News from Around the Region

Good luck to the 30 softball players from Engawala, Laramba and Ti Tree who are travelling to Tennant Creek this week to represent Central Desert Regional Council at the AAI Central Australia Softball Tournament. Players will hit the field on Friday night and all day Saturday. Check our Facebook or website for the results next week!

Photo: Annalisa Dixon from Laramba waiting to bat.

It's not too late. There is still time to complete your Census.

Visit www.census.abs.gov.au for more information.

Central Desert Regional Council (CDRC) has hosted CAAMA Radio’s rebroadcast service in Atitjere for many years, helping to improve the liveability of the town. The quality of the old CAAMA transmitter was not good and only mono – very much like an AM broadcast radio station.  The antennas had been damaged a very long time ago and the service was struggling to cover the community.

Central Desert Regional Council’s (CDRC) Atitjere municipal crew were once again out and about at the Harts Range Races and Sports Weekend this year. Council sponsor a variety of community events and have been supporting this event with people, equipment and financially for many years.

In the weeks preceding the event the works crew were able to help out with some of the campsite preparation and the new Atitjere rubbish truck was present throughout the event assisting with the disposal of general waste. Every morning during the event the rubbish truck would do the rounds of the campsites, canteen and event arenas emptying wheelie bins and taking bagged waste from the many campers visited.  There were many positive comments about the new rubbish truck. 

On Thursday 29 July over 40 players from Atitjere, Engawala, Laramba, Pmara Jutunta and Nturiya participated in the first Central Desert Regional Council (CDRC) Intercommunity Sporting Tournament since COVID-19 disrupted the Youth Sport and Recreation (YSR) programs. The round robin softball tournament was held at Pmara Jutunta, with Laramba and Engawala making the final. The tournament was delayed a month after heavy rainfall stalled proceedings at the latest attempt.

After numerous games throughout the day, Laramba and Engawala played in a classic final, with Laramba winning 7-6.

A large crowd supported the players, and everyone made plenty of noise as the ball sailed across the field on several occasions.

In the last week of July, the Central Desert Regional Council (CDRC) Community Safety Patrol (CSP) teams in Lajamanu had three days of training in Introductory Mediation and Peacemaking.  The program was delivered by Troy Degenhardt and Matthew Panayi of Northern Territory Alternate Dispute Resolution. This was the same as the rest of the CSP teams had in Alice Springs in June, when the Lajamanu teams were unable to make it.

Over the three days, the group discussed traditional processes of dispute resolution and peacemaking as well as western formal mediation processes.

The August 2021 edition of the Central Desert News is out now! You can view it by opening the attachment below.

In this edition:

- CDRC Win Management Challenge

- Local Government Elections

- Community Safety Started in Nyirripi

- Opening of MacDonnell Building

On Wednesday, 28 July, the Central Desert Regional Council (CDRC) Yuelamu office opened the Yuelamu Small Library.

The Community Development Program (CDP) in Yuendumu designed and made bookshelves as part of the Drought Relief funding, and the Yuelamu CDP painted the Yuelamu book shelf. Tarun Avula, Facilities, ordered the books and Aloka Boteju and Minon Perera from Children’s Services delivered some of the boxes of books to Yuelamu. The Yuelamu works crew Mack Murphy, Kenrick Martin and Marcus Briscoe delivered the bookshelf to the office.

A snake was removed from the veranda of a house in Lajamanu at the end of July. This is a warning that when the weather is warm snakes can be active, no matter the season.

The snake was a Black Headed Python, about 2 metres long. It was found and reported by Jane Armstrong, Central Desert Regional Council (CDRC) Manager Community Safety. It was then caught by Ranger Jonathan Gnanapragasam and relocated about 5 km out of Lajamanu.

It is never safe to handle a snake yourself, and never try to kill a snake. You can report a spotting of a snake to the NT Government by ringing 1800 453 210.

The Engawala School Holiday Program was run by Central Desert Regional Council (CDRC) Youth, Sport and Recreation (YSR) from 22 June to 17 July. It culminated with a visit by Tommy Dutton of AFLNT on Friday 16 July, who ran two AFL coaching sessions.

There was a morning session for junior players (plus some adults from Engawala), and an afternoon session for older players, including a scratch game on Engawala oval.

Tommy has previously visited Engawala to run similar coaching sessions, and has forged close links with AFL fans in Engawala, several of whom play in organised competitions in Central Australia.