At the March general meeting of Bingara and District Vision 2020 a suggestion was made to support a public walking tour of the Living Classroom site west of the town.
V2020 President, Rick Hutton outlined how considerable progress of the Project on the site had been made. “The earthworks have been completed, the Bunkhouse near to completion and the slab poured for the Classroom,” he said.
A view of the living classroom from Batterham Lookout
“The final paintwork was being carried out on the Bunkhouse and the construction of the Classroom would commence once the concrete slab had been polished, that being the fiished floor for that building.” Gwydir Shire Council’s Training and Development Officer added.
The V2020 members suggested that an afternoon tour, before Easter should be conducted to allow the public to see the Project firs thand. A walk of about one kilometre would include the main storage lake, the lower “feature” lake, the banks and swales used to capture run-off and prevent storm water inundating the town, the Bunkhouse, Classroom and the intensive garden area proposed adjoining Narrabri Road.
Explanatory fliers for each of the activities included in the Project should be made available, the meeting decided. A barbecue and discussion could follow the walk.
The business plan for the Project is being developed by consultant Adam Blakester. Landscape architect John Mongard, whose design has been used to support the application for a further $2.2M from the federal governments Regional Australia Development Fund, will be back in Gwydir this week to check on progress.
The V2020 meeting determined to request that the Project’s steering committee and GSC join with it to plan and promote the exploratory walk.
