The Week that Was
Last week’s guest speakers
We had a good rollup at our dinner meeting last Thursday to hear our guest speakers Bill Barker and Fiona McCuaig update us on Bateman’s Marine Park and their concerns. The Park has been in place for 15 years, protecting our local marine environment.
Fiona said we are very lucky to have a Marine Park on our doorstep, one of six Marine parks along the NSW coast. She said Sanctuary Zones within the Park allowed fish to grow larger to maturity, breeding more fish for everyone, but in 2019 some of our marine sanctuaries were opened up to fishing with no consultation. She saw Batemans Marine Park as an amazing drawcard for tourists.
Bill went on to talk about the loss of large kelp forests about a metre high from our rocky reefs that supported an incredible biodiversity. That was due to the loss of urchin predators such as lobsters, gropers and snapper from these areas many of which have now have been reduced to urchin barrens. He added that was not even good for the urchin fishery. He said work was underway with NSW Fisheries to start a programme of experimental culling by industry divers with guidance and supervision, supported by government funding and community participation.
Bill also spoke about the Oyster Reef Restoration Project in Wagonga Inlet and a proposal to establish a Marine Science and Education Centre in Narooma.
Prostate Cancer Support Group
The roll up to Tuesday’s gathering of the Prostate Cancer Support Group was disappointing. The Intention was for it to be an informal night for open discussion about everyone’s needs and concerns to help target future guest speakers.
THIS WEEK
No dinner meeting this Thursday – have a break.
Out and About
Our POW Awards next week
Our Pride of Workmanship(POW) coordinator Laurelle Pacey has sent out 40 letters to local businesses inviting employers to publicly recognise an employee who displays outstanding qualities in terms of approach, attitude, dedication and commitment to his or her job. We emphasise it’s not a competition. Hopefully we will again achieve our normal 20-25% success rate
This programme aims to publicly recognise the value of having pride in personal performance in the workplace, hence the scheme’s motto ‘Do it once, do it well’. The advantage to employers is it gives them the opportunity to reward a particular employee plus potentially spread a ‘Pride of Workmanship’ among other staff and the wider community.
Nominees will be presented with a framed certificate by our VP Ange Ulrichsen at our presentation dinner at Narooma Golf Club on Thursday 12 May, 6 for 6.30pm. This is one of our most prestigious events. Our MC for the evening will be MC extraordinaire David McInnes. The cost is $40 p.p. (see below)
Update on Moruya homelessness
Moruya Rotary President Chris Manahan reported in their bulletin this week that some progress has been made with meetings with Council and agencies like Anglicare on the local Homelessness issue. Rhonnie South has replaced Zoe Morgan as Council’s Coordinator, Community Development and Youth. She reports that Council had succeeded in gaining a grant for the ‘Strengthening Rural Communities program – The Eurobodalla Shower and Laundry Project for People Experiencing Homelessness’.
Chris reports the Family Place in Moruya has been proactive and together with an officer from the Department of Community and Justice, a survey has reported that the numbers of campers at Mystery Bay and North Head Moruya are not increasing but as campers move on others are moving in. This would indicate that the campgrounds are at capacity.
Further meetings will soon take place to discuss how to roll out the funds, for example planned laundromat upgrades in the shire. This will allow a credit card option to pay for washing and drying, with the credit cards issued to the homeless from agencies such as The Family Place and Anglicare. The cards will only operate at participating laundromats.
NEXT WEEK
Wednesday 11 May: Board Meeting 4pm Lynn Hastings’ home.
Thursday 12 May: Our Club’s presentation of our annual Pride of Workmanship Awards. This is a prestigious event, a partner’s night, and will cost $40 per person. We need a precise count on numbers so if you are coming, please make sure you book with John Rungen by Tuesday (10th) afternoon.