equipment

THE Hawks Nest Tea Gardens Progress Association (HNTGPA) Incorporated has been a successful recipient of a $117,464 grant in Round Five of the NSW Government’s Stronger Country Communities Fund to install outdoor exercise equipment in Providence Bay Park, Hawks Nest.

The Fund has provided more than $660 million to over 2,530 grassroots projects aimed at reinvigorating communities in every single regional local government area across NSW.

“We are so excited that we can deliver this project

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FROM Page 1 over the contentious use of a Swan Bay holiday village as a 'transitional group home'.

The site, at the Fisherman’s Village on Moffats Road in Swan Bay, is currently being used, in-part, by Connect Global Ltd, a ‘drug and alcohol treatment centre running a restoration program dedicated to helping men in the recovery stage of their addiction’.

The strata-managed Fisherman's Village site includes 46 cabins, a large shed, tennis courts and a pool.

Connect Global has been operating at the Moffats Road site since 2013, with the service experiencing significant growth in the past several years.

Also frequenting the site are holidaymakers and residents who come to the Fisherman’s Village to enjoy the riverfront location and park amenities.

Local residents, of both the Fisherman’s Village and greater Swan Bay, have pushed back against the use of the site as a rehabilitation facility, forming the Swan Bay Action Group to coordinate their efforts.

Currently zoned RU2 Rural Landscape, the Fisherman’s Village was originally marketed to investors in the mid-1990s as a holiday park.

“In 1994 I was around when it was advertised as a great investment, you could use it as your own holiday home,” a member of the Swan Bay Action Group told News Of The Area.

“The attractions were the tennis courts, swimming pool and the pretend golf course.”

Connect Global is operated by director Ross Pene, who with his wife owns several of the Fisherman’s Village cabins.

A majority of the remaining cabins are owned by Fisherman’s Village Swan Bay Proprietary Limited, whose director is Mr Hilton Grugeon, who Mr Pene describes as his business partner.

Mr Grugeon is well known across the Hunter for his involvement in large scale industrial developments.

The Swan Bay Action Group have expressed numerous concerns about the suitability of the site as a rehabilitation facility.

In the current arrangement, participants of the Connect Global program are allowed shared access to the Village’s communal pool and tennis courts.

“The community has raised concerns due to the large congregation of men sent by the courts after substance abuse and with some violent backgrounds to Fisherman’s Village,” said a Swan Bay Action Group spokesperson.

“This is an unfenced facility, where men on parole and on bail are able to roam around with lots of freedom and mix with families with children.

“The location of the facility is too far from the police, hospital etc.

“Compliance issues have been raised and complaints have been raised to Port Stephens Council, as the way some of these men act around the residents and holiday makers has caused fear and some people have left their holidays early.

“Everyone deserves a second chance but this site is totally inappropropriate and the community has strongly objected,” the spokesperson said.

Swan Bay residents have expressed concerns over a perceived lack of supervision on site, particularly given the criminal history of some Connect Global participants.

Community members have also raised concerns about holidaymakers and cabin residents being subject to intimidation from Connect Global staff, and alcohol being accessed by program participants.

Residents of the Fisherman’s Village who are not subject to Connect Global program rules are freely allowed to consume alcohol on site, within metres of cabins used for rehabilitation purposes.

Pictures attained by the Swan Bay Action Group from social media show groups of men in outlaw motorcycle gang colours drinking alcohol on site at Connect Global, as well as alcohol stored in the on-site shed, formerly the home of Moffat’s Oyster Barn restaurant.

Much of the protest from Fisherman’s Village residents about the use of the site revolves around the ‘oyster barn’, which village bylaws state must be used as a restaurant.

The barn is now used by Connect Global to house staff offices, store boats and trailers and as the central location for rehabilitation program activities.

After complaints from local residents, a