THE Bega Valley Shire Mayor, Cr David Hede, launched the Green Corps program at the Bega racecourse on Thursday.
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He told the gathering that the Bega Valley Shire Council had purchased the racecourse and its buildings when racing moved out to Kalaru.
Council has no real long term plan for the racecourse and two and a half years ago sold off half the course for farming.
Cr Hede said the racetrack buildings were heavily vandalised so when the Bega Youth Club Committee, later called On Track, requested the use of the buildings and what remained of the land for a community and youth centre, council agreed.
It fenced the area and On Track, now a committee of council and under the leadership of Miss Pam Wellham, started restoring the toilet block and the grounds.
However as the project was so large it put in a submission for a Green Corps program and this started some four weeks ago.
Cr Hede said he was pleased to be launching this unique and extremely beneficial program on behalf of the Federal Member for Eden-Monaro, Gary Nairn.
He said Green Corps, an Australian Government initiative, gives volunteers aged 17 to 20 the chance to participate in full-time projects designed to preserve, protect and restore our natural and cultural heritage, and this Green Corps project, the On Track youth and community facility, will bring life back to the old Bega racecourse and retain the character and history of the area.
Cr Hede said that Green Corps projects are built around the pillars of youth development, environmental and heritage benefit and working with communities
and expose participants to a range of activities and experiences which will enable them to develop skills to benefit the entire community.
"The restoration of the grandstand by the Green Corps participants will initiate youth ownership of the site and is the first step to creating a facility that will be a valuable future asset for the community and general public."
On behalf of Mr Nairn, Cr Hede thanked Auswide Projects, Far South Coast Landcare Association, Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources, Mission Australia, Blackwood Gully Products, Bega Valley Shire Council, Bega Valley Historical Society and the On Track committee for porviding their skills and knowledge to develop this important youth project for the Bega Valley.
The On Track - old Bega Racecourse youth and community Facility is based around the protection and enhancement of vulnerable ecosystems in the shire.
The team will undertake restoration of the old racecourse grandstand seats and stair railings to facilitate safe use.
They will construct a historical replica post and rail fence and a public barbecue area.
They will plant local species to create shelter belts for aesthetic and biodiversity benefits and revegetate the anabranch to stabilise riverbank areas.
Cr Hede said that since the Australian Government introduced Green Corps in 1997, more than 13,000 young Australians had benefited from participating in the six-month program.
To date the achievements of Green Corps volunteers include planting more than 13 million trees, erecting more than 7,000 kilometres of fencing, removing 37,000 hectares of weeds, collecting over 8,000 kilograms of seeds and building or maintaining 4,000 kilometres of walking track or boardwalk.
"Young people from the Bega Valley Shire region are encouraged to look into the benefits of joining Green Corps for a six-month placement.
"Green Corps offers improved career and employment prospects through accredited training, work experience and personal development opportunities.
"Green Corps participants receive an allowance of up to $376 each week,"
said Cr Hede.
The Green Corps team leader, David Pauza, thanked the chief executive officer of Auswide Projects, Kevin Stephens, and Henry Dodds from Bega Auswide and said everyone in Bega had been so supportive of the program.
Mr Pauza said that often being a member of Green Corps was the participant's first full time job and many have gone on to jobs as varied as a zoo keeper or farm manager.
Mr Stevens said that Mr Pauza had been with the Green Corps for two years and Auswide was extremely happy to have him in charge of this project.
It was very important for the local community to get involved in this project so that it would have great outcomes.
Mr Stevens thanked the assistance of Bob Gowing and Stan West from the On Track committee and Bill Laurie, and also Cr David Hede and council's general manager, David Jesson.
He said the participants were working well as a team and talking about their future.
Ms Krista Dodsworth, one of the Green Corps team, said that "We are restoring the heritage building by replacing broken objects with new, removing graffiti, repainting inside structures and general maintenance jobs."
"We have also designed a mural for one of the inside rooms.
"Our project's aim is to revamp the building side and rehabilitate the surrounding vegetation, so that in the future a local community and youth centre can be created, giving young locals a place to meet and hangout.
"When we first arrived at the site it was in a state of disrepair and we realised it was going to be an intense few months.
"To prepare for the work we put together a landscape design, cleared every weed and mowed extremely long grass.
"The landscape design is the basis of our work which consists of several garden beds and a barbecue area.
"I can't wait to see the end product and how all our hard work has paid off.
Krista thanked all the special guests for coming and the Green Corps leader, David Pauza for putting up with them, and she then thanked everyone in the team.
