Put Orange First - News Update

From Team Orange

It’s been a few weeks since I last reported on what’s been happening with Put Orange First. There’s a reason for that, we’ve been thinking of how best to utilise the people power of Orange to get the attention of our civic leaders about some of the issues we, the people, think are important.

With that being the case, we recognise that our views are not necessarily the views of the majority and that there are ways that we can harness the collective voice of our residents to help guide the issues we try to get results on.

A little bit of background… Team Orange was formed with a view to finding small ways to improve the mood around Orange. I think we can all agree that Orange is one the best places you could find to live. It’s a wonderful place that offers so many opportunities and a lifestyle that is envied. In saying that, our belief from the people we communicate with is that there is a general feeling of apathy and that Orange could be better. As a centre that is attracting more and more young families, there are more and more reasons to make Orange a great place to move to and raise a family.

We feel there a few contributing factors to the mood in Orange…

-        Electrolux closing

-        Myer closing

-        Talk of Big W closing

-        A tired main street

-        Too many empty shops and lease costs that are too high

-        A council that often seems to not be on the same wavelength as their constituents

Now, to be fair, there are many wonderful things happening around town, but our perception is our reality. And the moment we ‘feel’ a certain way, it can be hard to change those feelings. We in no way want to talk Orange down… we just want to brighten the mood wherever we can.

With that in mind, below are some of the things we believe can make a measurable difference and be quickly delivered to bring more smiles to faces around town:

·        Working to bring local business and community in alignment because when they are unison our city will thrive (this is our ‘Put Orange First’ Community Project)

·        Getting toilets built in Robertson Park

·        Having colourful flags hanging on the Summer Street flag poles all year round, with the flags highlighting the great aspects of Orange life (not only when events are being promoted).

·        Generating a buzz in the CBD via regular ‘market-day’ style events (you may have noticed our recent ‘Pot Luck Saturday’ initiative).

·        Getting Put Orange First branding on certain vehicles that are highly visible around the city.

·        A community pizza oven to be built for the enjoyment of all (more on that idea later)

·        Holding our Council more accountable between elections via a means of conveying the feelings of community in a collective manner.

We want your help to let us know if where on the right track and if we are, to convey our feelings to those in positions to make things happen.

To facilitate that, we’re asking you to head to our Put Orange First/Team Orange Facebook page (as well as the Orange City Life page if you haven’t already liked it) and join us. We are going to be running regular polls via Facebook to vote on issues you think are important. That way, we can collectively work together to drive progress on the issues that are important to the majority of us.

To kick things off, we’ve identified the toilets in Robertson Park as a hot button issue. It’s become our Brexit issue – an issue where our leaders can’t seem to find a solution. For more on that, see page 15 of this issue and if you’d like to, fill out the coupon to make your feelings felt!