The community of Gundurimba in Lismore is excited that a new playground and outdoor community area is on the cards to be built this year. 

Ngulingah Local Aboriginal Land Council chief executive and Wiradjuri Ngemba woman Roxanne Smith said it was thanks to two funding grants that the Ngahri Wa Jarjum, ‘children’s playground’ project would be able to go ahead. 

“We are going to buy lovely equipment for the community at Gundurimba,” she said.

“We already have a derelict playground there and a large number of young children and we want to give them something good.

“We got a small sum of money from the Northern Rivers Community Fund earlier this year and we’re combining it with the grant money from the State Government we just received to do the project.”

The Land Council recently received a grant of $39,353 from the NSW Government’s 2019 Community Building Partnership Program. It was one of 20 successful projects to receive funding in the local area. 

“We want to create a good place for our community which includes a BBQ area and gathering place where the community can get together," Ms Smith said.

Ms Smith said the existing community land and business plan had already outlined the need for better play equipment on the land.

“We’re not sure when it will be able to be built because of the coronavirus situation at the moment though," she said. "I guess it depends on the rest of the world at the moment as to when it happens."

Another one of the successful grant recipients in the 2019 Community Building Partnership Program was South Gundurimba Hall Incorporated, which received $6500 for hall repair and maintenance. 

State Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin said the two worthy projects were chosen out of 60 applicants and “spreading grassroots funding is a good way of providing practical support”.

“We are heading into an autumn and winter season, with the added challenges of COVID-19, and on the other side of this period, local communities will be looking to recover,” she said.