A newly-formed association for residents of Yankalilla and Normanville aims to progress projects and ideas brought forward.
After discussion within the community to get a group up and running, the Yankalilla Normanville Progress Association (YNPA) held its first meeting on Monday, May 13.
Shane Grocke is the chair of the group, having initiated the idea of starting the association.
“I started in December last year, putting feelers out to see who may or may not be interested in developing an association,” he said.
“I thought there was something missing and asked, ‘Is there any entity like this?’.
“While there’s a similar group, there’s nothing focused on progress, accessing grants, and making events or exhibitions.”
The “similar group” Mr Grocke referred to is the Yankalilla District Residents Association (YDRA), which he has been in contact with.
Together the groups decided there was enough difference between the YDRA and the progress association to warrant the latter’s existence, as the former was an “advocacy group”.
“We’ve determined that the YDRA and us work in different spaces, but we will work together where it suits,” Mr Grocke said.
“We fit in a similar zone but they’re a bit broader – they want to cover the whole district.
“There’s no negativity between us, at least speaking from our side.”
Mr Grocke said the aim of the YNPA is to bring events, projects, and activities to the region that benefit its residents.
The group has the support of Member for Mayo Rebekha Sharkie, the local Regional Development Australia (RDA), and the District Council of Yankalilla.
“We don’t want to do things just because we can; we want to do the right things, because the community wants them to happen,” he said.
“There’s a lot of passion in this community and that passion invokes a lot of emotion, and that’s the people we want.
“We’re 100 per cent transparent, all meetings are open, and all the minutes are made public.”
The group will be meeting on the second Monday of the month at 6.30pm at Links Lady Bay.
Fourteen people attended the May 13 meeting and topics discussed included the Normanville Jetty, the Yankalilla Memorial Park, aged care and facilities such as footpaths.
The committee has Mr Grocke as chair, Ari Jolly as deputy chair, Jackie Mazzocato as secretary, David Jolly as treasurer, and Amy Hunt and John Mazzocato as committee members.
“We’ve got a good base in the committee; we’re all similarly demographically based, usually most have had businesses, and they’re people who’ve shown interest in assisting where we can,” Mr Grocke said.
This committee is temporary until the AGM in July, when all nine positions will be filled.
Membership is $10 for a single person and $20 for a family or household, and this money will go towards paying for necessities such as insurance, website hosting, and “anything to keep us running”, Mr Grocke said.
For more information about the YNPA, visit www.ynpa.com.au or join the Facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/1064555247952519
