Nicolle Flint (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Sunday, 12 August, I joined the dedicated Marino Residents Association volunteers and local residents for a working bee at Burnham Road, Kingston Park, in my electorate of Boothby. Kingston Park is one of the suburbs that make up the postcode 5049, which also includes Marino, Seacliff, Seacliff Park and Seaview Downs. This part of Adelaide is home to our best coastal views and coastline. The Marino Residents Association, also known as the 5049 Coastal Community, donate much of their time to preserving the local environment and advocating for issues that matter to our community. That's why I was delighted to join them in planting over 1,000 plants along the Kingston Park foreshore. This really was a whole-of-community effort with local residents, Councillor Lynda Yates and staff from the City of Holdfast Bay, Phil and Jo Rogers from LJ Hooker Glenelg, members of the Friends of Marino Conservation Park and the Marino Residents Association all helping out.

In addition to their fantastic planting efforts, the Marino Residents Association have worked hard on community issues including the restoration of services to the Seaford train line and the reopening of the Pine Avenue crossing at Seacliff, and I have been supporting them and our community in these efforts. I am always delighted to help the association out with the production of their quarterly newsletter and to play a small part in supporting their incredibly hard-working committee volunteers—President David Bagshaw, Vice-President Alison Cormack, Ric Bierbaum, Beryl Hall, Emma Sandery and Noel Paul.

I also want to take this opportunity to recognise the work of the Friends of Marino Conservation Park, who look after around 30 hectares of land surrounding the Marino lighthouse. I joined the Friends of Marino Conservation Park volunteers at the end of July for a very successful community planting day, when we planted native grasses and groundcover plants to add to the natural flora in the area. Working with the friends, I helped them to secure 2½ thousand dollars for seating along the Marino Conservation Park botanical trail so that visitors of all ages can stop and rest and enjoy the view as they enjoy the walk. The Marino Conservation Park does not just provide beautiful native coastal bushland on its hillsides; it also provides the most spectacular view of Adelaide's coastline and suburbs. I really do encourage everyone to visit the park. A huge thank you to Alan Wilson, Nigel Charman, Barbara Randall and all of the Friends of Marino Conservation Park for everything you do to ensure the future of our natural environment for many years to come.

As we know in this place, volunteer groups play such an important role in our communities and are just one of the reasons I am so proud to represent them and my community in this place.