Kinglake RangesBy Kath Gannaway
TOOLANGI and Castella residents will have a chance on Sunday to shape the future of their community.
A Community Opportunity Workshop at the C.J. Dennis Hall will ask local people what they want and need in their community.
The workshop is part of the Kinglake Ranges Community Building Initiative which facilitator Anne Leadbeater said was about giving communities back the capacity to determine their own outcomes.
A partnership involving Kinglake Neighbourhood House, Kinglake Action Network and Development Organisation and Murrindindi Shire Council received $140,000 funding in June 2006 from the Department for Victorian Communities for the two-year project.
Ms Leadbeater said part of the process was to identify the assets of each community.
“Those assets include people, community groups, infrastructure, environment, history and education … it’s talking about assets in the very broadest sense.
“The workshops aim to get people talking about what their dreams and aspirations for their particular community are, and then prioritising and gauging support for those ideas,” she said.
Toolangi Neighbourhood House secretary Joanne Priestley and president Corina Horstra are Toolangi’s representatives on the CBI.
Ms Priestley said the workshops would give the community a collective voice and help plan for the future.
A safe walking, bike and horse track off the main road, an updated kitchen at the local hall and public transport to allow people to get off the mountain, are on her personal short-list.
“The fact there is no public transport is one of the reasons some of our elderly citizens leave the area,” she said.
The workshop, from 2pm to 6pm on Sunday, 25 February, will finish with a spit roast dinner. Assistance with transport and childcare can be arranged.
Call Anne Leadbeater on 5786 1527 or 5786 1522 to notify attendance.
