Hi there Save Walka supporters! Many of you have been writing in, looking for guidance about how you can be involved and what action we should be taking, both as a group and individually. 

We are overwhelmed by the numbers of people opposing the caravan park development, and demanding a better commitment from Council and State Government to preserve this beautiful site.

In order to give you an idea of where the campaign is heading we thought that we would also set out a few of our major action plans coming up, details of which will be posted in the weeks ahead - here are a small number for starters...

1. 
   State Government - We have started to raise our concerns with State Government as owner of the Crown Land site, which is mostly funding the redevelopment (MCC is contributing $2m). We are seeking meetings with relevant local and portfolio MPs and Departmental representatives. We will seek their commitment to revisit the scope of the funding to 
   prioritise the preservation of the natural site, allow Maitland City Council to retain their negotiated portion of grant funds and to stop the caravan park.
2. 
   Family event - we will shortly 'set the date' for a picnic at Walka, where you can all meet and enjoy the park in the lovely autumn weather. This will be a celebration of the beauty of the site, and of our public enjoyment of this space, historically and into the future. Let's show Council that the area for the planned Caravan Park belongs to the people of Maitland!
3. Public meeting - we will arrange a public meeting for all of you to attend, meet each other and discuss the issues in a public forum. We will invite Councillors and MPs to attend and to answer our queries.
4. 
   Letter writing - an important part of our campaign is to support you to send emails to Councillors and other relevant public persons and authorities to outline your concerns. We will post separately about this, and how you could go about it.
5. 
   Press interest – we have been approached by several media organisations and our media focussed campaign has started with our first press release resulting in this story by Newcastle Weekly Newcastle Weekly Save Walka Campaign
6. 
   Council - we will continue to hold Council and Councillors to account, to engage with them in the public domain and give them the opportunity to show their commitment to transparency and accountability. We will continue to insist that Council respond to us in writing about our Compliance concerns so that all communications with Council are known to the group as a whole.
7. 
   Posters- – WE NEED HELP WITH THIS. There are many residents and would be supporters who are not on social media and are unaware that this is happening. We need your help to reach these people. We all know of a local business, coffee shop, post office or someone who lives on a major road who would be happy to support us. If this is to be effective, we need many more of you to be involved. Please email savewalka@gmail.com if you can help. We can’t do this part without you! In order for you all to keep informed we are planning a weekly update. We will be calling out Councillors who don't answer our calls for transparency, provide you with an update of the weeks events, overview of upcoming events and how you can become involved in the campaign. For now, if you haven't please take a moment to share the petition, it only takes a moment and could make the world of difference in our conversations with politicians. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE INCREASE THE PETITION NUMBERS BEFORE THESE MEETINGS. WE ARE CURRENTLY AT 2154. 
   
   Have a good day! 
   Admin - Savewalka@gmail.com