Giving communities a voice of influence
www.mainbeach.qld.au have used their CGDN website to express the communities’ disapproval on losing the post office due to escalating rent prices in the district. Main Beach have included a poll on the front page of their website urging community members to vote on the issue.
www.wollombi.nsw.au have used their CGDN as a platform to protest against Gas mining in the Wollombi area. Web master Peter Firminger has commented that many residents stop him to speak about the issue and use the website to find out the latest information concerning the issue.
The small Bundanoon community in NSW made headlines around the world in July 09 announcing plans to become Australia’s first bottled water free town, an initiative featured on www.bundanoon.nsw.au.
According to website manager Geoff Stewart of the Bundanoon Community Association (BCA), hits to their community website doubled on the day of the announcement with the majority visiting the news item about the bottled water issue. The total hits to the website for the week were over 4500.
When originally applying for the Bundanoon CGDN, the BCA stated one of their intentions in creating a community website as keeping the community informed about local news and any relevant information. Little did they know their community site would in fact keep the world informed with environmental websites from the USA providing links to www.bundanoon.nsw.au for information about ‘Bundy on Tap’.
