logoCUDMIRRAH BERRARA SWANHAVEN
PROGRESS  ASSOCIATION INC.

Reg No Y2229039  ABN : 71 938 119 513 Email: click here
Mail to The Secretary, C/- 40 Berrara Road, Berrara.  NSW 2540.  Phone: (02) 4441 2738 (President)


News on this page:
updated  August 2016
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PROPOSED MURAL FOR BERRARA TOILET .

as part of a grant received by NPWS Shorebird Recovery, Local well know artist Robert Simpson has volunteered to paint the mural featured below on the Berrara Beach toilet free of charge.  

Berrara will have its own Robert Simpson original.

Robert's painting below which will be the design for the mural features the Little Tern, Pied Oyster catcher and of course the little Hooded Plover which are shown in the centre in the foreground.
The background is beautiful Berrara Beach.
shorebirds

CUDMIRRAH PATHWAY NEWS

STAGE 4 COMPLETED 2014 
HOFFMAN DRIVE TO THE SCHOOL IN THOMSON STREET

STAGE 3 COMPLETED August, 2012

 pathway 3  pathway4

Pathway looking north from near Cudmirrah Bridge        Trying out the new shared pathway, Shelley Hancock,                                                                                           David Tarbert, Joanna Gash and  Heather Dunnett

STAGE 2 COMPLETED APRIL 2011

Stage 2 of the shared pathway / track from Swanhaven to Ski Beach has been extended by another 300 metres and now finishes near the toilet block next to the boat ramp and parking area.
Work finished on the Friday the 8th April, 2011, just in time to be used over the School holidays and Easter Break.
This is a joint project of the Cudmirrah Berrara Swanhaven Progress Association  and the Rotary Club of Sussex Inlet, without whose assistance with insurance and managing donated money for pavers, our pathway would not be where it is today.
In this latest section, we have placed more pavers at the point where the new section joins the old section.

pathway%20st2%20extension%20start.jpg  

Stage 2 joins onto the completed section of our shared pathway on the shores of Swan Lake.

pathway%20st2%20extension%20end.jpg

Stage 2 ends near the toilet block next to the parking area/ boat ramp at ski beach Swan Lake.

We wish to thank all who participated in purchasing the pavers and all those who have put their own time into making this pathway become a reality. Special thanks to Peter Hawkins our Civil Engineer for his drawings and meetings with Council.  Thank you for all those who worked on laying the concrete and working to get this finished on time. 

pathway%20st2%20extension%20end.jpg

The money for this stage has come from the Community.  The table and chairs near the boat ramp were supplied by Council, (their only contribution to this section to date). We had our concreter, Berrara Beach Concreting, install this table and carry out work on the pathway. Originally this pathway -  or track as it was called, was going to be constructed  of gravel lined with boards, but we feel this is a more permanent path that will last for many years to come.

Stage 3 will be from the toilet to the 50/80klm sign near Cudmirrah Bridge.  We are looking at methods of obtaining funding for this part of the project and wish to put in in appropriate areas of our existing pathway, passive exercise equipment along the route for all those fitness enthusiasts to use and enjoy.

Take a walk along this new path and enjoy the beautiful views of Swan Lake and see what a community can do when they really work hard.


SHARED  PATHWAY  STAGE 1 OFFICIALLY OPENED 12TH JUNE 2010

ribbon cutting

Cutting the ribbon L to R:  Mr & Mrs Newis (Andrew Baker's Grandparents) - see story below, Peter Hawkins Michelle Green & her daughter, Peter and Heather Dunnett.
shelly jo
Our local Cudmirrah Berrara Rural Fire Brigade  members (L to R) Samantha Stiff and Christine Shaw made a spectacular entrance to open our shared pathway on their specially built "Rapid Response Vehicle" pictured here with our State Member for Soutgh Coast, Shelley Hancock and Federal Member for  Gilmore, Joanna Gash.
President Dave Tarbert in background.
meg
Cudmirrah Berrara Firies in attenance and Rotary supplied  a sausage sizzle.The Progress Association's helper Meg Dunnett served the soft drink or tea and coffee to those who wanted it.

