Residents roll out Operation Fix Berkeley

By Laurel-Lee Roderick
Updated November 5 2012 - 10:46pm, first published October 4 2009 - 9:12am
Dorcas Toweh, 7, and Kayla Lynn, 9, at yesterday's Berkeley community barbecue. Picture: GREG TOTMAN
Dorcas Toweh, 7, and Kayla Lynn, 9, at yesterday's Berkeley community barbecue. Picture: GREG TOTMAN

Berkeley residents have set in motion the first of their initiatives designed to lift the suburb's image and tackle youth crime and vandalism.Less than a week after 150 residents met to discuss strategies to reinvent Berkeley, the first two projects are getting off the ground.Residents yesterday held a barbecue in Winnima Way to celebrate the Berkeley Life Centre Anglican Church's move into the former IGA supermarket.

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  • Berkeley: Illawarra's 'forgotten' suburb"We wanted to let people know that is where we will be, " Berkeley Life Centre spokeswoman Mel Winnell said."Eventually we are hoping to have a youth drop-in centre here and we want other organisations to become involved."The group's op-shop, which was in Kelly St, and church services held in the community centre will both move to the new site after the centre is set up.Since a public meeting last Tuesday, the group has received a positive response and begun receiving donations."We work with the neighbourhood centre and schools, but this will be the first time we will have had a drop-in centre," Ms Winnell said. One organiser of last week's meeting, Bob McKellar, said steps were being taken to set up environmental research in the suburb. The University of Wollongong's environmental studies faculty has come on board, forming a joint venture with Illawarra Sports High School to undertake marine, ecological and floodplain studies around Fred Finch Park, Mullet Creek and along the Lake Illawarra foreshore, Mr McKellar said.A new group, Lake Illawarra Northern Communities (LINCS) will help to drive the initiatives forward.
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