Grafton News

Jacaranda about to bloom

Published

1 year ago

11 October 2022

JeffG

Jacaranda about to bloom

By Tim Howard

Graftonians have a saying to describe the swift passage of the second half of the year: July Carnival, Jacaranda, Christmas.

And in the time it takes a purple blossom to drop, the second of those is almost upon us.

Officially the Jacaranda Festival dates are October 28 to November 6, but there are far too many opportunities available to fit them all in that time.

Already – as a tribute to the memory of Queen Elizabeth – the purple Jacaranda Crown lights up the Clocktower in Prince St, a month ahead of schedule.

And at the weekend Westlawn residents enjoyed the performances at Jacarok booming out at the race track.

On Saturday many will be frocked and suited up for the Jacaranda Ball at the Grafton PCYC.

Popular covers group The McKenzie Big Band have been booked for the evening and Erin Brown from Vines@39 is catering.

Tickets at $120 a head, which include a complimentary welcome drink canapés, main meal and dessert, are still available and can be bought online on the www.jacarandafestival.com webpage. As a bonus, every sixth ticket in a group booking entitles the table to a bottle of bubbles to share. The fun kicks off at 6pm.

Fans of the purple flower are in for a treat next week when See Park lights up at night, revealing the spectacular night time show the trees put on.

Clarence Valley Council shone lights on the trees for the first time last Jacaranda and it was one of the highlights of the festival.

The lights will stay on until November 10, but for the first three evenings there will be entertainment and food trucks at the park.

And keep your camera and phone handy for a chance to take part in the Bendigo Banks Snap Shire Win competition.

For the duration of the festival if you take a picture you think captures the spirit of Jacaranda, post in online and tag it @GraftonJacarandaFestival and @BendigoBank for a chance to win.

Another unofficial event of Jacaranda is spotting the first blooms.

Unsurprisingly as climate change takes effect the blooms have come earlier each year, although not always in the same fashion.

A traditional early bird has been the tree opposite the Pound St entrance to the Food Emporium, which beats the rest of the city’s trees by around a week in getting a fell head of blooms.

Arborists say it’s likely it benefits from the reflection from both the Emporium and the big windows of the Grafton Library.

Although it again bloomed earlier than most this year, sharp-eyed observers spotted another phenomenon, small individual sprays of jacarandas blooming well ahead of the the rest of the tree.

Some were spotted in the first week of September and were only confined to one or two branches.

The early blooming jacaranda has not been confined to Grafton.

Scientists at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, decided this phenomenon, known as phenological shift, deserved more investigation.

In September each year, South Africa’s Gauteng province turns purple.

The cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria are well covered with trees – and jacarandas are a prominent part of this urban forest.

Elderly residents who have lived in Gauteng their whole life remember jacarandas did not always flower in September.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the trees only started to bloom in mid-November.

Gradually over the decades, the date of bloom has advanced through October to the early weeks of September.

One of the investigators, Jennifer Fitchett, wrote of their findings last year.

“We mined these sources to compile a list of flowering dates of jacaranda trees spanning 1927-2019,” she said.

“The advance in flowering took place against a backdrop of warming temperatures, ranging from 0.1-0.2°C per decade for daily maximum temperatures and a more rapid 0.2-0.4°C per decade for daily minimum temperatures. Rainfall changes during this time were less uniform.”

The scientist said if plants flower too early in the year, they were at risk of frost damage during the late winter months, and often do not complete their dormancy.

But they warned these shifts cannot continue indefinitely.

“At a critical threshold, the flowering season will become unsuccessful,” she wrote.

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Grafton News

City landmark falls to start $29.5 mil project

Published

2 weeks ago

22 November 2023

Liam

Bathurst builder Hines Constructions won the contract for the $29.5 million build of the Regional Aquatic Facility.

City landmark falls to start $29.5 mil project

By Tim Howard

A Grafton landmark has disappeared in the past week, but it’s proof that a much awaited facility is on target for a December 2024 opening.

The Grafton Memorial Pool waterslide which dominated the landscaping of the pool grounds for decades has come down and heavy machinery has begun tearing up the pool structures and surrounding ground to begin stage one of the $29.5 million project

The head contractor, Bathurst firm Hines Constructions Pty Ltd, has promised Clarence Valley Council it will complete stage 1 of the project, known as the Regional Aquatic Centre, by December 2024.

The first stage will include the indoor facility, which includes two 25 metre pools.

The 50m outdoor pool will be part of Stage 2 of the project

The start of construction will rule out any use of the Grafton Pool site over the summer.

Heavy machiney at work beginning to demolish the pools as part of stage 1 of the Regional Aquatic Project.

In 2022-23, despite the closure of the pool, the water slide was opened at selected times.

The pool has a close connection to the Grafton community

It’s origins go back to December 11, 1943, when 13 Cub Scouts drowned in the Clarence River returning from a picnic on Susan Island.

