A big thank you to Peter and Dot Newman, Kim Bleeker, Lexia and Ian Mattner, and John Osborne for assisting with tree planting. Surplus money from the CGVC community asset grant has been used to purchase two marble urns which will be placed on the Stone niche wall. A very big thank you to D R Cook Memorial Works of Balaklava for their generosity in supplying the urns at a substantial discount. they will also be installing them at no cost in about six weeks.

The next ACDC Open Meeting is to be held on Thursday 16th August. Representatives from local groups have been invited to attend.The aim of the meeting is to exchange ideas, hear about other local groups’ activities, network, and support one another in local endeavours. A light meal will be served at 6.30 pm, with the meeting starting at 7.15 pm. Please RSVP to 88492389 or 88492555 by Monday 13th August, for catering purposes.

Thank you everyone from our community who attended the re-opening of the Auburn Institute. What a great night it was! ACDC was pleased to have the elders and young people from the community involved in the Opening Ceremony. We also wasnt to express sincere thanks once again, to all volunteers and businesses, who supported the event with food, rinks, organisation, flowers, music and cleaning.

The contractors are in the final stages of work at the Institute; attending to a few minor aspects of the project. ACDC wishes to acknowledge the work of both Greg Pulford and Damian MacKenzie, throughout the maintenance project, working professionally and close to the time schedule.

ACDC agreed at its last meeting to submit an application to CGVC for Community Asset Grants. If your organisation has a project in mind, contact Lol Hill at CGVC to discuss your ideas and the application process. In last Year’s allocation of the Community Asset Grant funds, ACDC was able to install additional overhead kitchen cupboards, purchase two vacuum cleaners for the Institute (a large one for the main hall, and a smaller one for other areas) and purchase plants for the cemetery. We thank the CGVC for the funds for our projects, and commend them on continuing to support local groups and projects through the allocation of these grants.

The Friends of the Auburn Cemetery have been busy with more tree planting, completing the tree avenue across the cemetery to the new stone niche wall. Well done volunteers!

Significant repair work has been carried out to the corner of Brothers Hill Road/Curling St/ King St. Local residents would be aware that it had previously been a dangerous traffic hazard. CGVC have also worked on the King St/Wakefield River walkway, doing major repairs after flood damage last year.

There is still a clear need for a concrete spoon drain to be installed in St Vincent St where Dennis Creek crosses over. ACDC will continue to lobby for this project to be budgeted for, by CGVC.

ACDC was unsuccessful with its submission to the Fund MY Neighbourhood Government funding round at the end of 2017. Efforts were made to encourage community members to go online and register a vote for our project. Unfortunately, we did not receive sufficient votes. our project received approximately 80 votes- the winning projects in our area received 85-130 votes. Not sure if we will try this source of funding again, as it was dependent on each voter having access to the internet,  an individual email address, and an individual mobile phone.

The local Christmas Eve event in Auburn was a great success. there were many families, children, chatter and relaxation. A thank you must go to Auburn Traders and the Auburn Primary School Governing Council for their co-operation in planning and running the event on the night. A special thank you goes to the Primary School students who gave their time to help serve the food on the night. It is hoped that local Auburn volunteer groups can continue to work together for the benefit of our community.

A small team of volunteers is continuing to water the young plants in Centenary Park, as the weather continues to be so dry. A second section of garden may be developed to the south of the existing bed, as that particular patch is being fed with the waste water of the septic system. This is a topic for further discussion at an ACDC meeting.

The AGM of ACDC was held on Tuesday, November 14th, 2017, at the RSL Hall.  A good number of community members attended, and the meeting welcomed new people to the community. after the meeting, a few were able to register their vote for fundmyneighbourhood local project, while others enjoyed refreshments and a chat.