Community Visioning: Bellingen 2020
Transition Bellingen used community workshops and suggestion boxes to invite ideas about Bellingen could be in 2020, and then in December 2009 a Community Visioning Fair creatively showcased responses to the following questions:
- What do we need to RECOVER from the past?
- What aspects of life in Bellingen will we REFUSE to bring with us into the future?
- What do we CHERISH and want to ensure continues?
- Is there anything new that we need to CREATE?
Here are the ideas gathered. Things that people cherish about Bello were shown at the Fair on this banner.
Another theme was how important it is to cherish Bello's friendly and inclusive community ...
Our local mudbrick radio station, 2BBB-FM, was also cherished - they broadcast live from the Fair, and here local Gumbayngyrr Elder, Aunty Bea Ballangarry, is being interviewed following her inspiring Welcome to Country speech:
The idea of creating a space for the youth of Bellingen was mentioned often in the visioning. Here is a display about the local Bellingen Environmental Youth Experience (EYE):
Recovering traditional skills like food preserving and mending things was often mentioned. Here's a local rug-maker showing off gorgeous rugs made from rags.
Local food was a strong theme of the visioning - to be both recovered and created. Here local kids make takeaway veggie gardens at the Fair.
Chatting and eating local food was a lovely part of the day at the Visioning Fair!
The combined vision for Bellingen’s future will form the basis for the “Bellingen Transition Action Plan”, created by as broad a spectrum as possible of the community (this is separate to Bellingen Shire Council’s visioning processes, but we are maintaining links wherever possible).
Contact us if you have other ideas or if you, or your community group, would like to get involved.
