Update - 23 February 2009

BAG NEWS…………..

We were advised last week of a successful funding application to facilitate some community development workshops as part of the Blueprint for the Bush, Strengthening Rural Communities, Our Place, Our Future funding initiative. This project will deliver workshops in project management, leadership, communication, time management, and governance to any interested community members, with a target audience of those currently holding voluntary committee positions. Project outcomes will include Certificate of Attainment qualifications for participants, a resource kit, and an increased community capacity for sustainable development and growth. Details are still being finalised with the Department and I will keep you updated as this project progresses.


The Fostering Rural Innovation and Change workshop that I attended last week provided some great ideas and thought provoking psychology for encouraging innovation and change in rural communities. This workshop confirmed (what I already suspected!) that the Booringa community is well placed to undertake change and foster innovative projects and ideas due to the recent BAG organisational restructure, including: new and younger committee members, a smaller group for decision making and a turbulent operating environment (in our case, following amalgamations and the organisational restructure of council). Communities are often driven by the ‘wisdom of the elders’ and in a rapidly changing world, we still defer to that wisdom, though it is increasingly irrelevant. It is part of the conservatism of rural communities. This is healthy and normal, but a deterrent to change. To overcome this and ensure survival and growth, consideration should be given to the characteristics which support innovation and change in rural communities.

The characteristics which support innovation in a rural community, which BAG will look to pursue in more detail, are:

· Availability of resources and services
· Availability of technologies for delivering those resources and services
· Quality of management and promotion
· Availability of experts or specialists
· Clusters of specialists
· Continuing professional development of specialists
· Decentralisation of decision-making
· A supportive managerial attitude towards change
· Freshness of leadership
· Adequate administrative capacity
· Communication – both internal and external.

Congratulations BAG, many of these have already been identified and worked on!


BAG PROJECT UPDATES………………


Main Roads have advised us today, that they will not be attending our March General Meeting. Approval is still being sought from the Minister to formally consult with community on this project, which they have advised they expect shortly. Main Roads have assured us that they do want to talk to the community, but only once they have been formally approved to do so. The Working Party will continue to liaise with Main Roads and will keep us updated.


The process for establishing a dentist in Mitchell is becoming more structured. Contacts have been made with Rural Health who are supportive and have been assisting with advice as to the many hurdles to jump! The next step is to get the key people together in a meeting in the near future. It would be great to gauge some idea of how many people would be willing to pay for the services of a private dentist in Mitchell ….. please reply with your comments.


We have discovered that Neil Turner now sits on the board of SunWater, who are responsible for the water storage facility at Mitchell, officially known as the Neil Turner Weir! We have written to Neil in his capacity as a SunWater board member, to determine if he is sympathetic to our cause.


The number of Chrisco Hampers purchased in our local community has concerned members of the Existing Business Sub-committee. It also raised an idea for locally supplied Christmas Hampers that could be paid off throughout the year, in a similar fashion to the Chrisco Hamper business model. Some more investigation is needed to see if this would be a worthwhile venture for BAG to pursue. Interestingly though, a price comparison undertaken on a basic hamper from Chrisco and the same items purchased at full retail price locally showed that the Chrisco Hamper is actually more expensive …. some food for thought there!


GENERAL COMMUNITY information ………….


Clean Up Australia Day is on this Sunday 1 March 2009, starting at the Mitchell Showgrounds. Clean-up is from 9am – 11 am, followed by a BBQ at the RSL Complex. Get your friends together and enter a team. Teams of 4 will compete for prizes in the following:

· Scavenger Hunt
· Most Rubbish Collected
· Best Site Clean-up
· And the coveted ‘Oscar’ Award.

Everyone is invited to attend. FREE iceblocks for all children. BBQ and Drinks will be on sale. Don’t forget your hat, bag and gloves. This Clean Up Australia Day is proudly hosted by the Mitchell Campdrafting Association.


FREE Get Active Queensland Accreditation Programs (GAQAP) and Beginning Coaching General Principles workshops will be held in Roma on Saturday 14 March and Sunday 15 March 2009. These workshops are a great learning opportunity for coaches, officials, administrators, instructors and volunteers operating at the grassroots level. The GAQAP provides teachers, school staff & volunteers, community members, tertiary and senior school students with FREE training that can lead to accreditation in coaching, officiating and sports first aid. Courses offered include – Netball Coaching, Swimming Teaching, Rugby League Coaching, Athletics Coaching , Netball Officiating, Touch Coaching, Inclusive Sports & Physical Activity, Sports Strapping. Registrations close on Friday 27 February 2009. Registrations are online at http://www.sportrec.qld.gov.au/school_community/gaqap.cfm



Thank you to everyone who has replied to me with information requested in these email updates. Please keep those great ideas coming!!


Until next week! :-)
Cheers,
Sharyn.

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