MADRA May 2024 News

EGSC meeting

MADRA committee members have been busily working away on several initiatives that have included – as always – plenty of meetings.

Last week, committee representatives met with the new CEO of the East Gippsland Shire Council, Fiona Weigall. MADRA congratulates Fiona on her appointment and looks forward to continuing the strong working relationship between MADRA and the Shire Council.

MADRA has recently had to say farewell to Eva Grunden in her role as Coordinator of Community Recovery with the Shire. Eva worked side by side with all of the MADRA committees right from the start and has been unwavering in her support of Mallacoota and District’s recovery. She consistently went above and beyond to provide an inclusive, positive and trauma-informed approach while demonstrating an amazing ability to stay calm and focused, no matter how full-on everything was at the time! We thank Eva for her hard work, support and guidance over the years, and wish her all the best in her new role with the Fire to Flourish program.

A conversation with Traditional Owners

MADRA representatives attended a very positive and compelling meeting recently with a group comprised of Traditional Owners, community members and EGSC representatives. The conversation centred around a potential project to be led by the Traditional Owner/First Nations community for a local facility to promote cultural heritage, education, creativity and innovation, and cross-cultural understanding. It was a great conversation about an exciting initiative, and we look forward to learning more.

Project progress

Steady progress continues with the building of 10 social and affordable dwellings in Mallacoota, a project that can be directly attributed to the hard work and advocacy of the early MADRA committees. MADRA is still in regular contact with Homes Victoria and we will have more specific details to pass on soon. It is great to see this project becoming a reality.

The Gipsy Point telecommunications tower is nearing completion. This new tower will allow the integration of a mobile service for the area and will finally get rid of the mobile ‘black spot’ at Gipsy Point, which has been a long-running concern and was another key recovery project.

MADRA is also excited about the continuing evolution of the Wilderness Collective and the move into their new centrally located premises. We know the team is working really hard and we congratulate them on the Collective’s achievements to date.

MADRA’s future

MADRA is working with consultants Happy Changemakers to explore what the future of MADRA could be. Please see our Press Release for more details. There will be lots of opportunities for everyone to contribute ideas and feedback, and we look forward to working alongside the community to develop our future direction.

Thanks,

MADRA