In this instalment of the Our Voice: Politics Albury-Wodonga podcast we are joined by Julie Hind (President) and AlisonMitchell (Vice-President) from Friends of Willow Park.

Friends of Willow Park are a community group which works to promote the protection and preservation of Wodonga’s Willow Park as public open space parkland.  In this discussion, Julie and Ali talk about the great social, economic and environmental value of Willow Park as an urban green space.  Along with being an important section of the House Creek corridor which flows through Wodonga into Wodonga Creek, Willow Park also is a source of social capital as a recreation area, as well as being integral to the town’s stormwater catchment and treatment.

These issues are well worth considering as urban development continues to encroach on our public green spaces, not only in Wodonga but in many urban centres around Australia.  The value of Willow Park’s wetlands and reed beds should also be underscored, given the damage caused repeated flooding events this summer to unconsolidated sections of the creek bank along House Creek outside of Willow Park.

Please enjoy this thought-provoking discussion with Julie Hind and Alison Mitchell from Friends of Willow Park.

DOWNLOAD: Interview with Julie Hind & Alison Mitchell from Friends of Willow Park.mp3

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Julie Hind is President of Friends of Willow Park.  She has considerable experience in developing integrated whole-of-government services and working with communities to identify service needs and develop innovative programs designed around those needs.  She has worked for many years in both the public and community services sectors, with experience in direct service delivery, senior management and state-wide policy development.  More recently, she has successfully completed project work in Afghanistan.  She holds graduate qualifications in education, Certificate IV in Workplace Assessment and Training, and has partially completed a Masters of Public Policy.

Alison Mitchell is Vice-President of the community group Friends of Willow Park.  She has taught at TAFE for 11 years and CSU for 2 years in a range of areas including sustainability and environmental management.  She is a past Board member of the North East Catchment Management Authority and the Albury-Wodonga Community College, and was employed by CSIRO at the Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre for 20 years where she was a a Research Scientist and Knowledge Broker.

For more information on Friends of Willow Park, visit their website or Facebook page.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of Our Voice: Politics Albury-Wodonga.

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