Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-03-23 Daily Xml

Contents

Mount Compass Lions Club

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (15:41): I rise in this matter of interest to, like my colleague the Hon. John Dawkins, talk about service clubs; however, I will be talking about Lions in this instance. Whether it is Rotary, Lions or Apex, these service clubs do magnificent work for the community. I particularly want to commend the Mount Compass Lions, in my own home town. Prior to coming into parliament, I was a member of the Lions Mount Compass charter with some of my friends and associates.

Unfortunately, for a period of time Lions did not continue in Mount Compass, but in recent years, thanks to the initiative of some very hardworking Lions who now live in our district, long-term Lions and also the facilitation by the Lions in the Willunga Lions Club, we now have a Lions club active again in Mount Compass. Those who have some time available to commit to Lions will not only have a great time with the comradeship of the members of the Mount Compass Lions but they will also be able to deliver some fantastic projects.

This week, I met with Mr Bill Coomans, one of the Mount Compass Lions to discuss where the projects, plans and strategy for the future of the Mount Compass Lions Club were. This came on the back of my family receiving a Mount Compass & Surrounds Community & Business Directory 2016, and I have one here in my hand in parliament now. When we had the Entre Nous in our town, we always had a directory associated with that once a year. As the Entre Nous was no longer being printed, there was a gap, and this shows just one of the excellent opportunities that Lions can provide to the community. I commend them for this very comprehensive, professional and well-published community and business directory that shows the local community where community organisations are and also the local businesses that are available to serve them in the community.

We also talked about some of the other projects, such as the old Roadman's Reserve not far from our family farm, which was the reserve where the roadman used to live with his family. He only had a wheelbarrow, a pick and a shovel back in the days when it was a very long trip to Victor Harbor from Adelaide and they used to have roadmen along the way who were responsible for maintaining those roads. The reserve has now become a very good picnic spot and somewhere to take a break when driving from Adelaide to Victor Harbor and the Greater Fleurieu Peninsula.

It has needed some care and attention. From memory, it was the original Lions Club that did a lot of the driving in of a lot of the posts and rails, creating parking areas and the like. I think I was involved myself way back. But it is this new Mount Compass Lions Club that has taken another project on to upgrade that particular reserve, which will provide a lot of pleasure and a safety haven for thousands of people who commute through the town who need a rest after travelling.

In recent years we have also had a wetland, and I commend the council for developing that. As part of the Fleurieu and Adelaide Hills, we also have special rock sculptures, some of which are displayed at the wetland. The Lions Club has another initiative that it is putting in there, which is a directional board allowing tourists and visitors to identify distances and the direction to take when they want to go from Mount Compass central to other spots on the Fleurieu Peninsula.

It is hard for people to dedicate time to their families, their work life and community these days, but service clubs are certainly doing a great job. Whilst at this point in time the Mount Compass Lions Club is still a small club, there is very positive growth. I was told of another new member joining, and I would encourage people who want to serve their community and have a few spare hours a week to contact the Mount Compass Lions Club and to support it and the great work it is doing for our community.