The story behind this shared pathway project:

After the death of a young bicycle rider, Andrew Baker on the Springs Road sand hill, on the 28.12.1997, this Association started talking, planning and approaching Council to have this shared pathway between Ski Beach Cudmirrah and Dyball Reserve Swanhaven become a reality. Many earlier attempts by this Progress Association met with no luck at all. Just a lot of obstacles.
  • In 2003  we started again to try and build this shared pathway.
  • In 2004 we approached the then Mayor Greg Watson with our plan. We then had years of negotiating the widths of the pathway, the route, materials to be used and preparing documents and plans.
  • We finally addressed Council's Work & Finance Committee on Tuesday 13th June 2006.
  • Council approves our route on the 28th August, 2007.
  •          Work started under the guidance of our project civil engineer Peter Hawkins who volunteered his time to oversee the work and had prepared all our plans for Council
  •     We had BBQ launch on the 23rd August, 2009. (Project launch)
  •         Official opening took place on the 12th June, 2010.
  •        (Stage 1Completed) Stage 2 completed on the 8th April 2011
  •         Stage 3 completed  in June 2012
  •      Official opening of completed section 3 on the 30th August 2012.The Mayor Paul Green, his wife Michelle, State Member for South Coast Shelley Hancock and Federal Member for Gilmore, Joanna Gash were in attendance.

The middle section of this shared pathway will remain as a gravel road surface as this part also serves as an easement and access road for Shoalhaven Water and Integral Energy for sewer, water and power lines.
We  have obtained three grants, one for $26,000 from the Federal Government through Shoalhaven City Council, the others from the State Government Community Building Partnership for $10,000 in 2011 and a further $12,500 in 2012. Council put in some funds and the rest of the money was raised by the community donating money to purchase pavers that have been set into the concrete shared pathway.
The Rotary Club of Sussex Inlet has been a great assistance to this project by having the project come under the Rotary "umbrella" for insurance purposes, giving us assistance with holding a bank account for the monies received for pavers and paying out when the bills came in.
Rotary cooked a sausage sizzle at both openings for us. Thank you Rotary, we could not have carried out this project without your help.

Rotary bbq



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WHALES OFF BERRARA 2009

From the beginning of August 2009, were privileged to have two Southern Right Whales and their calves off Berrara Cove and Beach.  The calves were born here and  if the same happens as has it has in the past, they will be here for 4 - 6 weeks.
 Berrara has become the whale watching capital of our area.  On the 18th August,  there were six adult  Southern Right whales off Berrara Cove in groups of two. The nearest pair were no more than 50 metres from the rocks. The other whales were further down Berrara Beach.
What a sight! They were so close you could hear the whale noises, their exhale of spume into the air and of course their fins and tails slapping on the water.  How privileged are we?  In 2002 we had one mother whale and her calf here for about six weeks and this is the first time since then we have had whales for any length of time.
Never has there been so many people walking Berrara Beach or crowding the lookouts along the foreshore.
The  photos are not very good as I only had my 3X zoom camera with me but in each picture you can see at least one of the whales in each group and just how close in they were.
The Whales moved off after four weeks,about the end of August.  We just hope they put Berrara on their itenary next year.
whale1  whales4       whales3

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NEW OWNERS OF CUDMIRRAH SHOP 

new shop    new owners

               Cudmirrah Cafe                               New owners and  new chef

Changeover at Cudmirrah Café  17th April, 2014

For five years the friendly faces of Collette and Ian have run the Cudmirrah Café and Store and now they are moving on. They took over the brand new shell of the shop which rose out of the ashes of the  original Cudmirrah shop that was built by the Colliers around 1950. They fitted it out, set up the kitchen and made the business the success it is today. Everyone who has eaten there or just had coffee will tell you what a delightful place it is to visit. Collette and Ian have worked hard and been part of the community. We are sad to see them go.

The new owners are well known local people, Maria and Peter Cantarakis together with their daughter Gina and her husband, Evan Tekis. Gina and Evan have grown up in the area and many will recognise them when they walk in the shop.

In 2015 they installed a wood fired pizza oven and it is proving a great sucess.

 See elsewhere on this website for photos of the fire and the old shop with all its history.

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TOILET AT BERRARA CREEK  RESERVE BUILT BY VOLUNTEERS

NOW OPEN FOR BUSINESS

TOILET

Both locals and visitors to Berrara Creek Reserve will notice  that the toilet is “open for business”. It was built by our local tradesman who volunteered their time and labour to make this toilet a reality. Without their assistance, Berrara would still be waiting as long as eight years for the Council to build one.

Because of the lack of a toilet at Berrara, the Cudmirrah Berrara Swanhaven Progress Association approached Council with an offer to build a toilet using volunteer labour to do so. Council agreed and we were somewhat surprised when Peter Rasdall – the builder put in charge of the toilet project – was handed over by the Council representative, a folder thicker than the bible and with as nearly as many pages on the construction of same.  We also then found out that they expected us to organise to clear the site of trees and to connect the sewer which was on the other side of the park.  We did say we would build the toilet, but this was more than we expected.

