Windella community members oppose planned home-estate

 BY HOLLY FISHLOCK

Members of the Windella Residents Community Group are concerned a manufactured home-estate planned for Windella violates planning laws.

Group leader Warren Baldacchino, argues the planned 282 home-estate will be too close to Maitland airport, and is concerned the airport could seek to develop the nearby land later on.

Mr Baldacchino also flagged the potential traffic increases, saying the additional units will bring 400 people to Windella, and will double the number of cars on the road.

Chris Speek from developer Mavid Group, says plans submitted to Maitland City Council are generally compliant with relevant laws. 

He also argues the group have considered the existing neighboring properties and airport when designing the estate.

Maitland City Council has called for public comment on the plan, and will accept submissions until March 4.

New Federal Grants Program Brought in To Help Communities Left Out of Former Government Initiative

BY OLIVIA DILLON

Councils and community groups in the Hunter are being encouraged to apply for a new round of federal government grants.

The $600 million Growing Regions Program has been brought in to replace the previous government's controversial Regional Growth Fund. 

Federal Labor has accused the Liberals and Nationals of pork-barreling and ignoring communities like the Hunter, after it was revealed 96% of funding from the Regional Growth Fund went to Coalition-held electorates.

The government says all local councils and community groups looking to deliver critical regional infrastructure will be eligible under the new program. 

Expressions of interest are now open. 

Cessnock Council set to clear buildings for community space

BY DARCY MCGAVIN

Cessnock Council is planning for two buildings on the northern edge of Civic Park to be demolished as part of readiness plans made in September.

The plans have been made to keep the space open for future considerations on how the space can be better used by the community. 

While one of the buildings currently has a tenant on a short term lease, the other is a former community centre that has been vacant for several years.

Council will consult the community on how the space should be used.

Child Protection Week draws to a close with Hunter panel

BY EMILY WILLIAMS 

Local organisation What Were You Wearing is presenting a panel on the importance of safeguarding children this evening.

The event, which will be held at the University of Newcastle's City Campus, comes as Child Protection Week draws to a close.

The theme of this year's Child Protection Week is 'every child, in every community, needs a fair go', part of a push to make sure children in Australia are growing up safe and supported.

What Were You Wearing Australia Founder Sarah Williams says the panel will be a great source of education for parents and community members.  

"We're trying to get the community together to work on ending child abuse and neglect," she said.

The event also falls on Bravehearts Day (formerly Bravehearts White Balloon Day), which aims to raise awareness of and prevent the sexual abuse of children. 

The recent Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found that 1 in 5 children will experience sexual assault.

Guest speakers at the event will include Vicki Weller from Disability Advocacy NSW, Sharon Grimmond from Newcastle Sexual Assault Service, and Hillary Milton from Child Abuse Protection Service Newcastle (CAPS).

What Were You Wearing is a survivor-run community organisation working to provide awareness and education across the country and advocate against sexual assault. 

Tickets to this evening's panel are $20 or $15 for concessions and can be bought here. You can find more information on the panel on What Were You Wearing's social medial channels.

Draft heritage strategy to unearth rich Lake Macquarie history

BY ALEXANDRA REES

The rich history of Lake Macquarie could soon be celebrated under a new draft heritage museum strategy.

On public exhibition, the Council's hoping to develop tourism-focused museum heritage programs and will work with local aboriginal groups to recognise and preserve sites and collections. 

Council Arts and Tourism Manager Jacqui Hemsley says there's been increased interest in the region's history. 

"There's huge interest from visitors to our city as well as well as our students and our community in understanding a little bit more of the identity and the history of our place," she said.

"That includes our pre-contact history with the Awabakal culture as well as our more modern history."

Council already maintains a variety of sites that form part of Lake Mac's museum landscape from libraries to the landmark Museum of Art and Culture, yapang (MAC), at Booragul.

Ms Hemsley says the program wouldn't have been possible without co-operation with the community.

