Your View HQ – A New Day for Holdfast Bay

Today is a big, exciting day for me. Today we launch a new online Community Engagement hub for the City of Holdfast Bay – Your View HQ.  This marvellous initiative is a South Australian first and it provides the Holdfast Bay community with a convenient and easy way to get more involved in Council’s decision making.

More importantly, it represents a Council opening it’s doors and ears and inviting, no more than that, encouraging and welcoming conversation and connectivity between both Council and it’s community as well as facilitating discussion and debate between community members.

The hub features news feeds, updates, polls, social networking links, key document libraries, a photo gallery, videos and other nifty features for people to explore and interact with.   Over the next year Your View HQ will host over 25 forums  for people to get stuck into – from dry zones, websites, master plans, libraries, customer service, public art and policy – there’s something here for everyone.

Coinciding with the launch of this online hub will also be improvements to other feedback mechanisms including feedback forms, face to face and other opportunities to link in with us – which ensures we provide other ways where people provide input via their preferred medium.

See, it’s very exciting and a real celebration for this community, which includes the seaside suburbs of Glenelg, Brighton, Hove, Somerton Park, Seacliff and Kingston Park.  I’m positive that it is going to make a HUGE difference, one which I hope taps into the enthusiasm of the people and stirs passions to reinvigorate the area, bringing new energy, zest, vitality and community spirit.

I hope you all get a chance to have a look this new tool and feel as excited about it as I do.  I’d love your suggestions, advice and feedback.  And by all means, sign up and give us your two bobs –  yourviewhq.holdfast.sa.gov.au

Enjoy

Meg

Book Crushing: Lucy Reads…. “Just Being Audrey”

Ever since I was a little girl, I have had a thing for children’s picture books.  I often find myself deeply moved by the beautiful meaning, humour, wiseness, generosity of these treasures and have a special spot for beautiful illustrations.

Fortunately for me, Miss 4 and 3/4s loves them too and we spend many blissful hours getting our snuggle on and exploring these worlds together.

At the moment we are LOVING  “Just Being Audrey” by Margaret Cardillo.  The story takes you from Audrey’s childhood and details the key moments that made her, her.  It really captures her beautiful spirit, free heart, whimsical character and her kindness.

“Just Being Audrey” is made so much more fabulous due to the magic of by one of my favourite children’s illustrators, the divinest Julia Denos, who is unbelievably talented and special.  You can find out more about her on her blog  http://www.thecinnamonrabbit.blogspot.com

Here’s the book trailer (oh how I heart a book trailer too):

Book trailer:  

This book has now sent us on an Audrey-a-thon – and we have added to this by watching her films – so far we have watched Sabrina and Roman Holiday…. She is really so lovely.

I’d love to hear about your special books:  What’s your favourite book? (note: mine is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by a million miles)  What are you reading at the moment?  What is your child’s favourite read?

More reviews to come soon x

Happy Easter everyone.

Meg