Tony Corey                      Dave Neil

        Tony Anderson & Corey Bain             Dave Tarbert thanking  Neil Wiggins proprietor of Steve Daly  Tree Services

Luckily Neil Wiggins of Steve Daley Tree Services offered to clear the trees for us then fortunately, Greg Sullivan persuaded Steve Daley of Steve Daley Earthmoving to dig the trenches.  This left the way clear for Peter Dunnett of Berrara Beach Concreting and our plumbers Ian Brown and Alan Read to do their bit.

   Steve Daley                          toilet2

      Steve Daly digging the trenches                                                  First lot of plumbing done by Ian Brown and Alan Read 
                                                                              and  concrete poured and finished by Peter Dunnett April 2007
       

Of course, every time one tradesman finished and the next was to start, it always coincided with that particular persons busiest time.  Kolbe Hunt our bricklayer laid the concrete blocks over three weekends after working a full week at another site.

   kolby hunt                              toilet3

Koble Hunt  from Southern Skye Bricklaying laid the concrete blocks .  April - May 2007 Concrete blocks laid.  

Our builder Peter Rasdall, ended up having some of his staff working on the toilet, no doubt paying their wages whilst they were doing so. 

     toilet6                              toilet 5

September saw the toilet completed to lock up stage, thanks to Peter Rasdall of Beachview Constructions.  Thanks Peter and your crew. 

Our plumbers returned to the job to connect the sewer and ran into a lot of problems. They had Steve Daly come back to dig across the road to connect the pipe and his machine blew a http://new.mhl.nsw.gov.au/Site-216425hose, so they then persuaded Dave Kirkwood come out and finish the job.


                   Ian dave            Alan          pump

Pictured L to R Ian Brown directing Dave Kirkwood in the bobcat; Alan Read working inside the toilet; Hole dug by Steve Daley, the pump in place and being refilled  by Dave Kirkwood.

This is the sort of commitment these volunteers put in on this project and we cannot thank them enough for their assistance.

After a few phone calls and some terse emails to Council, explaining the problems that the plumbers were having and pointing out the fact that we said we would build the toilet, not all the extra entailed, Council found some money to finish the last of the work.

Every one who uses this toilet should be aware of all these local tradesmen’s efforts.

The Progress Association have had brick pavers with the names of all volunteers laid into the cement (courtesy of Peter Dunnett) next to the toilet, as a thank you and recognition of the volunteers commitment to this community project.

Thanks fellas from the Progress Association, the local community and all those who, over  probably the next fifty years, that make a convenience of this toilet.

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Swan Lake open at last

swanlakeopen  

On the night of the 16th June, 2007 Swan Lake finally burst open to the sea.  This photo was taken early on the Sunday morning of the 17th.  It was great to see. One can see the damage caused by the flooding and erosion due to the height of the water and the effect of the wind driven waves around the banks of Swan Lake.  Last time it was open was April 2002.
 It is lovely to see the white sandy beaches on the banks again. 

Since 2007 the Lake has opened again in 2013.


   swn lke       after
                 Errol Bond Reserve Cudmirrah before....................and after opening.                         
October 2009 Swan Lake is closed as is Berrara Creek and it will take months of rain to open them to the sea again.  

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HELPING OUR LOCAL  CHILDREN  GET A BMX TRACK - BICYCLE FACILITY.

This Progress Association is backing the campaign of two local boys, Bryce Taber and Ryan Wheeler, who on behalf of our local children to have a BMX bicycle facility for the Sussex Inlet area.  
The boys have approached the Sussex Inlet Community Forum and other Associations in the area for backing to have Council set aside some community land near the school to be made into a bicycle facility.  
This would be  a great facility for local children an would be a good thing for tourism in our area.  The weather is not always conducive to water sports and a lot of tourists bring their bikes with them on holidays.  This added facility would be a valuable addition  to the Sussex Inlet area . 

Shelley Hancock MP Member for the South Coast has added her weight to our campaign and along with the Shoalhaven City Council  has asked the Crown Lands Department to grant land near the sporting complex at Thomson Street for this BMX track.

March 2007.  The Department of Lands has approved the handing over of a parcel of land in Thomson Street. Council has to decide which land suits.  They were also given a grant of $10,000 from the State Government to develop the site, which must be spent within six months.

October 2009.  Council is still to start work on the BMX track.  The Golf Club have the necessary soil that con be used to form the jumps.  Come on Council, hurry up.

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