GARDEN RELEAF DAY MARCH 19 GET INVOLVED!
Gardens and gardening and interactions with plants and green spaces provide therapeutic and physical benefits to both physical and mental health. Recent health studies in the UK are encouraging GP’s to prescribe gardening and gardens as support to traditional clinical referrals to help alleviate health symptoms. Quantitative studies have shown significant reductions in symptoms of depression and anxiety following gardening based interventions.
We encourage you to GET INVOLVED with Garden Releaf; which is celebrating National Blueberry Day March 19 and head into your nearest participating Garden Centre for ideas and inspiration on how you, your family or your loved ones can get involved with gardens and gardening. The day will also be used to raise funds to support the work of beyondblue . Go to www. gardenreleafaustralia.com. au to find your nearest participating store.
SAFETY IMPROVES FOR PEDESTRIANS AND CYCLISTS ON MEMORIAL AVENUE
Pedestrians will soon benefit from safety improvements after funding was approved by The Hills Shire Council to build a temporary pedestrian bridge across Elizabeth Macarthur Creek, beside Memorial Avenue, in Kellyville.
Hills Shire Councillors approved the $112,189 footbridge during a Council Meeting last Tuesday, February 14.
Mayor of The Hills Shire, Councillor Yvonne Keane said this was a win for residents, commuters and pedestrians who use the busy road on a daily basis.
“The temporary pedestrian bridge will be built alongside Memorial Avenue, separating motorists from pedestrians and cyclists,” Mayor Keane said.
The 16-metre pedestrian bridge will be removed once Memorial Avenue is upgraded by the Roads and Maritime Services, but will act as a temporary solution to address safety concerns in the meantime.
Tenders for another four bridges was also approved during the Council Meeting including a pedestrian bridge over Cattai Creek in Castle Hill (next to the Castle Hill Showground).
Another bridge connecting Rosebery Road, in Kellyville to Chainmail Crescent, in Castle Hill received the nod of approval, while another pedestrian bridge will be constructed over Smalls Creek Way, Beaumont Hills to the future Oxlade Street reserve, Kellyville.
Finally, a pedestrian bridge over a tributary of Cattai Creek between Strathfillan Way and Georgia Terrace, Kellyville also received approval on the night.
BIN INSPECTIONS IN THE HAWKESBURY
Following the success of last year’s bin inspections, Council is again conducting bin inspections across the Hawkesbury to keep improving recycling rates for recycling and garden organics bins.
Bin inspection programs are an important aspect of community recycling education, providing direct feedback to residents on the way they recycle. This also helps Council develop targeted programs to help residents recycle better.
When a recycling or garden organics bin is contaminated with incorrect items, the recovery process becomes less efficient and can result in valuable resources being sent to landfill rather than being reused or recycled. This causes both financial and environmental loss.
Contamination makes the service more expensive; it can cause injury to workers sorting the materials and it can also result in truckloads of recycling or green waste being sent to landfill.
Inspections are becoming more common among councils throughout Australia, with Hawkesbury City Council’s Waste Education Contractor, EnviroCom, conducting such programs on behalf of Council since 2013.
The visual inspections are conducted on the morning of recycling or garden organics collections, predominantly in areas that have been targeted for contamination issues. The inspectors look inside recycling and garden organics bins that have been placed on the kerbside but they don’t rummage through or tip them out.
Residents will either receive a green Smiley Face Bin Tag if the correct materials were found inside, or a red Contamination Sad Face Bin Tag to assist with sorting recycling correctly in the future if incorrect items were present. Residents will also have a sticker placed on the bin as a reminder that plastic bags and other soft plastics cannot go in the recycling or garden organics bins.
The bin inspection program is for educational purposes only and residents will not receive financial penalties if contamination is present.
Fortunately, many residents already know what to place in the recycling bin and the garden organics bin.
$125,000 AVAILABLE FOR LOCAL WAR MEMORIALS
Member for Hawkesbury Dominic Perrottet and Minister for Veterans Affairs David Elliott today announced the first round of 2017 funding for the Community War Memorials Fund (CWMF) is now open.
The CWMF is designed to protect and repair local war memorials, which preserves the Anzac legacy.
Mr Perrottet urged Councils to apply for the fund, which provides the opportunity for all NSW communities to access up to $10,000.
The CWMF has recently funded the painting of the Bellata War Memorial Hall, repairs to the Maclean Cenotaph, a conservation assessment report for the Broken Hill War Memorial as well as the installation of barriers around the Boer War memorial and WWII RAAF Memorial in Lismore to protect them from damage.
Applications will be assessed by the State War Memorial Committee, which is made up of NSW RSL, Public Works Advisory, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage and Veterans’ Affairs.
For more information, including application forms, visit https:// veterans.nsw.gov.au/heritage/ community-war-memorials-fund/
ZEST AWARD FOR ENDING HOMELESSNESS PROJECT
Hawkesbury City Council is proudly supporting an exciting award-winning project called ‘Heading Home – Ending Homelessness’, which was launched by Wentworth Community Housing, Platform Youth Services and Mission Australia, together with Mercy Foundation at Windsor RSL in 2016. The project has just won a 2017 Zest Award for Exceptional Community Partnership across a Region. Chris Cleary from StreetMed Incorporated, has also won a Zest Award for Outstanding Community Leader – Voluntary Capacity. Her Zest nomination was supported by Council staff.
Anyone concerned about the welfare of a homeless person can call the NSW Government Link2home free phone service by calling 1800 152 152. For more information about Heading Home, visit www.headinghomeendinghomelessnesshere. org.au or call (02) 4777 8021. Visit https://streetmed.org.au for information about StreetMed. RED CROSS Families can be separated as a result of
RED CROSS
Families can be separated as a result of war, armed conflict, disaster and migration. Red Cross around the world aims to reconnect disrupted family links by looking for family members, restoring contact, reuniting families and clarifying the fate of missing loved ones.
If you are interested in this International Tracing Service or you would like to learn more about it, a free information session about tracing by the Australian Red Cross will be held on Thursday, 23 March 11am to midday at Hawkesbury Central Library at the Tebbutt Room, Deerubbin Centre, 300 George Street, Windsor.