"The superb work the heritage advisors have done in developing heritage plans and strategies for the city,  some of the cultural collections as well as some of the Awabakal cultural heritage, and working through some of the amazing programs and stories and oral histories that come from that sector," she said.

"We've really started to develop quite a strong and vibrant heritage community."

Community Museum Officer Meg O'Donnell with heritage items in Council's collection.

Port Stephens Council Looking For Community Feedback

BY DARCY MCGAVIN

Port Stephens Council is encouraging residents to have their say in its 2022 Community Satisfaction Survey to collect feedback on their community services. 

It's asking for responses on how to best shape the community and make key areas of improvement identified by residents a continuing priority of the Council's focus.

Acting Corporate Services Group Manager Zoe Pattison says it's open to everyone.

"We are hoping for a realistic response in terms of how people are generally feeling about council," she said. "Whether they have used our community facilities and how they are feeling about our amenities."

Ms Pattison says it is important that as many people as possible in the Port Stephens area complete the survey, because it is the best way for residents to give feedback and let them know how they are going.

"The community is at the heart of everything that we do, and [the survey] helps us to shape our services and deliver the broad range of services that we have," she said.

You can access the survey online at www.pscouncil.info/CommunitySatisfactionSurvey or phone 49880255 to learn more.

New Community Event Hungry to Celebrate the Hunter's Multiculturalism

BY EMILY WILLIAMS

Local community organisation Centre for Hope has launched a new monthly event, Flavoursome Friday's, with hopes of celebrating the cultural diversity of the Hunter.

On the first Friday of each month, a different cultural group in the area will prepare and serve a two-course meal to the local community for a small cost. 

Shari Bonnette, manager of the youth organisation behind the event, believes the event is a great way to bring people of different backgrounds together.

"What a fabulous way to learn about culture via food and through the sharing of a meal with our established and emerging multicultural communities in our local area," she said.

The meal comes at the cost of $5 for adults and $2 for children and students. However, diners are encouraged to make an additional donation to support the ongoing event.

"Paying it forward means that the next community group can also make a meal and then we can spread some more of this social inclusion and community connection a bit further," said Ms Bonnette.

You can find more information about Flavoursome Fridays here.

Volunteers from the Australian Iranian community with a Persian feast at the first Flavoursome Friday earlier in August.

Newcastle to celebrate cultural diversity in weekend festival

BY OLIVIA DILLON

Newcastle residents are invited to celebrate the region's rich cultural diversity this weekend. 

The seventh annual Newcastle: Unity in Diversity Festival will take place from 11am-4pm at Foreshore Park on Saturday. 

Each year, the festival marks the end of Refugee Week, and event organisers Unity in Diversity and STARTTS, said the event has gained more support from the community each year. 

"It started as very small festival in Civic Park. I think there were probably 100 people who came to the first festival," said event coordinator Jo McGregor of STARTTS. 

"This was designed to create a wonderful celebration of inclusivity in terms of cultural diversity in Newcastle, and every year it's grown and grown and grown," she said. 

This year's event will feature over 20 cultural performances and workshops, including Tibetan throat singing and Latin and Congolese dance. 

As usual, the event will also host a plethora of international food stalls, with a special focus this year on Ukrainian food and culture, namely "Yuri's Ukrainian Food". 

"Yuri is newly arrived to Newcastle and is very excited to share his Ukrainian food with people," Ms McGregor said. 

"There is conflict occurring globally around the world and I think it's a really great way to welcome Ukrainian community members here in Newcastle, as well as anyone who is part of the Newcastle community. We do have a traditional welcoming here in Newcastle, and this festival is a really wonderful sign of that unity in diversity."

The community is encouraged to meet at Newcastle Foreshore near the Tramsheds at the festival's opening, to take part in the Welcome Walk, Indigenous welcome and smoke ceremony. 

The Newcastle: Unity in Diversity Festival will take place at Foreshore Park on Saturday.

Dr David Durrheim named Lake Macquarie Ambassador for 2022

BY DAKOTA TAIT

Dr David Durrheim has been named as the Lake Mac Ambassador at the 2022 Lake Mac Awards.

