Travel program funds community directory

A government program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, by encouraging more efficient travel, has supported a local initiative to produce a community services directory for the Peninsula.

Funds from the Travelsmart program will be used to print and distribute The Local directory to Peninsula households.

The Travelsmart program was launched on the Peninsula last year, with the aim to get more people to use public transport, cycling and walking and only use cars when necessary.

It was anticipated that it would concentrate on getting people to voluntarily commit to trying different ways to travel.

However, directory designers Sarah Rimmer and Jane Tenney argued successfully that people would make more use of their local area and thus travel less if they knew what was available locally.

"So Travelsmart would pay for the printing, and we were then well on our way to producing the first edition of a comprehensive Peninsula Local Directory.

The purpose of The Local is to be a community directory, "by the people for the people".

Love Living Locally is its catchcry.

Ms Rimmer said the directory encouraged people to get the most from their community, to access all the local resources, suppliers and services, activities and beauty spots and to give the most back to the community.

The Local will be distributed free of charge to 20,000 homes across the Peninsula in late January.

Around 2000 copies will go to Real Estate Agents who will distribute them to new home owners throughout the year.

Ms Rimmer said she conceived the idea for the directory after having moved to the Peninsula from Sydney.

"When I first moved to the Peninsula in November 2002 I had a 10 month old baby and soon fell pregnant with my second child," Ms Rimmer said.

"As I had moved up from Sydney and my family are in England, I didn't know anyone or have any support network around me.

"I was very interested in finding out what was available in the area.

"Soon I discovered there was an awful lot of resources, things to do and see and a great community up here.

"The more people I met, the more I would hear of different groups and activities and so on and I initially had a vision of producing a directory for new mums and people new to the area.

"I had bumped in to Jane Tenney who I knew from Sydney.

"Jane is an accomplished graphic designer who had designed and produced promotional material for a project I worked on in Sydney in 2000.

"Like myself, Jane made the 'sea change' up to the Coast when she had her baby, Tom.

"When I bumped into Jane, literally in a supermarket pushing our respective prams, she invited me to her mothers' group, introduced me to a lot of great people and turned out to be a fount of information about the local area.

" I had this strong sense to talk to Jane about the possibility of working together on something.

"That was about March last year and the more we talked the more the idea kept evolving.

"We looked at doing different specialist directories that would meet the needs of particular groups, like youth, home renovations and so.

"However the more research we did, the more it became apparent that the most useful book we could produce, was one that aimed to cover everybody's needs.

"Suddenly the project had grown.

"We realised that for it to be effective, it would need to be free of charge and be delivered directly to people's homes.

"Neither Jane nor I had any capital to invest, so it was a leap of faith and a real belief that this would be a great thing to do for the community and therefore there would be enough commercial advertisers to at least cover the cost of printing the directory the first year.

"With that decision, suddenly doors started opening and we received an awful lot of encouragement and support.

"While researching local information in Umina Library, Jane came across Julie Parsons, project manager from the Premiers Department, who is working on a two year program to support Peninsula community projects.

"Julie introduced us to many community groups who gave us great feedback and extended our network.

"A pilot copy of the directory was published for just the Woy Woy area in July last year.

"This came from being introduced to Helen Ballentino who runs the Travelsmart project.

"This is a government funded program that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging people to make more use of their local area and thus travel less.

"One of their strategies is putting out local directories that ensure people know what is available on their doorstep.

"This was great synergy for us as we had already collated the information.

Anyone who has not received a copy by early February can contact 4341 0143 to get a copy delivered, or to advertise.

All community listings and "not for profit" organisations are listed free of charge, while businesses incur a fee.

The directory will come out each January and anybody is welcome to apply.

"By supporting local businesses you strengthen what your community can offer over time," Ms Rimmer said.

Ms Rimmer added that shopping locally would also help people the community in ways such as getting fit by using the car less, cycling, walking, getting to know more people in their neighbourhood and building up great relationships.

"You can get just about anything you want on the Peninsula, so save on petrol and time and support local businesses."

Lyle Stone, January 17