Finding the Flow - by Doug Prosser (a digital story from the Lake Illawarra MAP Project)

SYNOPSIS: Dougs passion for the Lake has taken him on a journey spanning many years and countless volunteer hours.
SCRIPT: Someone once said Volunteering is not a choice, it's a responsibility.

My love affair with the Lake started a long time ago. I was born in Lithgow and in the midst of the Great Depression in 1932 we moved to Port Kembla. I grew up in Cringila next door to the steelworks and then got my first pushbike and spent a lot of my time at the Lake.

In the mid 40s, I served my time as an apprentice fitter and turner and, because we were handy, a friend and I built kayaks out of striped canvas and wood and painted with house paint. We used to spend every weekend out on the Lake and camp on Gooseberry island when there was still the shell of the old dance hall that had been built in the late 1800s.

By the 1970s, there was a big migration push and big housing development. It was mostly a low-lying area and not controlled in any way.

I started to see the Lake I loved disappear.

In the 70s, I started to talk to anyone who would listen. Something had to be done. Councils and every government department had a finger in the pie but no one had responsibility. Unfortunately, the border between Shellharbour Council and Wollongong was right down the entrance.

About the mid-70s finally the Lake Illawarra Management Committee was formed.

The meetings were good. Everyone was welcome and we prepared some wonderful reports but could do nothing on the Lake to help the system because there was no budget.

I served as its original secretary/convenor and stayed there for 13 years.

Eventually the Lake Illawarra Authority was formed in 1988 and uniquely put under its own act of parliament in NSW. Then we started on the process of persuading the Councils and the other two levels of government to provide the money to actually do something.

The first four or five years were hard work. And the most frequently asked question was, "When are you going to fix the entrance?" and that became almost a war cry. But we knew it was going to be big dollars and it took us fifteen years before we were able to convince the councils and the government to supply the five million dollars for the first part of the breakwater and then only in the last couple of years to get the other six million dollars.

Whatever you do, it's always going to be controversial. The beauty of it is, if you are not paid, you're never afraid of losing your job.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Lake Illawarra
• Lake Illawarra Authority
• digital story
• migration
• volunteering
• Cringila

[meda789]

this is a good video and voice over. love cringila too.