The physician is being honoured for his work in helping guide the Hunter through the COVID-19 pandemic as a public health controller at Hunter New England Health.

He says, the past few years have shone a spotlight on public health.

"It's quite clear that everybody is now an amateur epidemiologist, and all of us really, as a very large team, have worked together in this public health crisis," Dr Durrheim said.

"The last time this happened was 100 years ago, in the 1918-1919 flu pandemic, and it's been to me, incredibly heartening to see how the community and the health service have all worked together."

Dr Durrheim joined more than 90 nominees, finalists, and thirteen winners at Belmont 16s on Saturday night.

Rhiannan Iffland, a five-time world champion diver, was named Sports Star of the Year, while 11-year-old Xavier Neil was awarded Young Citizen of the Year for his efforts to raise more than $70,000 for local cancer charities. 

Lake Macquarie charity Hope in a Suitcase, which helps supply foster kids with necessities, received an award for Community Group of the Year, while OzHarvest volunteer June Butler was named as Volunteer of the Year.

Dr Durrheim says it's a real honour to be recognised alongside so many other members of the community.

"It's incredibly humbling to actually have attended the event and just to have heard the wonderful and remarkable stories of community volunteers and the work that's being done across Lake Macquarie, by diverse groups of people, particularly during the last two very challenging years," Dr Durrheim said.

"It's an absolute delight to be part of the Lake Macquarie community. It's a beautiful part of the world - arguably, the most beautiful city in Australia, and I think we're very fortunate to live in a community where people do look after each other in a beautiful environment."

Hunter homeowners encouraged to house people in need with new initiative

BY DAKOTA TAIT

A new initiative is hoping to address the Hunter's housing crisis by connecting homeowners with people in need of a roof over their head.

The Share Your Home program, launched by local foodbank provider Southlakes Incorporated, allows people to sign up as a host or as someone looking for a home.

CEO Christine Mastello says the community has embraced the idea.

"We started out because we run the Community Hair Project, and everywhere we were going around Australia giving free haircuts, people were saying, 'Can I have a homeless person?'," Ms Mastello said.

"I'm like, well they're not a puppy!"

"But as the question kept coming up, I thought, well, people must have a big enough heart to open their home."

The organisation will pay for a police check for the host, help organise a short-term lease agreement, and provide the person moving in with a pack of toiletries and other items.

Each homeless individual who signs up to the program will need to have their identity verified by a service provider such as a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter.

Ms Mastello says it's pretty simple from there.

"The homeless person checks out the postcode that they'd like to live in, finds a house hopefully in that postcode, and then we just ask that the homeless person and the host get to know each other for a little while, have a chat, see the house rules if there are any," Ms Mastello said.

"We match them up and it's amazing, and we've had some amazing stories already."

The initiative comes just months after the Hunter recorded an all-time low in rental vacancy, with just 0.7 percent of properties free last December.

A healthy market sits around 2.5 percent.

While Ms Mastello maintains the Government needs to take serious action to address the region's housing crisis, she says the program's already proving successful in the meantime.

"We have had a lot of ex-foster parents and just a lot of mums and dads, so it's all over the range," Ms Mastello said.

"It makes your heart so happy to know that people are so willing to do something so simple as to open your home, for three months, just to let people breathe again."

If you're interested in being a home or need a place to stay, find out more at www.shareyourhome.com.au.

Graffiti clean-up campaign starts spat with City of Newcastle

BY DAKOTA TAIT

A graffiti clean-up campaign over the weekend has been welcomed by much of the community, but the move has stirred up controversy with the City of Newcastle.

Former Lord Mayor Jeff McCloy is behind the plan, with more than 100 volunteers, including Knights players and members of local surf life saving clubs, painting over graffiti in the CBD on Saturday and Sunday.

Mr McCloy says there's been plenty of support.

"It looks a hell of a lot better," Mr McCloy said. "It's so widespread, we missed a fair bit of course, but at least the key points look presentable and as if we care."

