Stay awhile on Wray Ave – soak up a Solar PARKlet

PARK(ing) day pop up parklet

I love the design for the Wray Ave Solar Parklet. It’s a proposed expansion of community space here on the Ave. These photos are from a fun afternoon letting people know about the proposal, whilst celebrating international PARK(ing) day. ABC news got in on the action.

The parklet recently won City of Fremantle Start Some Good funding support, now we just need to crowdfund the rest to make it a reality before the end of October: http://startsomegood.com/Venture/wray_ave_solar_parklet

According to designer Jean Paul Horre “The Wray Ave Solar Parklet is a public place designed to enhance the community by redeveloping road space into a public park with a small garden, seating and solar power to charge personal devices and light the dark at night.

The park transforms unused space into community space, providing a place to meet friends, watch the world go by or to rest on your way elsewhere.

The sustainable solar parklet will be build using reclaimed materials by local crafts people.

It is carefully designed to enhance local identity and community interaction by providing a place to meet and linger.

So what is it? A parklet is basically a cleverly designed sidewalk rest stop with seating and plants and other anemities that may not be provided yet. In this design on Wray Ave the parklet will have solar lighting and power along with permanant seating and plants.”

Winter verge busy bee 2015

Who would have thought that 49 Wray Ave would consistently inspire verge busy bee coordination? When Diane and Ian rented their home out Marc and Danielle soon stepped into their shoes and were getting active on the street. Massive thanks to them for organising our last busy bee (including many loads of mulch shovelling and transportation) and best wishes for home making in East Freo! Hats off to Louise, Matt, Bonnie & Harry for transforming their neighbours verge seeings as theirs is paved and Mark from Samson St for lending a hand. Jo is keeping hers spruced still I see. Thanks to Cherise who was on hand for landscaping expertise. Great to have a coffee with you afterwards Mark (x3!), Cristiane, Lee, June, Heath et al. Thanks muchly to Councillor Rachel Pemberton for helping weed and for shouting the volunteers a coffee – and to Lenny the Ox for coming to the party and making it a feast!

Thank you flowers to Marc & Danielle!

Lookin good

March of the Lanterns 2015

It has taken a while, but it’s happening again!

That’s right, the March of the Lanterns festival first run in 2012 is happening on Earth Hour this month.

We tried to get it happening in 2013 but for various reasons we couldn’t get it off the ground but we committed to running it this year so we’re doing it all over again!

The awesome folks form this term’s Living Smart course are bursting to be involved and it’s going to be a blast.

We’ll be running it out of Replants on Wray Avenue from 3.30pm Saturday 28 March, with local musicians providing entertainment, and vegetarian food available for a donation.

We invite everyone in our local community to come down and make a lantern, meet old friends, make new friends, enjoy some local music and food and then take part in the march along Wray Avenue during Earth Hour between 8.30 and 9.30.

So turn off the power in your house, come on down and make a lantern to light up our community!

We first ran March of the Lanterns in 2012 and didn’t really know what it would be. We knew it involved making lanterns, music and community. And that we’d hope to get as many people out onto the street for as we could.

We also wanted to encourage people to think about their connection with everyone around them and the way they connect to and rely on the planet. We chose to do it on Earth Hour so we could, as a community, have a moment to reflect on how our behaviour can take so much from our world. Earth Hour gives an opportunity to turn off our power for 60 minutes and discover how many valuable and enjoyable things we can experience without relying on polluting, resource intensive energy.

We developed our lantern making skills with the help of the excellent Bec Massey from Little Carrot Productions and then organised the event. We used a almost entirely recycled and compostable materials for the lanterns and booked local musicians whose music spoke of care for our environment, something we’ll be doing this year.

We ended up with about 150 people sprawled along the verge of our busy avenue, watching musicians, making crazier and zanier lanterns. As Earth Hour approached, some kids asked if there was going to be a “march”. The musicians were up for it, so we walked being them with our lanterns held high, marching around the neighbourhood for the hour.

It’s was such a great night that we’ve been eager to do it again and because we’ve met so many keen and wonderful folk during our Living Smart course we’re going full steam ahead to do it this year.

If you’re interested in helping out with anything on the day, please get in touch.

Please note: this is a sustainable, waste-free, family-friendly event so please, no disposable plastic, take all rubbish away with you and consider walking, riding or catching public transport.

Street busy bee this Saturday (preparing for planting!)

Dianne and Mollie have been preparing for a little gathering for sprucing up the Ave this Saturday April 6, 7-10am.

If you’d like to help tidy up, have a chat about a group verge planting in May and a cuppa after – do come join us at any time! Looks like Dianne and Mollie have lined up great support for plants and mulch in May. Nice one ladies. See their full invite for Saturday below.

