THE community of Narooma celebrated the opening of the Narooma Flat streetscape project on Saturday morning with Paddle Pops and the planting of trees.
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The celebrations were the culmination of the $4.6 million street improvement project by Eurobodalla Shire Council on the Narooma Flat, which includes the big new roundabout, new vegetation and pathways complete with hand-fashioned stone walls, a new playground at the visitor centre and a new pathway up to a spruced up Ted Street Park including Paddle Pop shaped seats and signs.
And the Streets Ice Cream Paddle Pop lion was there to hand out ice creams.
Mayor Lindsay Brown spoke to a crowd of more than 100 paying tribute to Ted Street, the founder of the ice cream company who retired to the town of Narooma.
“Thank-you to the town for being so patient and to the council staff,” he said.
State Member and now treasurer Andrew Constance was also present to hear the mayor thank the NSW government for contributing $1.5 million.
“To see the aesthetics of the place is remarkable and congratulations to everyone here and everyone involved,” Constance said.
“It is rewarding seeing ratepayers money put into projects like this that should increase property values and boost business around town.”
Council infrastructure manager Warren Sharpe gave additional details including that it was not the “Brownabout” but more an elliptical shape, while there had been 12,000 shrubs, plants and trees planted.
He also noted that Essential Energy had provided $100,000 toward the $900,000 cost of undergrounding the power lines, while Caltex had provided $25,000 toward work around its old service station site, now rehabilitated and for sale.
He recognised the council’s workers and streetscaping committee, including Narooma Sporting and Services Club president Graham Reeve, Chamber of Commerce president Orit Karny Winters, Big 4 regional manager Lyn Field who attended Saturday.
A surprise element to the celebration was a backdrop of around 20 protestors from the SAFE or Stop Arms Fairs in Eurobodalla organisation with placards against the Narooma HuntFest event.
Young Narooma singing talent Samantha Sly provided musical entertainment with the assistance of Merinda Antill, while Narooma Rotary members provided free sausage and rissole sandwiches.
Narooma Public School students planted a row of mock olive trees along the boundary between the visitor centre at the Big 4 Easts Village.
The young trees were grown from cuttings taken by local accomplished gardener Ellie Gross from the tree still standing at the site of the town’s original primary school at “The Pines” on the southern entry to Narooma.
And in a remarkable coincidence the event also happened to be a great homecoming for former Narooma High School student Allan van Breukelen, who now despite of his young age is an assistant brand manager at the Streets Ice Cream company in charge of Paddle Pops and Blue Ribbon.
He graduated from Narooma High in 2008 and studied commerce and arts at the University of NSW before getting the job with the Unilever corporation at Streets.
