Kiama Council will look for funds to help build a new storage facility for gardening equipment used by volunteers to maintain Peace Park on Manning Street.

The park is unofficially managed by three volunteer groups, the Illawarra Rose Society, Kiama Garden Society and the Friends of Peace Park, who volunteer their time and tools to maintain the park. Volunteers and neighbours have also taken over responsibility of mowing the grass, as Council services were stretched too thin to cut the grass.

However, volunteers find it difficult lugging all of their equipment, including lawn mowers and other gardening tools, to and from the park. The groups jointly requested a storage facility be erected so volunteers can store their equipment onsite, allowing them to maintain the park at any time of day without needing to return home first.

Colin Hollis, spokesperson for Peace Park’s volunteer groups, said they recently received a small community grant from the Federal Member for Gilmore Fiona Phillips for equipment. They had planned to use the grant to build a small storage facility, but Kiama Council placed so many conditions on it that it was impossible to proceed. Colin was told that even if all of the conditions were met, the volunteer groups would still need to pay $520 per annum to use the storage facility, which would be impossible for volunteers.

Colin suggested that the storage facility could be paid for using proceeds from the ‘Buy-a-Brick’ scheme, the brainchild of the late Winsome Barker. The program allows members of the community to essentially sponsor a brick at Peace Park by engraving their name or that of a loved one on the brick.

However, Kiama Council has retained all the funds made from the sale of these bricks, and Colin has stopped recommending members of the public purchase them.

Kiama Council voted on 21 November 2023 to consider seeking grant funding to help build the shed and acknowledge the roles of the Illawarra Rose Society, Kiama Garden Society and Friends of Peace Park.

Councillor Matt Brown successfully added an amendment to the motion to request a report from Council’s Director of Infrastructure and Liveability on how Council can assist the Kiama Rose Society in their ongoing work, including:

1.   The erection of a shed for the storage

2.   Bricks to be sold and laid

3.   Maintenance of the ground cover on the Manning Street side

4.   Insurance for works carried out

5.   Pepper-corn licence fee and

6.   Other related matters

The motion was unanimously approved by Kiama Council. Council’s business papers noted that its capacity to increase revenue funding for additional works was very restricted, and that the proposal could be referred to the forward budget estimates for consideration in the 2024-25 annual budget.