Tidy Up Wray Avenue Day
Saturday April 6th 2013

Dear Wray Avenue Resident,

Tidy Up Wray Avenue Day is part of an initiative, organized by local residents and supported by Fremantle City Council, to make the Avenue even more beautiful than it currently is. Over the last six months or so, a small group of residents has been involved in improving the verges in the Avenue. More than 20 grass trees were planted last August, all of which have survived the hot summer and are thriving. Occasional Rubbish Runs have been organized to pick up litter dropped by passers-by. There has been planting, mulching, pruning and clipping at various sites and our verges are looking the better for it.
Now we are hoping to extend the Verge Improvement Initiative along the whole length of Wray Avenue, from the Business Hub at the intersection with South Terrace to the Top End at South Street, and we’d like your help.

On Saturday April 6th, from 7am, we’d like you to join us for a morning of fresh air and gentle exercise as we tidy the verges in Wray Avenue in preparation for planting and mulching in May. Maybe you’d like to use this as an opportunity to do a job that you’ve been putting off for ages, and get stuck in to tidying up your own verge, and
perhaps get some help to do it. Or maybe you’d like to meet some of your neighbours and help them tidy up their section of the Avenue. Perhaps you’d be happy to wander up and down the Avenue picking up litter or pulling out a few unsightly weeds. Even if you can’t be there on the day, you can help by putting out your green wheelie bin so that we can dispose of the debris (we promise not to fill your bin up, and we’ll put it back onto your property when we’ve finished). Of course, if you want us to leave your verge alone, we will. Just let us know by Friday morning – you can ring Mollie on 9335 7946 or email Dianne (see below).

We’re meeting at the corner of Wray Avenue and Attfield Street at 7am., or come and find us later if you prefer a more leisurely start. The weather forecast is just right – not too hot and not too cool. Bring along a hat, gloves, sunscreen, water and any tools or implements that might come in handy – secateurs, shears, trowels, spades,
forks, rakes, brooms, bags and buckets, a wheel barrow if you have one and most importantly – a willingness to have a good time. We’ll finish with a coffee and a chat at the end of the session – we hope to be finishing up around 10am.

We’d also love to hear from anyone who wants to be part of the proposed Planting Day in May. The Wray Avenue Verge Volunteers and Fremantle City Council will to provide help to anyone who wants to plant and mulch the verge outside their property. Interested parties please note that you must be prepared to water your verge, especially in the period immediately after planting and in hot weather. The Verge Volunteers can help with ongoing maintenance. To help with organization, it would be really helpful if you can let us you are coming – contact Dianne on 0407 199 018 or emaildianbl@westnet.com.au. If you have any other queries or questions, feel free to get in touch.

Otherwise, we look forward to seeing you on Saturday morning!

Regards,
The Wray Avenue Verge Volunteers.

What’s next for Wray Ave?

Hello Wray-Avers

Gosh it’s been nearly a month since the pot luck catch at RePlants. There were so many great ideas being thrown around I really wanted to share them with those that couldn’t make it. Since then, there has also been some progress by various wonderful people getting these happenings going:

Wray Ave verge busy bee – Sat Apr 6
Clean Day – litter and pruning (prior to council greenwaste collection)

Wray Ave verge plant out – Sat May 25/26
Cheap vouchers from native nursery APACE make planting season a good time to get together…

Pop the dates in your calendar! And let us know what times of day suit you best here: http://doodle.com/s5inwsvkwhebxy5d

Meanwhile, back on Jan 30 at RePlants, Heath and I caught up with Therese from Gourmet on Wray and her kids, June & David Hutchinson, Paul Gamblin, Bob & Nellie, Heather, Mollie, Bruce & Joanie and Chris Dickison.There were lots of awesome ideas, including

– street / backyard busy bees
– skill sharing workshops (eg Heath’s vertical garden beds)
– a communal street verge compost bin
– verandah concerts
– a sculpture garden by Fremantle PS
– historical walking tours – possibly with David Hutchinson (following Alan Kelsall’s previous tour)
– a skills register
– pop up exhibits – bentech window perhaps?
– shared food growing gardens
– a Michael Mobbs inspired ecopop
– historical plaques for houses
– helping out others with their gardens
– home brew competition
– a lantern party!

Please let us know what you are excited about!!

Heath and I got quite involved in planning another lanterns party following discussions that night. But with the Blues n Roots festival leaving several people unavailable on Earth Hour (March 23), we were only aware of Heath, myself and Mollie to get things happening – with
support from Therese. With so many other commitments in the mix in Feb/Mar, I suggested to Heath’s dismay that we leave it for now. I hope that we can bring some music and warm glowing lights back to the Ave soon, it’s just more fun with more crew.

Apologies for any confusion with the chalk board dates at #40. Will update it soon…

Hope to see you soon  
love emma & heath

Welcome to the Wray Avenue Blog!

Hi!

This is a blog set up to discuss all things Wray Avenue.

It’s where I live and I’m very interested in this old street and its role in Fremantle’s history.

As I unearth things about the street I’ll post them here.

If you like what I write here, perhaps you can check out my other page knivesandforks.net, in which I review restaurants around the Fremantle and Perth area.

Enjoy!

Heath Adams