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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-05-02 Daily Xml
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Waite Electorate

Ms HUTCHESSON (Waite) (15:30): Over the break, an incredible thing happened in my community. The entrance to Blackwood is being transformed and, instead of it being a desolate ground filled with rocks, weeds and dirt, it is turning into quite the Cinderella. Thankfully, no glass slipper is required to ensure it remains looking beautiful, and I could not be more proud of my community.

Along the Belair line, we are plagued by graffiti artists tagging their hearts out. Whilst the right place at the right time for this type of art is appreciated, our train corridor is not that place. As with the fairytale, the area that lines the Belair train at the Glenalta crossing was dirty, grotty and, whilst it was a hardworking footpath, it never had the opportunity to show its true colours—until now. It may be the case that the ugly stepsisters never saw this as a priority, but there are many in my community who did, and they let me know that Cindy needed a makeover.

Just like Cindy's experience, it was with the help of many that her fairytale came true. In our case, the little helpers from the Department for Infrastructure's Rail Care team, led by Scott Bailey, along with students from Blackwood High School, Lighthouse Youth Projects, and several others, gathered around the artist, our Prince Charming Adam Poole-Mottishaw, and a miracle happened. The 200-metre long fence line was transformed into a thing of beauty.

A mural painted for as far as you can see now welcomes people to Blackwood. It shares the rail journey with train passengers and tells a story to pedestrians walking by. It is not the story of Cinderella or any other fairytale, but the important story of our ANZACs, and it pays respect to the soldiers who gave so much to allow us to live in peace. The mural is the biggest venture the Rail Care team have undertaken. In consultation with the Kaurna Board; Blackwood RSL; our local community champions, the Blackwood Action Group (BAG); myself; and Adam, his team got to work.

Once most of the art was complete, local primary school students from Belair—one from each year level—all came along with some community members, some local to the fence, members of BAG, Rail Care and even I all had our hands spray-painted on the fence to be there forever. There was even an eight month old named James, whose little tiny hand was traced on cardboard and then superimposed into his grandmother's hand as well so that she, too, will have that memory and he will be able to see it as he grows. The result is the stuff that fairytales are made of. In fitting style, on 22 April at 3pm, a grand ball was organised at the site with over 200 guests as we cut the ribbon on the work.

A big thank you to all involved from Rail Care. I want to call them out personally, as this is such a gift to my community. So a big thank you to Scott, Jamie, Mark, Courtney, Peter, Scott, Trevor, Robert, John, Vlad, Grant, Richard and Paul. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. To Adam, Tahnesha and all the artists, thank you for putting your passion and love into the project; it really shows. To Blackwood Action Group and our other community members, to OMG Donuts, Serea Coffee and the Blackwood Lions, who provided the banquet—thank you.

Going forward, though, there is more work to do in this location. On Friday, I will be out with Blackwood Action Group planting plants on the adjacent side of the rail line with a beautiful rosemary hedge, donated by our local Banner Mitre 10, and a native wonderland, donated by ARTC, our freight colleagues and sourced from our good friends at State Flora. It is a dream come true, something that I raised back when I was campaigning for the seat. I am so proud that my community will be proud of this and we can all live happily ever after.

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