It's definite - February 20 2011!

The inaugural Festival of Glass in Drysdale now has a confirmed date: Sunday 20 February 2011, 10.00 - 5.00 at the Potato Shed in Drysdale. There will be a pre-Festival 'starter' event on Saturday 19 February, also at the Potato Shed.

Work on the Festival continues apace and the Festival Committee is starting to receive inquiries from people and organizations interested in participating. These have included a local winery, a glass artisan currently overseas who's coming home next year ... and a glass factory in China that hopes we can have a nice relationship!

Arranging the venue and inviting exhibitors are two major jobs for the organisers, but so is ensuring that as many people as possible know about the Festival well in advance. The Committee now has a comprehensive and sophisticated database of potential outlets for Festival news, marketing and advertising and is considering launching a dedicated website or blog. Watch this space for more.

Having attracted people to the venue, you need to keep them happy and safe to enjoy themselves, so the Committee is organizing permits, security, car parking, insurance, food and drink - oh, and some local music, too!

Finally, the Committee has started to invite commercial sponsorship and is discussing with various local clubs and societies how they can be involved. It's not quite 'bigger than Ben Hur' (well, not yet!), but the Committee is very keen to have as many people involved as possible. Could that include you? If you'd like to be involved in this unique community event, do please contact the Festival Committee c/o DCSCA at P. O. Box 581, Drysdale 3222; or dryclift@bigpond.com

Bellarine community associations meet City of Greater Geelong CEO

On June 18, representatives from community associations on the Bellarine Peninsula met Stephen Griffin, Chief Executive Officer of the City of Greater Geelong for the first time to discuss Bellarine-wide issues.

The meeting lasted an hour and covered four items.
1. Consultation policy
Stephen Griffin heard of the widespread feeling within communities that the City of Greater Geelong's public consultations appear to have no effect on subsequent policies. He agreed to a further meeting to hear detailed examples and to discuss a new consultation policy for the council that has been presented by ABCA.

2. Infrastructure on the Bellarine
ABCA has produced a comprehensive list of items needing attention and it was suggested that a designated CoGG 'officer for the Bellarine' could assist CoGG to respond to these sorts of Bellarine-wide isues. Stephen Griffin advised ABCA to submit its list and proposals to CoGG's draft Land Use Strategy when it is released for public consultation.

3. City of Greater Geelong's strategic priorities for the Bellarine
Stephen Griffin heard that people on the Bellarine Peninsula believe that CoGG sees the Bellarine as the 'poor cousin' to developing areas such as Armstrong Creek. Stephen Griffin said that CoGG would involve ABCA - as the peak community body on the Bellarine - in the mid-term review in 2011 of CoGG's Bellarine Strategic Plan.

4. Climate change
It was reported that Bellarine Bayside is about to undertake a study on climate change, yet the area it controls is only a small proportion of our total communities. ABCA called for CoGG, Surf Coast Shire and other relevant agencies to be involved in any such study.

The meeting was arranged by the Affiliation of Bellarine Community Associations (ABCA), of which Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association (DCSCA) is a member. Representatives of the Barwon Heads Association, DCSCA, Ocean Grove Community Association and Indented Head Community Association attended the meeting and other associations that were unable to be represented sent their apologies.

The meeting was positive and business-like. It bodes well for future relations between ABCA and CoGG.

Public Meeting June 2 2010 (2)

Recreation and Leisure in Our Community: what could make life better in Drysdale & Clifton Springs?'

This was the topic of DCSCA's latest Public Meeting, on Wednesday June 2 at 7.00 p.m. at SpringDale Neighbourhood Centre, High Street, Drysdale. The meeting heard from Bill Williams (Clifton Springs Community Men's Shed), Rob Evans (Youth Foundations Victoria) and from Aidan Keranen, of the youth project MISSION (Many Individuals Supporting Socially Important Options on the North Bellarine).

Their presentations revealed that these very different groups had some shared concerns. Two major common issues were the need for somewhere to 'hang out' and the ability to get there and return home. They sparked a lively discussion about the need for good public transport to support community facilities. The Men's Shed is examining the idea of a 'community bus' at SpringDale, bought by the City of Greater Geelong and/or the Lions and Rotary and supported by voluntary gold coin donations by passengers. Rob Evans and Aidan Keranen welcomed the idea, which is so obviously a good one that it's only surprising that there isn't such a service already. We'll be hearing more about this one!

The Clifton Springs Community Men's Shed heard recently that it has been granted $35,000 by the state government to develop its site and its services. This is terrific news and DCSCA is proud to have formally supported the application.

Unfortunately, Andrew McKinnon, Project Manager of Barwon River Parklands, was unable to be with us. DCSCA got in touch with Andrew via Parks Victoria and we would like to build stronger links with these organisations, because we are developing a policy on public open spaces in our region. As the work on this proceeds, there will be articles on this blog.