Countdown to L’Etape
Property market booms p3
Call for More than 1
p5
Biggest garage sale p9
Kiama provides a soloist for SSO
p13
p15
6 FEB 2021
Input needed to fix dangerous corner Photo: @coolvestaus
Australia Day award winners
When is it time to do something about a known slippery road? Accidents and near misses continue to happen on a regular basis on the northbound lanes of the Princes Highway before the Weir Street exit, particularly when it is wet. Authorities say the corner is safe, with no need to upgrade, but locals disagree. “It is one of our most frequent callout locations for motor vehicle accidents,” says the Captain of the Gerringong Rural Fire Brigade, Adam Walmsley. “About three years ago
there were four or five crashes in one day there.” Jonathan Weinberg has used his emergency response vehicle and his military medical experience to assist at many accidents there. He took the picture above of an accident he assisted at on the last weekend of January, which resulted in a written off Toyota Camry and a badly damaged Nissan Nivara. “In the words of the ambulance driver, ‘Hey mate, we might as well hang around for the next few hours because there is definitely go-
ing to be another one today’,” says Mr Weinberg. While an expert driver, he says there has been times when even his vehicle would have fishtailed if it didn’t have all of the automatic warning equipment. “This is not an unrecognised problem locally,” he says. “There is something wrong with the surface, it needs to be grippier. “It also isn’t appropriately marked to warn of the danger.” Kiama resident Ally Brown
Phone: 42322757
21B Barney Street, KIAMA
Kiama’s Citizen of the Year for 2021 is community builder Tricia Ashelford. As the Manager, and one of the founders, of the Kiama Farmers’ Market she has gone above and beyond her paid role to make the Market a focal point for residents and visitors and a reliable income stream for local food producers. In winning the Award, she fulfilled the promise shown
continued on p10
Fax: 4232 2676 ksmr@bigpond.com
After Hours Towing 0438 424 574
31 years ago when she received the Young Citizen Award in Townsville. Our Senior of the Year, Evelaine Berry, has also devoted her life to helping others, including children with cancer and more recently those with dementia. In a year that brought the issue of youth suicide to the fore, the Young Citizen of the Year, Jordan Casson-Jones, was chosen for his brave
intervention for a friend and championing awareness of the issue. The Community Group of the Year, Makuta, was also inspired by the tragedies that occurred to become a force to raise money to help prevent youth suicide. Its mask making enterprise was supported by volunteers and donations from throughout the community, and so far $50,000 has been raised for the cause. Rather than abbreviate the achievements of the winners, their citations are printed in full on pages 14 and 16. Front: Evelaine Berry and Tricia Ashelford. Rear: David Griffin, Belinda Cruft and Rachael Peedom of Makuta, with Jordan Casson-Jones.
ALL MECHANICAL REPAIRS • LOG BOOK SERVICING • BRAKE & CLUTCH SPECIALIST • AUTO ELECTRICAL REPAIRS SMASH REPAIRS • INSURANCE CLAIMS & PRIVATE WORK • WINDSCREENS • TOWING TYRES • BALANCE AND ROTATION • FULL RANGE AVAILABLE REGISTRATIONS • PINK SLIPS – CAR, VAN, BIKE, TRAILERS