Could a progress association help things get done around Jervois?
Jervois Hall committee chair Malcolm Clayson thinks so, and would love to open a conversation with interested community members.
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There are things that need doing around Jervois.
Locals would love to get some extra signage up, warning milk tanker drivers to watch out for schoolchildren; they’d like new public toilets at the oval; and some nicer town entrances wouldn’t go astray.
Those were some of the ideas thrown around at a public meeting at the Jervois Hall on Tuesday night, anyway.
But who will do those things, or advocate for the Murray Bridge council to do them?
Other communities – Wellington and Mypolonga among them – can put some of their success down to strong local progress associations, whose volunteers have organised everything from markets to flood relief.
Malcolm Clayson reckons the same thing could work at Jervois.
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The retired baker recently became the chair of the Jervois Hall committee, and would love to collaborate with other local institutions to get things happening in the community.
That might mean building closer relationships between the leaders of the sporting club, the bowls club, the school and the CFS brigade.
Or it might mean creating something new, and connecting and empowering the young families who represented Jervois’ future.
“The best way to do that is to try and put a group together to use everything we’ve got in the town, but to progress as well: with toilets, with signs,” he said.
“To me (a progress association) gives us strength at the council.
“That’s my vision: to try to get people together.”
Mayor Wayne Thorley said he, like his predecessor, was firmly in favour of strong progress associations who could speak for Murray Bridge’s smaller townships.
“We get a clearer understanding of what their needs are (through progress associations),” he said.
“It’d make sense to me for our small communities to give their concerns in a more direct way and for us to listen in a more organised way.
“It’s not about getting hundreds of thousands of dollars; it’s about being able to talk to the council about what your needs and expectations are, and being able to communicate with the community.”
Mr Clayson encouraged anyone interested in the idea to contact him, or come along to the hall’s annual general meeting next month.
Road safety is the biggest issue among Jervois residents
Mr Clayson was among about 25 people who showed up for a public meeting called by the Murray Bridge council on Tuesday night.
The topic was the future of the area, and particularly the next four years.
The issue most frequently raised on the night was road safety: there were not enough signs warning about schoolchildren, too few drivers slowed down in the 60 zone, the ferry road was rough, and there wasn’t enough lighting at intersections.
Attendees also wanted:
- protection from over-development
- better town entrance signs at Jervois and Wellington
- more opportunities for community connection
- better sporting facilities and more professional services in Murray Bridge
- truck traffic to be diverted along Flagstaff Road and other back roads, instead of Jervois Road, in the long term
Mr Thorley and council CEO Heather Barclay both pledged to listen to that feedback, and the feedback they would gather at other meetings around the district as the council developed its strategic plan for 2024-28.
Next week’s meetings will include one at the Mypolonga Institute, at 6pm on Monday; and another at the Monarto War Memorial Hall, at 6pm on Wednesday.
