After many months of research and planning, Mannering Park Progress has set the date to launch its History Walk with storyboards at significant sites throughout the village.
A grant of $22,350 boosted the project and with only finishing touches to go, Progress has announced it will hold a “grand opening” to officially launch the History Walk at 10am on Saturday, November 23.
The event will begin in front of the Sea Scouts Hall in Griffith St at the start of the foreshore shared pathway.
Progress Fundraising Co-ordinator Marie Brown said that at this stage there were seven points of interest highlighted in the History Walk with storyboards at each location: Garth Point (The Point), the former fisherman’s co-op in Kenilworth St; the memorial to pioneer Vinrace Vale in the park on the corner of Waverley Rd and Vales Rd; Vales Point Power Station; the CWA hall in Warwick Ave; Mannering Park Community Hall in Dunvegan St; and the former Monterey Auto Club Camp (now the caravan park).
“Mannering Park has a huge amount of history and this has been a mammoth project with every member of Progress working on this,” Brown said.
“We’ve had a lot of support from locals, from Council and from everywhere – a lot of research has gone into this.
“It seems simple and straightforward but you have to verify every single sentence and all the photographs … it’s certainly been a challenge but we’ve got a great group of people who are up to the task.
“It’s great that we’ve now got the grant and approval to go ahead.”
The $22,350 grant came through the 2023 Chain Valley Colliery Community Funding Program which provides funds for community projects in suburbs near the coal mines – Summerland Point, Gwandalan, Chain Valley Bay and Mannering Park.
Delta Coal pays $0.035 for each tonne of coal produced which is administered by Central Coast Council, and the annual grant applications are decided by a Community Advisory Panel.
The 2023 fund allocated $64,344.32 across six community projects.
Apart from the History Walk, other community groups to benefit are: Mannering Park Sailing Club; Chain Valley Bay Progress Association; Gwandalan Summerland Point Rural Fire Brigade; Lions Club of Gwandalan; and Mannering Park Community Garden Incorporated.
Brown, who also is the secretary of the Community Garden group, said a grant of $5,360 would cover a concrete slab and garden shed for the garden.
“It’s a start and we now have the agreement from Delta (Electricity) to lease the land, we’re ready to start applying for other grants,” she said.
“We are extremely appreciative to Delta for providing the community with a plot for their community garden.”
It will be established next to the enclosed dam near the former recreation building at Tom Barney Oval off Vales Rd.
Community Garden President Sue Wynn said the group hoped to get children involved to learn about how to have organic vegetables and fruit.
“And we’re hoping other people will come along and enjoy the social interaction as well,” she said.
Sue Murray