It’s been 12 months since reports of anti-social behaviour in Moorehead Street were published in the Eden Magnet, and last Friday the group formed to help address issues and create a voice for Housing NSW tenants celebrated its first birthday.

Eden Community Action Group (ECAG) has ten members with supporters from Moorehead and surrounding streets.

They gathered at the home of Vera Mason with Bega Housing NSW manager Steve Bowler to hold a meeting and celebrate the occasion with a barbecue and cake.

Special guests were Maggi and Eddie Miller, who have been tenants in the street for some 30 years and they were presented with a dinner voucher to the Bayview Restaurant.

ECAG, which received just over $3000 from the South East Fibre Exports and Magnet Community Wishing Well in 2008 have hosted two community fun days in a nearby park and are using feedback from the community to plan a third scheduled for the October school holidays.

The group plans to make such gatherings an annual event with entertainment, catering, games and representatives from health and housing services.

A garden competition, which has encouraged tenants to do up their gardens, will culminate with a major prize in September where the winning tenant will be presented with a voucher for $500 to $600 dollars and the runner up a $200 voucher from the Eden Garden Centre. The clean up also involved 17 skips of rubbish being removed from the estate in August 2008.

ECAG spokesperson and tenant Vera Mason said Housing NSW and the police have shown great support in helping to clean up the street.

“Housing NSW is fulfilling the recommendations of the safety audit. There is a lot to do but they are working on it and have assured us that it will continue with each budget,” she said.

“The local police have been very active and have helped to eradicate anti-social behaviour.

“We still have parties, but the neighbourhood doesn’t see a slab of beer going into a house and fear what’s going to happen later that night.”