"I'm a great advocate of public art, but it's different from someone scratching their name on glass or painting out their initials on something, which defaces the city - huge difference."

Mr McCloy says he launched the working bee in response to the City of Newcastle ignoring his concerns about vandalism.

Newcastle CEO Jeremy Bath has hit out at the calls, however, saying the City shouldn't use ratepayer funds to maintain private property. 

The Council spends $1 million a year on anti-graffiti measures, around $200,000 more than was spent at the end of Mr McCloy's term as Lord Mayor in 2014.

But Mr McCloy says he'd just like to see better results from the money.

"I think it needs a bit of a liven-up, because it's everywhere," Mr McCloy said.

"You look around the rest of the world - I was driving through Surfers Paradise the other day, and there's virtually no graffiti, they clean it all the time."

"I see Sally Capp, the Mayor of Melbourne saying she calls them vandals and criminals."

"Wherever there's social decay, in cities around the world and riots and such, what goes with it is graffiti - it's pretty simple stuff."

The City of Newcastle said in a statement on Sunday afternoon, they could have worked alongside the event if Mr McCloy had given them notice.

Image credit: McCloy Group

Controversial Parklets To Be Removed From Shoal Bay Shopfront

BY DAKOTA TAIT

Port Stephens Council has passed a motion to remove controversial public furniture from the Shoal Bay shopping strip.

More than 600 people signed a petition to have the parklets removed and five parking spaces restored.

Helen Love, owner of The Body Spot massage, says she and other community members and business owners were thrilled by the news.

"We're absolutely ecstatic, we thought it was fantastic," Ms Love said.

"We've been consistently at council since January this year and so the whole community is really pleased, and it's good to know that you can actually have a voice."

Locals complained the parklets were impacting business access and made it difficult for elderly shoppers to park.

"Most of the community is an aging community, and so they rely being able to actually pop to the shops and have easy access to the shops," Ms Love said.

"But they took away the main street parking, and they're also doing a lot of works on the foreshore at the moment, so that's reduced parking as well."

The parklets are set to be removed by the end of the month.

But Ms Love says the parklets are only in the "wrong spot".

"We never really had an opposition to the parklets as per se," Ms Love said.

"We've mentioned to them a few other areas around Port Stephens where we think they can be actually installed, so we're just leaving that up to council to figure that out."

Image credit: https://www.portstephens.nsw.gov.au/

Residents of Toronto Still in Doubt About Foreshore Plans

 BY CHARLOTTE LLOYD

The revitalisation plan for Toronto Foreshore is still in place despite concerns from residents on the accessibility and need for the foreshore plan to go ahead.

Lake Macquarie Council says the plan was developed in partnership with the community over the past three years with more than 180 responses received during the final round of community consultation.

Councils Asset Manager Brenden Callander says the community was generally supportive of the new Master Plan.

However, one of the main issues identified by the community and the broader Toronto area was the parking supply. 

Royal Motor Yacht Club's Vice Commodore and member of Toronto Foreshore Protection group Mel Steiner says the community aren't satisfied with how the council have attended to their requests. 

"Certainly we're in support of whatever the council do on the foreshore if it will bring people to Toronto.

"The real issue is that they've reduced the parking in the area which makes it difficult for people visiting to get here easily.

"It's disappointing and a haphazard approach," Mr Steiner said. 

The improvements to the foreshore include;

• An expansion of an existing playground
• An expanded café area 
• New barbeque and picnic facilities 
• A new town green 
• New pathways along the lakes edge with pedestrian connections 

Aerial Shot of Toronto 

New Innovation in Understanding Child Protection for the Hunter

BY Giorgia Wilson 

A project by the University of Newcastle aims to develop a map of the historic perpetrator networks in the Catholic and Anglican Churches, charting their movements within the institutions. 

Dr Kathleen McPhillips, Senior Lecturer at the University of Newcastle School of Humanities and Social Science, is currently recruiting survivors and community members for the project focusing on the Hunter. 

