A face lift for our faithful old loos...

Over the last month, a willing team of volunteers banded together to give our faithful old loos a much need face lift.

I took 3 weeks off work to coordinate the project and to get my hands dirty painting, etc. Our willing supporters included Andrew Harris (one of our head BBQ chef's at our monthly markets) and Geoff and Janne Hardy, who are old friends and are presently travelling around Australia on the 'grey nomad' circuit. A HUGE thank you to Andrew, Geoff and Janne. 

The face lift included a full repaint of both walls, doors and floors, a new roof and new toilet seats. There are some other small enhancements, which will be installed over the next month or two to make your time 'in our loos' enjoyable.

Of course, this face lift is to ensure our facilities are of the highest quality until our new Amenties Block is completed (expected completion Jan 2012). We have in excess of $60,000 in the 'loo fund' and we are looking for the support of our Local Greater Taree City Council to fill the gap for the project. We are looking forward to their assistance in providing these funds in this years Budget.

To our Community, a new set of public toilets is crucial to support the Community Hall with its ever increasing annual events, creating a vital 'stop revive and survive' point for the travelling public and most importantly providing a 'drawcard' for visitors to our small village, which in turn assists to support the local businesses such as our new Rosie's Cafe and the Johns River Tavern.

So keep visiting our website to look for progress updates on our Community Amenities Block.

If you live in our area and keen to assist us with this project (monetary or voluntary) please click This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to email us your offer of support.

To review some photos of 'before and after' the face lift please click here or access the 'Projects and Upgrades' section of our Photo Gallery on the home page.

In recent years, the Trustees have been actively applying for various State and Federal Grants to assist with major upgrades and repairs to the hall. 

'Eco-Friendly' Project.

The trustees applied for funding under the Federal Governments 'Department of Environment and Climate Change' Community Savers Stream to assist with the 'greening' of our Community Hall. The application was submitted and approved, which meant that the following improvements could be implemented:

• Installation of Skylights in the Main hall and Supper room - completed August 2009
• Installation of two new 22,700 water tanks at the rear of the hall as well as new guttering to harvest valuable rainwater - completed May 2010.
• Installation of new energy efficient Flouresent Lights in the hall - completed July 2010.
• Installation of Solar Hot Water to reduce the hall's reliance on the energy grid - completed May 2011.

Other projects.

In early 2009, after raising funds via regular Community Markets and Antique Auctions, the trustees commissioned a local painter to transform the exterior of the hall. The result was a new colour scheme to complement the area using earthy tones and to highlight the community asset to locals and passing traffic.

 Other projects and upgrades are planned for the Community Hall and Recreation Reserve. These include the following:

• New Children's Playground complete with Shade Sail - completed Feb 2010.
• New Outdoor covered seating area for parents (complete with disabled access) - completed May 2010.
• Planting of new native trees along the boundary (including the removal of old fencing) - Due for completion by July 2011.
• New verandah on the southern side of the hall with disabled access - Due for completion by December 2011.
• New Public Toilets and Amenities to complement the area as well as a much needed rest stop for tourists to our area - Due for completion by February 2012.