Findings from the tragedy revealed most of the boys had not learned to swim and the community resolved to raise funds to build a pool so children could learn to swim at an early age.

The name Grafton Memorial Pool was a reference to the boys that died on that day almost 80 years ago.

After fundraising, construction of the pool began in 1954 and it opened in 1956, the year of the Melbourne Olympics.

In the pool’s first year of operation it was visited by a touring squad of Olympic swimmers which included Sport Australia Hall of Famer, Jon Henricks.

During the visit Henricks competed in the 50m freestyle at a club event which he won in 25.60 seconds before going on to Melbourne to become Australia’s first ever Olympic 100m freestyle champion and set a new world record.

Bathurst builder Hines Constructions won the contract for the $29.5 million build of the Regional Aquatic Facility.

Henricks’ record, which stood for 60 years as the fastest 50m in the Grafton Olympic Pool, was beaten in 2016 by local swimmer Charlie Steele in a time of 25.11 seconds.

Over the years the addition of the waterslide and diving pool turned the facility into a regional attraction which brought visitors to the city.

But the past decade revealed issues at the pool, which included a massive water leak.

It is believed the water escaping from the pool into the ground around it has created a sinkhole responsible for the structural instability which forced the council to close the pool ahead of the 2022-23 swimming season.

The council had developed a shovel-ready plan for the Regional Aquatic Centre, which has been used for the current project.

Future stages will include the 50m outdoor pool and two waterslide.

For more local Grafton news, click here.

Grafton News

POP-UP OPPORTUNITY

Published

3 weeks ago

15 November 2023

Liam

Grafton Regional Gallery is seeking expressions of interest to operate a pop-up at the Gallery over summer.

POP-UP OPPORTUNITY

Grafton Regional Gallery is seeking expressions of interest from cafés, coffee vendors, and retailers, who would like to operate a pop-up at the Gallery over summer.

Located in a vibrant regional art gallery precinct and surrounded by stunning heritage gardens, the gallery Café is an exciting opportunity to be part of a multifaceted facility which provides a cultural hub for the Clarence Valley community and visitors to the region.

Grafton Regional Gallery is seeking expressions of interest to operate a pop-up at the Gallery over summer.

The café has a fully operational commercial kitchen and servery, with access to indoor seating and two spacious outdoor areas – one in a garden setting, and the other on a deck within the Gallery precinct. Alongside this, historic Prentice House West has generous rooms available with potential for multipurpose commercial ventures including retail or dining.

Grafton Regional Gallery Director, Sarah Gurich, welcomes all ideas from vendors, ‘The Gallery precinct provides great opportunity for retailers to expand their commercial presence and work alongside the enthusiastic Gallery team to deliver experiences for locals and visitors alike.’

For expressions of interest, please email the Gallery at gallery@clarence.nsw.gov.au or call 02 6641 7300 for more information.

For more local Grafton news, click here.

Grafton News

Remembrance Day back to its best

Published

3 weeks ago

15 November 2023

Liam

The contingent of veterans marches proudly from the parade ground at the conclusion of the 2023 Grafton Remembrance Day Service in Memorial Park on Saturday.

Remembrance Day back to its best

By Tim Howard

Grafton’s Memorial Park was back to its beautiful if slightly remodelled best to commemorate Remembrance Day on Saturday.

The annual service on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month honours the hour hostilities ceased on the Western Front in 1918, ending the four years of carnage that was World War 1.

For more than two years, the park had been a construction site for the Grafton Waterfront Precinct, which opened in July.

The Grafton Show party lay their wreath on the Grafton Cenotaph during the Remembrance Day service in Memorial Park on Saturday.

While the park and cenotaph remained as the venue for the annual Anzac Day and Remembrance Day services, construction restricted the space for people to gather.

On Saturday the park was back to its best, with recent rain greening the grass and the sun shining.

Marquees had been erected to shelter people from the sun and a good crowd attended for the Remembrance Day service and the service soon after to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the construction and opening of the cenotaph.

Student leaders from Clarence Valley Anglican School carry a wreath to the Grafton Cenotaph during Saturday’s Remembrance Day Service.

Grafton RSL Sub-Branch secretary Denis Benfield, said it was good to have the park back at its best.

“The council did a great job for us during the construction stage,” he said.

“They were always able to get it ready for us for Anzac Days, Remembrance or Vietnam Veterans services, even when it didn’t look like it could be possible.

The contingent of veterans marches proudly from the parade ground at the conclusion of the 2023 Grafton Remembrance Day Service in Memorial Park on Saturday.

Mr Benfield said thank Grafton Midday Rotary for their generosity in providing marquees for the people who attended.

“With the sun coming out today it was good to have somewhere for people to be under cover because we had the two services today, one after the other,” he said.

For more local Grafton news, click here.