"What we're doing is trying to see if there is evidence to establish whether there was an organisation of clergy perpetrators and not just a few bad apples in an otherwise good barrel as claimed by the Churches," said Dr McPhillips. 

This follows on from the Child Abuse Royal Commission findings for the Hunter region and involves using social network analysis to build a map of the network of clergy perpetrators and their supporters. 

Dr McPhillips says research suggests that child abuse was highly organised and facilitated by adults both within and external to schools and parishes. 

"We suspect there is a network" says Dr McPhillips, "we think that survivors have a lot of information that can help us put this map together."

Dr McPhillips' research is investigating public inquiry and church-based archives and documents, and interviewing survivors, their families, and the community to put together the picture of the movement of the clergy perpetrators and who they networked with. 

"The project is very important in terms of child safety" said Dr McPhillip's, "we will develop more skills to understand child protection and how that is best served." 

If you would like to take part in the project, Dr McPhillips can be contacted via email at kathleen.mcphillips@newcastle.edu.au or phone her office on 02 4921 5920

If you need help, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14. 

Dr Kathleen McPhillips

Catholic and Anglican Churches

All Community Sport Given the Green Light, With Adult Sport to Resume from July 1st

BY ISABEL EVERETT 

All Community Sport has been given the green light by the State Government, with adult sport and under 18's competitions to resume from July 1st. 

Rules are still being determined around crowds, however Minister for Health Brad Hazzard said, on the basis of health advice, currently crowds could not at this point gather in the stands.

“Today’s announcement is about a staged re-opening of the sports economy in a way that minimizes the risk to the public. This makes a level playing field for sports stadiums, in line with the clubs and pubs re-opening to patrons,” Mr Hazzard said.

‘‘With no vaccine and no treatment for COVID-19 there is an obligation on all of us to continue to maintain physical distancing and good hand hygiene. The virus has not gone away.”

Food and drink premises in stadiums can open subject to the same requirements that apply in other food and drink premises and pubs and registered clubs.  

Stadium operators will be required to;

•     Develop and comply with a COVID-19 safety management plan;
• Operate with restricted numbers (One person per four square metres and up to 50 people in each of the existing seated food and drinks areas, whichever is the lesser excluding staff members, on the premises.); and
•  Keep contact details of persons entering the premises.

“Sport is the lifeblood of our community and it gives me great pleasure to say adult sports can return to their competitions at the same time as 18 years and under,” Acting Minister for Sport Geoff Lee said.

“We have reduced the spread of COVID-19 to the point where further restrictions can be lifted. It is only because communities have followed the strict social distancing guidelines that this announcement is possible.”

Help Needed to Identify Trevor's "Angel of Mercy"

BY MADELAINE MCNEILL

A cyclist who was hit by a vehicle and left by the side of the road at Tarro last year has taken to social media to find the woman who saved his life.

Exactly one year ago, on October 9th, 2018, Trevor Simmons was riding in the bike lane on the New England Highway when he was struck by a vehicle and knocked unconscious.

About an hour later, an unknown woman wearing a red top noticed Trevor lying in the drain and stopped to help, calling an ambulance and waiting with him until they arrived.

Twelve months to the day, Trevor is hoping to find his "Angel of Mercy" to say thank you.

Trevor Simmons is hoping to find the woman in red who stopped to help him (Click to enlarge). Image: Facebook

Graves Vandalised at Sedgefield Cemetery

BY HANNAH-LOUISE ANDERSON

Police are launching an investigation into the extensive vandalism that occurred at Sedgefield Cemetery on Friday night where upwards of thirty-five graves were destroyed. 

Witnesses said they saw a vehicle parked at the cemetery at around seven o'clock the night of the incident.

Lord Mayor of Singleton Sue Moore has condemned the incident, expressing her disgust and disappointment in the perpetrators. 

"This is not an attack on a public facility or asset; this is an attack on the heart of our community, the people laid to rest in Singleton who are now part of the fabric of our town, and those who love them and remember them." says the Mayor, "I hope the perpetrators are found and held accountable for the damage, and most importantly the distress they have caused."

