses, an open sewing studio so you can start or finish your own projects, and reasonably priced alterations and mending .

Volunteers can come in to teach their sewing skills to the younger generations. This will be a place to drop in, have a cuppa, get those pants hemmed or that button replaced (or learn how to do it yourself!) – to bring young and old together to share skills, connect, and create together.

Aussies dispose of 6,000kg of textiles every 10 minutes, Gerri explains, but most of this can be re-used, re-purposed, upcycled, or recycled into produce bags, sunhats, and new outfits. It’s a fantastic, affordable alternative to fast fashion. We are already leading the way with our local green waste bins, and this is a great opportunity to keep Lake Mac on the forefront of sustainability. 

Toronto Community Kitchen $34,000.

The St Joseph’s community has partnered with Development & Relief Agency (DARA) with the vision of creating Toronto Community Kitchen.

The plan is to offer a nutritious meal and provide companionship to those who share a meal. We also hope to provide fresh fruit and veggies from Foodbank at a very small cost to supplement households. The Grant would enable us to purchase suitable catering equipment for our kitchen.

Our volunteers will serve a meal, but will also have the time to sit and listen to our guests. Sharing a meal is a simple but powerful way of forming connection and building community.

A community that knows and supports each other will become a stronger community.

If you have a heart for the marginalised and lonely within our community, please consider voting for Toronto Community Kitchen in your number one spot.

Community Building Partnership-all Good!

In January the final activity of the $19,993 grant, Safe and Sustainable Solutions to ensure Progress Hall’s Survival, was undertaken…a Freshen Up Frenzy which saw our Hall get a really good makeover for the new year. The walls were washed, kitchen decluttered, paths swept, grounds groomed, stage stacked, windows ‘transparentised’ and the toilets are now taintless.

The State funded grant Community Building Partnership grant has seen the roof repaired to capture water to fill the rainwater tank, which flushes the toilets. New lightweight chairs purchased along with a chair and table trolley to improve WHS in moving the furniture. The icing on the cake was the installation of 20 solar panels that are producing about 20kW/day, which also required the replacement of the aged meter box.

Sincere thanks to our State MP Greg Piper for his support of this grant.

Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Update

The local Sustainable Neighbourhood group has been super busy applying for funding to undertake a plethora of local projects. 

The Landcare Working Group got a grant to construct a Fire Retardant demonstration native garden at the Toronto Fire Station providing a growing example of plants that will act as ember curtains and enhance the bushland setting whilst minimising the flammability of the flora. 

The project will focus on  “Be Ready, Be Safe” with the garden being a model in fire hazard reduction and bushfire management around the Fire Station. It will provide a visual and practical demonstration and education opportunity for the whole community.

The Waste group has developed a funding application with Toronto Tidy Towns to reduce local litter around Woolworths, Aldi’s and Lake Macquarie City Council multi-level carpark.

The Tossers can be Binners Project evolved from multiple observations of the type, quantity and spread of litter in the area. A subsequent survey found that litter accumulates on the pavements and in gardens prior to the entry of the two supermarkets and in the multiple exits of the carpark.

It is hoped that funding will be gained for additional bins to be installed at strategic locations. Additionally a publicity campaign with the slogan “Tossers can be Binners” is planned. If successful this would make a significant difference to the cleanliness of the area and create a shopping precinct that is valued by the community.

The Sustainable Neighbourhood group is looking for members who would like to make a difference in the community. If you have a pet project you would like to pursue come along and see how it may fit in to the local action plan. Current working groups include Waste, Footpaths & Cycleways, Landcare and Community Garden.

The annual election of office bearers will be happening in the next few months so it’s a great time to get involved.

The coordinating committee meets monthly at Progress Hall on the 2nd Wednesday of the month. The Next meeting will be 10th July 5-6.30pm

A great Grant for Getting help on Bushland blocks

There is a funding opportunity to support bush regeneration on public and private land. The $250,000 grant runs over six years.

The closing date for the application is 14/2/12. The Progress Association is putting in an application and would like to include as many interested property owners as possible.

The Community Bush Regeneration Large Projects Stream of the NSW Environmental Trust is a new grant that recognises that it takes time and effort to get the upper hand on weeds. The aim of the grant is to facilitate projects run by local community groups to undertake large, long term bush regeneration projects.

The grant also aims to improve the capacity of communities to protect, restore and enhance the environment by strengthening local community organisations whose primary purpose is to undertake works in their local area.

This grant is perfect for the community the Progress Association supports and the objectives for which the Association was established. 

One of the features and assets of the Coal Point community is the large number of big bushland blocks that form a mosaic of public/private land along the length of the peninsula.

Patches of the bushland are almost perfect, in a weed free way, but then there are pockets of severe weed infestations that would be daunting to most mere mortals.

The bushland corridor that we call home is also home to a couple of threatened species, the ever-so-cute Squirrel Glider and the pretty in pink Tetratheca juncea.

There are not a lot of government grants that will fund work on private property, but this one does! This provides a very rare chance to get that helping hand or ten that many people have been waiting for.

Lake Macquarie City Council’s Landcare Officers have agreed the project has merit and at the bare minimum a successful application would result in the public land receiving the benefits of professional bush regeneration teams.

However the long term legacy of the project would be greater if private land holders were also included in the bush regeneration activities.

Do you want your bushland block included in the grant?
Part of the application requires the details of the parties that own or have legal responsibility for the proposed project site. If you own the land, this means you. 

If the application is successful formal permission will be required, for the time being it will be enough to include the location of your block so it can be put on a map and a statement that you’re interested.

Please contact Suzanne Pritchard, the person who is writing the funding application with your details or enquiries by Tues 7/2/12 either by email to coalpointprogress@gmail.com or 
by phone  4969 1500 during the day, ask for Suzanne, or in the evening 4959 6741.

Some initial ideas that will be incorporated into the project are:

• Lots of Bush Regeneration, including weed removal and planting for and slope and foreshore stabilisation
• a series of field days along the peninsula to provide weed identification training and removal techniques
• installing habitat features to enhance the Squirrel Glider corridor so that it can extend its range.
• providing a plant swap of local plants for natives to replace fruiting weeds such as Asparagus fern, Privet, African Olive with local natives
• A community event or two in the hall to share pictures of the amazing local flora & fauna
• Community celebrations of major outcomes
• A changeable weed of the month sign to help with targeting weeds
• Other ideas are most welcome.

Granted success

The Progress Association has recently been successful in two funding applications.
Hunter Water’s Landcare Assistance Fund will provide funds to boost the biodiversity at Yural and Stansfield Reserves, these projects will be our local contribution to the International Year of Biodiversity.

Lake Macquarie City Council’s Environmental Education grant will enable a brochure to produced outlining the local environmental treasures including birds, plants, reserves and access ways. This grant will also support the Transition Film festival and a local community event.

Sincerest thanks to both of these organisations for supporting our local efforts.