One year ago today, we launched the Save our Western Edge! community campaign to save Canberra’s critically endangered and culturally significant Western Edge from suburban sprawl development, and instead choose a fairer, more sustainable and better planned future for our city. Thanks to the efforts of hundreds of community members and groups, we have achieved extraordinary results over the first year of the campaign.
Together we have:
- Collected over 2,200 signatures on our campaign petition
- Engaged hundreds of people to volunteer on the campaign, with four local campaign teams now running across the electorates of Murrumbidgee, Ginninderra, Kurrajong and Brindabella
- Delivered 10 guided walks of the Western Edge for the public, with 6 more planned for this calendar year
- Run 15 Western Edge petition stalls out in the community, with 12 more already planned for this calendar year
- Had a documentary made about the campaign which was shown in two sold out cinemas and is now being viewed online across the ACT
- Filled the legislative assembly chamber and got featured in all local media outlets for our first mobilisation of the campaign in March, after which the government provided an impromptu update on the urban boundary
- Begun working with Traditional Owners, farmers, scientists, planning experts and community landcare groups to develop a proposal for how the Western Edge could be managed if it is protected from suburban sprawl development
Phew – that’s a lot! This is the power of a community campaign, where individual community members come together to pull off something much bigger and much more powerful than any one person or group could achieve alone. So a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has chipped in their time or resources to power this campaign so far – none of the above would have been achieved without you.
As we step into the second year of the campaign, we’re going to continuing to build our power, but also find more creative ways to start applying that power to save Canberra’s Western Edge and build a better future for our city. Here’s how you can get involved to power this exciting next stage of the campaign:
- Come to our next campaign mobilisation: Canberra’s Biggest Nutbush
- Get involved in your local campaign team
- Donate to our campaign fund
There’s countless ways to get involved and help power our campaign to save Canberra’s Western Edge. Whether you have just an hour here and there or would like to volunteer weekly, there’s something for everyone. Send our campaign manager, Aoibhinn, an email at aoibhinn.crimmins@conservationcouncil.org.au if you’d like to discuss your involvement in particular.
Here’s to another successful year of bringing about a better future for our bush capital!