Local News – 239

Marrickville goes fair trade

Hot off establishing themselves as a solar-powered, carbon-neutral community, Marrickville Council is now seeking to become a Fair Trade Council after a unanimous endorsement on July 15th. The Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand recently wrote to Mayor Jo Haylen, inviting Council to become accredited as they already have one fair trader per 5,000 residents – evidence the local community feels strongly about the cause.

 

Arlington Reserve re-opens

Arlington Reserve in Dulwich Hill has undergone a $2.15 million makeover this year and Marrickville Council is celebrating with a family fun day to launch the new facility on Saturday 2nd August. The official re-opening ceremony will be held at 11.15am and residents are welcome to come along and enjoy demonstration soccer matches, face painting, balloon art as well as traditional Portuguese and Greek performances and food. Users of Arlington Reserve are delighted with the new state-of-the-art recreational facility, calling it a “dream come true,” while Mayor Jo Haylen said she was proud Council could give the community what it needed to grow and flourish.

 

Local travel specialist rewarded

Haberfield local Ric Pattaro took out the award for Best Travel Consultant (Corporate) at National Travel Industry Awards 2014 this July, beating out every other agent in the country. The prize was awarded to Ric for going above and beyond in his role as a corporate travel consultant, delivering consistently high levels of customer service.
“I am absolutely honoured and privileged to have been awarded Australia’s Best corporate travel consultant. To me it’s the highest accolade to be awarded in the Travel Industry,” said Ric, who has worked in the travel industry for over 25 years.

 

Council plans sporting facility upgrades

There was excitement amongst local sporting clubs this week as Leichhardt Council approved a plan for more than $1 million for sporting facility upgrades. The Mayor, Darcy Byrne, said that the upgrades, which include new netball courts in Darley Road, Leichhardt, are desperately needed. “For too long, underinvestment in sporting infrastructure has reduced opportunities for kids and young people taking part in local sport,” Cr Byrne said. “These upgrades are needed to make a positive impact in the sporting lives of our local kids and families.”  Birchgrove Oval and King George Oval, Rozelle will also benefit from upgrades to their playing surfaces.