Cr Rogerson - Welcome home Ryan Tyack

What a tremendous thrill it was to see local Mapleton identity Ryan Tyack help secure Australia’s first medal at the Rio Olympics – a bronze – in the Team Archery!

To celebrate Ryan’s outstanding Olympic achievement and welcome him back home to Mapleton, we’re having a celebration at the Mapleton Bowls Club on Monday 29th August at 9.30am. Come and have a free home baked scrumptious morning Tea and help demonstrate our pride in Ryan’s achievement.

S etting the record straight re Petrie Park

Some residents have been critical in a couple of areas regarding the recent works council carried out in Petrie Park to provide separation between the dog-off-leash area and the adjoining junior hockey fields.

The first area of criticism relates to why we decided to undertake this project and create a barrier between dogs and the hockey players? There had been a lot of angst and complaints from the long established  Blue Demons Hockey Club about dogs running onto their fields and interfering with training and game day activities, especially with their younger players.

This was compounded by the fact that the grass on the designated dog off leash side of the park wasn’t mowed regularly enough to make it appealing for dogs and their owners to run around on. We’ve since remedied this by mowing the dog park to an acceptable length and installing a gazebo and water facilities in the far corner of the park.

The second area of criticism was around the bollards council installed to separate the hockey fields from the dog park. My first preference was to put a dividing barrier fence in place to separate the hockey players from the dogs, however this was not possible due to the fact that the park is subject to serious flooding during heavy rain periods and having a solid fence in such a flood-prone area would’ve created a potential safety hazard.

So given these circumstances, I am comfortable that what we’ve done in Petrie Park is the best possible outcome for the Hockey club and dog lovers combined.

Something BIG on the ‘Horizon’!

The countdown is well and truly on for the massive new arts and culture festival lighting up and entertaining the Sunshine Coast region from the hinterland to the sea, north to south.

The Horizon Festival from September 2 to 11 will include thought-provoking talks, engaging sculptures, block parties and art competitions, workshops, design technology, culinary delight and visual art and music all served up over ten days!

In all there’s more than 220 events taking place region-wide. For more details including a full program, check out www.horizonfestival.com.au

Round off for now, Rogo.