$150,000 Park Opens in Birmingham Gardens

BY SHY-ANN ARKINSTALL

Newcastle Lord Mayor, Nuatali Nelmes attended the opening of a new playground at Harold Myers Park in Birmingham Gardens today.

The new park cost $150,000 and features new walking paths and all new playground equipment, with more seating and shade set to be added in the future.

The playground is part of City of Newcastle's $750,000 investment into five new parks being opened this year across the city.

Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes says the opening events for new parks are important celebrations to bring the community together, particularly during school holidays.

Nelmes says its important for the council to "invest in quality facilities in our western suburbs" and create spaces for local families.

The council has invested $9.5 million in playgrounds over the past five years, with Newcastle now boasting 134 local playgrounds.

In addition to the investment in playgrounds currently being built, a $10 million, fully accessible playground is now in the planning stage and is set to be built at Foreshore Park.

"I'm really proud to be a part of a council that unanimously supports the investment into our city and suburbs," Nelmes said.

Newcastle Share Shop welcomes council grant with open arms

BY ALEXANDRA REES

The Newcastle Share Shop is welcoming a $4,000 dollar council grant which has given the community-run "library of things" a vital boost.

Since opening its doors in 2018, the Share Shop has provided members access to borrow useful household items from as little as a dollar a week.

President Natalie Mitchell says there is an exciting range available. 

"In the share shop is a library of things, so just as you would borrow books from a book library you can borrow things at our library," she said.

"Lot sof useful things: garden tools, power tools, camping equipment, board games, kitchen appliances, musical instruments and mobility aids."

Ms Mitchell says the grant has been instrumental in the shop's development.

"It's definitely been a massive bonus that we've been able to get this grant from the City of Newcastle."

"We've initially been able to get a new to us refurbished laptop. We are also going to have a repair fund thanks to the grant, which means if something does break we don't have to send it to landfill - we can repair it and keep it in use and avoid that waste."

Ms Mitchell says she is looking forward to the future of the shop, including recruiting more volunteers and the possibility of working with Council.

Image credit: Share Shop.

Tasmanian devils in top form ahead of Barrington release

BY ALEXANDRA REES

Conservation organisation Aussie Ark has recently conducted health checks of their Tasmanian Devils born and bred at the Barrington Tops.

Carried out by expert staff, the checks ensure the animals are in the best health ahead of their release into the Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary. 

Aussie Ark curator Kelly Davis says the process is essential.

"We want to give all the devils a really good look over," she said. "We weigh them to make sure they are within a healthy weight range.

"Going out into our sanctuary we wouldn't want them to be underweight or in any way at a disadvantage, we also check for any little injuries and things like that."

Ms Davis says the prime focus is to guarantee a successful breeding season and this year's release into the sanctuary will help boost the devil population from last year. 

"We have done a release of Tasmanian devils into our 400 hectare sanctuary before last year and they've  bred successfully," she said.

"The upcoming breeding season that'll start early next year, the individuals that we're releasing are going to boost the genetic diversity of that population and some of the ones we have confirmed to be born in the sanctuary last year will be old enough to breed."

Image credit: Aussie Ark.

Sports grants to breathe new life into Hunter clubs

BY ALEXANDRA REES      

Hunter sporting clubs are being encouraged to apply for a $50,000 local sports grants program.

The grants program has a focus on encouraging participation in sport and physical activity.

Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison says it's a great opportunity to improve your club.

"This is a program which enables them to get new equipment, reduce registration fees, coaching clinics or training for some of the officials in the club," she said. 

Sports clubs and organisations are free to submit as many applications to the program as they choose and are eligible for a minimum of $2,000 and maximum of $10,000.

"We know how hard it is to for community groups to raise funds and particularly sporting groups, because they spend a lot of their spare time playing sports, so being able to get some of that money for your club is a really good opportunity," Ms Aitchison said.

Lake Macquarie Set to Hold Free Chemical CleanOut for Hunter Residents

 BY CHARLOTTE LLOYD

Hunter residents are being encouraged to rid their homes of hazardous items as a free chemical clean-out will be taking place this Sunday at Rathmines Park. 

The drive-thru event will allow up to 20kg and 20L of items as well as up to 100L of paint being accepted. 

This clean out will act as a COVID-safe environment with residents not having to exit their vehicles, allowing for all materials to be handled by onsite staff. 

Some of the materials being accepted include smoke detectors, pool chemicals, pesticides and poisons. 

As well as this large quantities of items such as motor oils, paint and batteries are able to be disposed of free of charge. 

This event is being held as a way to monitor the disposal of hazardous items and ensuring unwanted chemicals are not being sent down the drain or to landfills where it could affect the local waterways. 

Lake Macquarie Chemical CleanOut will go ahead at Rathmines Park

Federal Government Announces Funding Boost for Local Councils

 BY CHARLOTTE LLOYD

The Federal Government has announced a major funding boost as part of the 2022-23 Financial Assistance Grants Payment. 

This will see local councils across the Hunter benefiting from payments by the end of the month (April 2022) including Cessnock, Maitland, Singleton, Muswellbrook, Dungog, Lake Macquarie and Port Stephens. 

This is in hopes to target local priorities and manage the impacts of both the recent floods and the ongoing effects of COVID-19. 

The grants being distributed are in the hands of the local Government and allow local councils to make local decisions on delivering vital services otherwise not available to them from a lack of resources. 

An outline of each councils Financial Assistance Payment:

• Cessnock City Council - $6,114,730
• Dungog Shire Council - $2,349,390
• Lake Macquarie City Council - $13,402,343
• Maitland City Council - $5,815,747
• Muswellbrook Shire Council - $3,115,017
• Port Stephens Council - $5,507,409
• Singleton Council - $3,302,190