Police are urging anyone with information or who happened to witness any suspicious activity around Sedgefield Cemetery to contact Crime Stoppers at 1800 333 000.

Photos belonging to Hunter Valley Police District

Rutherford Locals Tackle Graffiti With Art

BY CATHERINE ALLEN

Residents of the Churchill Crescent housing complex have been joined this morning by school students and community members at the unveiling of the new murals that decorate the properties 20-metre long wooden fence.

The large artwork features a long Rainbow Serpent in search of water, the words "Love Ya Mother... Respect Ya Father... Ride Wit' Ya Sistas, Roll Wit' Ya Brothers...", and a rainbow lorikeet.
Newcastle based placemaking firm UP&UP assisted Compass Housing in facilitating the project that was funded through the NSW Government's Social Housing Community Improvement Fund (SHCIF).

Compass's chief operating officer, Lisa Tierney, says the community wanted bright and positive art that represents the local community.

Ms. Tierney thanked the complex's tenants, Maitland/Dungog youth development officer Rhys Callaghan, Compass' local staff, volunteers as well as students and staff from Rutherford High School, Telarah Public School, and Rutherford Public School for their input into the murals' design and their ideas to improve the neighbourhood.

"The wall was heavily tagged with illegal graffiti," Ms Tierney said.

"We wanted to create eye-catching artworks that are welcoming for tenants and the broader community," she said.

Compass will complete another seven projects, including this one, by the first half of 2019 using $250,000 awarded under the SHCIF.

"We are using the Governments' Social Housing Community Improvement Fund to improve amenities for our tenants which also benefits the community."

Compass Housing is a Hunter-based, not for profit, community housing provider.

'Pass The Hat' On Track To Reach Target

BY KYLE CARROLL

Hunter businesses are supporting struggling farmers through Singleton Council's Pass The Hat fundraising event.

Tomorrow's Pass The Hat event is supporting Rural Aid's Buy A Bale with the support of local businesses.

Singleton Mayor, Sue Moore has encouraged all to attend the event held between 6-10pm tomorrow night on the Civic Green, packed with music, food and drinks.

"Everyone come along and have a good night for a great cause," she said.

The $6,000 that has been raised will be donated to Rural Aid's Buy A Bale but the council is hoping to surpass their $9,500 goal on the night. 

Cr Moore said she's proud of the entire community for getting behind a great cause and coming together.

"Singletons always a great community and it doesn't surprise me that they've all come together to support a great cause."

Support will be available for those struggling due to drought with representatives from Rural Aid, Rural Resilience Program, Salvation Army and Local Land Services.

"Come show your support and Pass the Hat around!" Cr Moore said.

Image:Singleton Council - NSW Government

World Oceans Ceremony

BY ARIANA GATTI

In honour and celebration of World Oceans Week, a ceremony open to the public will be held tonight along Merewether Beach.

The ceremony and in conjunction with World Oceans Day aims to bring awareness and support against the continual seismic testing and offshore drilling planned off Newcastle and the Central Coast.

With oil and gas companies still trying to test off the coastline of Newcastle, marine life such as whales and dolphins passing through are being affected by the constant stream of chemicals.

Countless amounts of peer-reviewed research articles have shown that underwater blasting is partly the cause of injury and death to surrounding marine life, while also impairing communicative abilities between dolphins and whales in particular.

The World Oceans Day get-together will be held between 5:00pm and 6:30pm, outlining the event as a twilight lantern ceremony, bringing the community together in support of the peaceful future of our marine life and that physical state of the coast.

All attendees have the chance to make their own lanterns by decorating their own paper bag, which will become available with a candle following a gold coin donation.

Earlier on in the evening, face-painting will be on offer for the kids, ocean-themed of course, and the opportunity to wander through eucalyptus-scented smoke following a traditional fire ceremony.

Image Sourced: 2NURFM News Director - Ian Crouch - 2017 Protest