Blackheath Local News

Blackheath Local News is part of the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Initiative, a collaboration to reduce the risk of future disasters by expanding local communications – from the Lower Mountains to Lithgow. This site links storytellers with community, highlighting grassroots local solutions. Our stories help us connect.

Blackheath Community Farm

Practising social distancing before stricter rules came into place It’s been just over three years since a group of locals, supported by The Big Fix, began work on a neglected piece of land generously made available to the community by Mountains Christian College. The dream was to create a small demonstration Farm for Blackheath village.

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Margaret Gough: Saving Our Wildlife

On January 8 The Big Fix visited renowned wildlife carer Margaret Gough at Mt Victoria in the Blue Mountains. We were thrilled that some of the wallaroos and birds that had disappeared when the fires came, were alive and healthy and starting to return. Margaret demonstrated what we can do to help provide the food and water they so desperately need …

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Award Winning Permaculture Pioneer at Youth Cafe

Rowe teaching in Kabul, Afghanistan After its development in Tasmania in 1978, Permaculture has become one of Australia’s most successful exports. Practitioners are now certified in more than 140 countries and Katoomba resident, Rosemary Morrow, co-founder of the Blue Mountains Permaculture Institute, has been one of the pioneers responsible for this global uptake.   This week young people (aged 16+) …

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Decades of Healing @ Popes Glen Creek

  Popes Glen Creek rises in Memorial Park, close to the town centre of Blackheath, then flows east for about 4km through Popes Glen Bushland Reserve and into the Grose River. Over decades this beautiful interface between the town and the Blue Mountains National Park had suffered the effects of polluted urban stormwater inundating a natural system, and had become …

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Deborah Wells on transforming scars into art!

. At Blackheath’s Night of Nights in April this year, the most exciting auction item was a collection of books produced by over 40 Blackheath residents, past and present. This year alone, current Blackheath residents have already published at least three new books, including “Where Once Were Breasts: the inspirational journey of an astonishing body” by Deborah Wells. .   …

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Heathens Community Choir’s 10th Birthday!

Sopranos sing ’Thank you for the Music’. In a 2015 study, singing in a choir was demonstrated to be one of the quickest ways to bond a group of strangers, and community singing was identified as an ideal way to improve broader social networks, especially in an era when so many feel isolated or alienated. The fact that Blackheath has …

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Launch of Edgy BM Social Enterprise

    Thank you to everyone that attended Blackheath’s Night of Nights on Saturday April 27, where we were proud to launch our collaborative youth social enterprise Edgy Blue Mountains. To celebrate the launch, the young people of Edgy screened a video showcasing their learning and achievements over the 6 month pilot program. View the video here The formation of …

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Blackheath Students First in the World to Plant Rare Endangered Species

Students from Blackheath Public School Stage two Blackheath Public School students could hardly contain their excitement today as they were the first people EVER to cultivate the endangered species Zieria Covenyi. They’ve spent the last few weeks learning about biodiversity and endangered species, and the important role they are now playing to protect this endangered plant. Only around 2000 of …

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