What Residents Want In Future

Town's Future Thoughts

Yesterday we discussed what the future could bring to Deniliquin and the response from readers has been fantastic.

There have been a variety of suggestions given and below are those suggestions that may do good for the town in the future or even sooner;

A cleaning and re-painting of the Bridge as it is considered to be in very rough shape by residents, not only do residents cross the bridge by foot, bicycle or car it is also photographed regularly from the banks of the Edward River.

Adding more gluten free meals to Cafe and Restaurant menus as gluten intolerance is rising through the population and Deniliquin currently has a lack of gluten free options at local eateries.

An indoor heated swimming pool to match other towns such as Cootamundra, Junee and Echuca who have one, a heated pool would also enable Deniliquin to have a Pool operating year round.

A kids park much like the one in Moama is another suggestion, whilst Deniliquin has lots of parks an Adventure Playground would be something new for kids.

A parents room to enable the changing of nappies, breast feeding, bottle feeding and keeping warm or cool.
Such a room would also have to have amenities such as a kitchen complete with Microwave and of course toilets, It is believed such a room would be beneficial to the town as things would be made easier on parents whose kids need any of the above whilst in the centre of town.

These are all fantastic ideas and hopefully the powers that be will read them and the ones DNS suggested could be useful in the future and things go on from there.

Suggestions are always welcome on DNS’s Facebook page.

What could the future of Deniliquin have?

Town's Future Thoughts

Deniliquin is an ambitious town, the town always wants more and thankfully the world is at a point where technologically there is plenty to offer.

Could Council and State Government pair up to find ways to make small water tanks more easily affordable for residents to buy? Every tank that is installed at a home saves thousands of litres of water every year and in a place like Deniliquin the water saved can be really useful elsewhere.

Solar Panels on the majority of the towns shops would be an impressive display of sustainability especially in these times of rising emissions and also rising costs of electricity which would be countered by Solar Power.

A re-introduction of recycling could also show that Deniliquin is at the forefront of sustainability and looking after it’s environment, there has been rubbish concerns in the past and with the majority of rubbish left in the streets being cans and other drink containers recycling can be very beneficial.

Is it possible that Deniliquin can be the hub of farming evolution? A place where new ways to grow and harvest food are discovered frequently which would be for the better of humanity?

Can Deniliquin one day land itself in a competition like Basketball’s SEABL? A competition where the ex NBL teams like the Melbourne Tigers, Nunawading Spectres and Geelong Supercats reside in and offer great competition could be very interesting and bring fans from Victoria and perhaps the ACT and Queensland.

Would transport be back to being something great? Deniliquin is already looking at air transport both human and freight but could Rail make a comeback? Imagine a time like the Ute Muster where Trains deliver tourists into town and Buses shuttle them to the Muster site.

Deniliquin is also well on it’s way to being an events centre and the more events that survive it’s first attempt the more traction they get as locals and visitors become comfortable with what takes place and want to see more in the future.

The re-establishment of a Cinema would keep local money in town instead of residents needing to travel to and spend their money in Echuca for a day or night’s entertainment and KFC has been well missed by locals so a return of KFC could keep even more money in town instead of residents needing to go far.

A new Community Centre (or re-opening the closed one) would be nice for the Youth of Deniliquin, augment what worked in the past with modern gaming and entertainment and satisfied they should be.

The future has so many more possibilities for Deniliquin than what is mentioned above, what do you the reader of this post believe is needed? What is not outside the realm of possibility? The possibilities are endless but it is up to us to chase them.

The strike of ’99

Flashback

1999 was a big year for Deniliquin, it was the last year of the 20th Century and the town was entering a new era with the Ute Muster getting underway that year but there was more going on that year than most would remember.

That year the Carr Government was battling Teachers over an award system that the Government thought was good and the Teachers represented by the Teachers Federation thought was bad.

Negotiations were going on for fifteen months over pay increases, working hours, minimum salary for first year Teachers and other conditions and tension was in the air.

Schools originally had a couple of half days as teachers were in meetings discussing the latest in the negotiations.

Schools were still open for those days with a minimum of staff in place to watch students but classes were reduced to playing board games and watching a movie time as many of the out of town junior students had no option but to take the bus and go in early.

Students were not really bothered by these days as students preferred those sorts of days anyway compared to working on English and Maths all the time.

The dragging on of negotiations were heavily debated in NSW Parliament with the discussion on November 16 currently being available online with the majority of political parties supporting the Teachers Federation.

On November 17 1999, a full day strike was in force, Deniliquin’s school buses still ran and some staff were at schools with Deni High having a student attendance of two (true story) whilst many others took the bus to the High School and went to enjoy a day in town before boarding the buses back in the afternoon.

The two students were there because one was made to go and the other one was a good pal and kept him company on the understanding that their other friends would be there too (they didn’t turn up).

As history shows, a deal was eventually hammered out between Government and Teachers and school returned to normal as the 1999 school year winded up just over a month later.

Algae still sticking around

News, Uncategorized

Recent water testing results have reported that channels to the north of Deniliquin for example Blighty have the highest concentrations of the toxic algae that is causing problems in the local area.

The concentration levels of algae drop towards where Mulwala Lake (Deniliquin’s way) is but while this appears to be good news for Deniliquin it does not mean things are on the improve as levels can fluctuate at any time.

Advice given in previous days remain unchanged so do not allow animals, yourself and fellow human beings touch the water until the all clear is given.

Deniliquin Veterinary Clinic have been exemplary in their reporting and advice giving whilst the official algae page on the Department of Primary Industries website gets updated every couple of days leaving people uncertain as to what is going on for it does not go into lengthy detail.

DNS will continue to report about the latest as it comes to hand.

March for World Water Day

News

March 22nd is World Water Day and this year it’s theme is ‘The power of water and jobs’, a theme that is something very special to the town.

Water is important to Deniliquin, we’ve seen the effects of the long battle against aspects of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, we’ve seen how Blue-Green Algae has driven locals and tourists from the Edward River and we know that water provides life to the crops the town and the world needs to have flourishing.

At 11am, Speak Up is hosting an event at the Waring Gardens where residents will first gather then start to march down the river boardwalk, the aim is to demonstrate that the people want a basin plan that provides for the people, provides profit and provides for the planet.

A BBQ will be operating on the day and drinks will also be available, DNS hopes that as many townspeople as possible are able to participate and voice their concerns about the way things are going.