LIKE the brilliant war memorial by the Nambucca River, things can take a while to happen in Macksville, but when they do - they get it right.
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And so it was this morning, as a group of key stakeholders including local State MP Melinda Pavey and mayor Rhonda Hoban toured the new health precinct in the heart of the town.
The precinct - over one block of land - includes a new custom-built skate park, a concrete jogging trail, an outdoor gym station, new exercise spaces at the YMCA and light towers. These assets complement the existing netball courts and sports fields.
While drizzle subdued the action at the new skate park, Donny Fraser from Australian Skateboarding Community Initiative and Robbie Widdrington - a longtime lobbyist for a better facility at Macksville - were promising action when the rain stopped.
One of the most impressive assets in the precinct is the halogen light towers, which cost around $250,000. While LED lighting was considered, it is still considered experimental for this purpose, and would have roughly doubled the cost. An interesting point on the new towers is that registered user groups can turn the lights off and on through their smart phone, so they are only billed for the time that they need.
As the VIPs with brollies in hand toured the facilities, the Macksville Falcons staged a touch football match, where a club official noted the association had been running for only a few years and that every year, an additional 100 players had come on the books.
Enjoy the gallery from this morning.