Final version of Community Plan endorsed by Council

Friday, 16 December 2011 09:51

At the general meeting yesterday Council endorsed the final version of the Community Plan – yeah!. The culmination of six months work, delivered within the time frame to meet the deadline with the help of many, including all of you. I really appreciate your comments, contribution and participation in the journey and while there is still a good deal of work to do around the implementation phase it is good to take a moment to celebrate meeting this first and major milestone.

LGAQ and Dept. Local Govt & Planning are very happy about the way it reads and we have met the State Government requirements as well as hopefully meeting most of our own expectations and most for the community as well.

Jess and I will be working with the Graphic designer over the next week with a view to getting it printed by early January at latest and I will make sure you all get a copy of the final document.

Jess would like to meet with the Group to run a bit of an evaluation process and get your input into some of the work in the next stage. She has suggested the 15^th or 19^th December as possibilities. I feel that the 15^th could be difficult as some of us have a meeting that morning and then there is the staff Christmas party in the afternoon. What do you think about the 15^th or 19^th? Or would you prefer to wait until the New Year.

I will be pleased to get your responses so that I can let Jess know.

Once again my sincere thanks

Sheila

Click here to view the final version of the 2030 Community Plan.

A moment of beauty captures art prize

Thursday, 08 December 2011 15:15

Warwick photographer Peter Hinchley has won the Southern Downs Simply Irresistible Creative Arts Competition with a photograph of a magic moment in Victoria Park, Warwick. 

The competition was run as part of the Southern Downs 2030 Community Plan project and artworks from the competition may be used to illustrate the final Community Plan document.

Mr Hinchley was ecstatic with the win for his piece titled “Morning fog reclines, sunrise breaks through”. He received$250 for his efforts.

He said he always carries his camera with him in case of a good photo opportunity.

“I do an early morning walk and by the time I hit Victoria Park, it seemed like the perfect atmosphere – it was a foggy morning, you couldn’t see the houses, you look down through the park and it was just like a country paddock with the sun shining through the mist.  It was just a magical moment,” he said.

“It was a variation of beauty that captured the Southern Downs - there is a great deal of beauty to be found in the region.”

After an international career in film and television, Mr Hinchley moved to Warwick about four and a half years ago to concentrate on photography and writing.

“I always remember learning about the Darling Downs in school [on the Gold Coast] and I’m now creating a pictorial coffee table book about the Southern Downs,” he said.

Second prize of $150 went to Tom Beckendorff of Warwick for his art piece Simply Irrisistable (No 1), with Dana Mitchell of Warwick winning third prize of $75 with her artpiece “The Fishing is Simply Irrisistible”.  A Highly Commended of $50 went to Cecilia Adams of Stanthorpe for her piece Simply Irrisistible (No 2).

Winner of the People’s Choice, determined by votes from the public, was Kerrie Stratford of Stanthorpe for her piece “Celebrating the Harvest”.

Creative Arts Competition

Monday, 17 October 2011 15:39