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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-03-07 Daily Xml
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Heysen Electorate

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (15:21): I have the opportunity to make some observations about the wonderful communities in the Adelaide Hills district that I am so fortunate to represent, the seat of Heysen. It is often said that we have maybe 23 separate communities and I want to highlight the activities of several of them in these minutes.

Firstly, I want to commend the work particularly of Maccy Biochar, a group of Macclesfield locals who have taken on the task of ground-up science with a view to improve productivity and environmental outcomes through the use of biochar. They are going about their science and contribution to improvement in our local environment by getting very much hands-on and showing the way for what can be expanded in the future.

On 2 March, I was fortunate to join, together with members of the Natural Resources Committee, in visiting the Maccy Biochar group and seeing what they do on the ground. It is truly inspiring. I want to recognise in particular, the chair, Brian Lewis, and give a shoutout to the owner of the land upon which the biochar work is being done, Greg Goding, who very generously continues to provide his land for access to the group. I also want to recognise co-convenor, Kelvin Williams; Geoff Brockhouse and Dean Hewlett, among so many who have contributed to that work.

In Maccy, we are seeing, meanwhile, a renovation and a resurgence. The main street has not looked this good for a very long time. I am delighted to see that we now have both sides of the main street—perhaps the most spectacular main street in the whole state—with a functioning renewed footpath. Hats off to the RSL, to Kuchel's general store and to those who have contributed to the previous round of works. On the other side, it is great now to see with the renovation works at Maccy Hotel that the main street in Macclesfield is looking tremendous indeed and I am sure it is going to bring flow-on benefits to the town more broadly.

Meanwhile, can I commend the reaching out recently of the new Mount Barker council and acknowledge Mayor David Leach for his initiative to bring the council to Meadows and to bring council meetings out to those parts of the Hills within Heysen. It is a commendable initiative. I wish to recognise elected members for taking that initiative. I know that in Meadows we are looking to replace a GP who has recently left and we all know that, whenever you go to Meadows, you had better not go there unless you have something to say about the roundabout, a matter that I have taken up with the minister and I know the council, together with the Macclesfield Community Association and residents, are very keen on indeed. I will say more about Heart of Gold at Echunga. The Echunga Community Association is also making strides in terms of initiatives for the centre of Echunga.

In Bridgewater, we recently had the happy occasion of opening the new netball and tennis courts. The crew at Bridgewater Netball Club are to be commended in particular for the way that they have brought together and coordinated the necessary contributions of local, state and federal government. The Adelaide Hills Council has convened that project within its overall planning. It has received state and federal money and it has achieved an excellent outcome at Bridgewater.

In Stirling, it would be remiss of me not to recognise whenever living treasure Jeff Mincham opens an exhibition in the centre of Heysen. I recommend everybody go to see Jeff's work at Aptos Cruz Galleries in Stirling. That will be there for a little while to come.

I particularly on this occasion wish to recognise what is now getting on to be a decade of work by Imagine Uraidla in Uraidla. These are examples of truly existential contributions to the community. A decade ago, Uraidla was literally on the verge of disappearing. The pub had shut, and the town was really on the verge of falling away. They drew inspiration from a UK movement with a pub at the hub of the community. It brought more than half the town into the footy club back in 2014.

There has been an amazing response, and Uraidla is now thriving more than ever, as exhibited by its receipt of the 2023 overall winner of the Santos Best Dressed Town after the recent Tour Down Under—demonstrations of community spirit through bees and sunflower displays that I think can tell a story for the Hills and all our communities.

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