The Paynesville Esplanade Blitz was a one off project to give this East Gippsland town centre a unique facelift and promote community pride in the town.
Armed with paintbrushes, glass mosaic tiles, building materials and an eight metre dolphin, the business community, schools and citizens spent two weeks creatively decorating the town centre.
The project also included construction of 25 planter boxes by a local group of retired men, school involvement in painting power poles with marine motifs, repainting of BBQ shelters, intersection and footpath improvements and new signage.
The project has established new relationships between the Shire, local businesses and the community based on the successful outcomes and a willingness to work together.
Materials were also produced including a new town logo and brand, entry signage, postcard, t-shirts and caps, wine labels and car stickers.
The project was jointly funded by East Gippsland Shire, Paynesville and District Community Bank and Paynesville Business and Tourism Association.
It has rekindled community trust in the Shire, created a sense of achievement and creativity, added to the attractiveness of the town for both locals and visitors, lifted business confidence and created an iconic feature of the Commonwealth Games dolphin.
“It has been a perfect community building project,” said Paynesville Business and Tourism Association President Janet McLeod. “The outcome has been really positive, everyone involved feels really positive about it.”
The Esplanade Blitz was made up of 18 discrete projects.
One of these involved an eight metre dolphin sculpture, acquired following the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, being liberated from the local pound.
Volunteers with shovels, welding equipment and massive stamina erected it on an amenities block on the lake foreshore in less than eight hours. The dolphin is floodlit at night and is a spectacular feature on the foreshore.
Council’s Manager Strategic Planning Martin Richardson said the project has given the community something of which to be proud.
“Even after the project’s completion, the community still has a renewed confidence and a real attachment to the works, mainly because they or their children were a part of it,” he said. “Overall we had well over 100 people involved, this included school groups, church groups and local business owners who worked tirelessly for two weeks on the project.”
