Where did gums go?
I noticed a few days ago a story about the history of Greenfield Park (‘A history of Greenfield’, The Border Mail, August 16).
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Not long after the land passed into Albury Council ownership, my late father took me aside and told me that council had negotiated the purchase of the land with Mrs Greenfield and that she had made one stipulation – that none of the gum trees along the creek line were ever to be cut down.
He emphasised that I must always remember that stipulation. I used to travel to and from work past “the walnuts”, so it was easy to keep an eye on the gum trees.
Years passed before I noticed a gap in the tree-line. I pulled over, parked the car and walked down along the bank.
It was quite clear that a tree had been removed and every trace of it had disappeared, except the base which had been cut at ground level. It was still a fresh cut, no sign of decay or death, but what could I do?
I realised that my father had foreseen that one day I might be the only person who remembers the stipulation. How do I bring it to the notice of everyone, including Albury Council? Will anyone care?
P.L. Strachan, Thurgoona
More than Melbourne
The liveable city title for Melbourne is great news and let’s remember Melbourne is part of Victoria – a state full of style and delights and many regions that offer stunning lifestyles and contribute to Melbourne’s image.
City people who do not need the city life now should be noticing the many fine regions in Victoria for a lifestyle shift.
Premier Daniel Andrews is not just the premier of Melbourne, but also the premier of Victoria and he needs to show more pride and recognise statewide features.
Victoria should be the style state and see itself as having many features of regional Italy or regional France and promote itself as such and boost the efforts of many artisan and gourmet developments in places like Rutherglen, Millawa, the King Valley etc.
Victoria/Melbourne needs to encourage people out of the cities who do not need to be there and highlight the lifestyle that can be had.
Stuart Davie, Corowa
Not enough for charity
The BETTERMAN Foundation, a national charity that works with young men across Australia, will close at the end of this month due to no ongoing funding opportunities.
The BETTERMAN Foundation works with young men, parents, schools, sports clubs and other organisations, delivering programs that empower positive choices with a focus on violence and suicide prevention, promoting respectful behaviours and building resilience. It was established in 2007 as a private business before launching as a national charity in 2013.
BETTERMAN has worked with tens of thousands of young men in hundreds of communities’ right across Australia.
In 2015, the inaugural BETTERMAN Awards were launched, with the highlight being the Daniel Christie Memorial Award, which recognises individuals who have worked towards the prevention of young men’s violence. (Daniel lost his life in a coward punch attack in Sydney on New Year’s Eve in 2013).
The funding landscape has changed so much in recent years, we just can not find the dollars to continue. Corporate Australia is no longer giving the money they once did to us smaller charities; now only favouring much larger organisations who can provide them with maximum national PR for the fact they have donated money to them.
We have achieved some incredible outcomes with young men across Australia, but this isn’t enough to turn that into dollars to help us continue. Every week there is another issue facing young men that comes up in the media that demonstrates the need for our work to continue, but without the funds, we have no other option but to close.