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You may have seen a certain purple and white van roaming the streets of Burnside.

But this van is no ordinary vehicle - it contains stories of love, families, danger, mystery, history, philosophy, biographies and travel, and the latest and most popular titles. This van is used by the Burnside Home Library Service.

Available to all City of Burnside residents who are unable to access the Burnside Library in person due to frailty, disability, sickness or their role as a carer, the Home Library Service brings the library to you. Established in 1975 and now part of the City of Burnside’s Disability Access and Inclusion Plan, the service aims to reduce isolation and promote the inclusive community nature for which Burnside is so renowned.

Burnside Home Library Service staff Melissa and Amanda said the service is essential to maintaining community connections for those unable to make it to the Library.

‘The Library is an incredible community resource, and we want to ensure that every resident, no matter their circumstances, has the opportunity to access it,’ Melissa said.

Amanda added ‘It is about more than just the books; the social aspect of our visits can be just as important to some of our customers.’

Whether you are looking to borrow books, DVDs, magazines, audio books, large print or even to receive minor tech support, the Home Library Service has you covered with items specially selected for you.

On the road Monday to Friday, our staff offer a personalised library service direct to your door with scheduled visits once every four weeks, visiting residents who would otherwise be unable to use one of the City of Burnside’s most in demand facilities.

We are always looking for more people to call on. If you or someone you know might be interested, give the Library a call on 8366 4280 or visit us at www.burnside.sa.gov.au/library and apply online.

The Burnside Home Library team

A hybrid of basketball, netball and European handball, korfball is the most popular sport you’ve never heard of. Designed as a mixed gender sport, korfball was created in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 20^th century with the IKF World Korfball Championships hosted every four years in alternating countries.

With support from a City of Burnside Quick Response Grant, Linden Park resident Jazz Zulfic was a member of team Australia representing the green and gold in the 2023 World Championships in Taiwan last year. Jazz received the maximum $500 to assist with an international competition.

A two-time World Championship representative Jazz said the process of applying for the grant was straight forward and simple.

‘We have to raise funds ourselves for the trip,’ Jazz said. ‘Myself and another teammate both applied successfully for the grant through Burnside.’

‘The trip was incredible, being exposed to a different way of life and culture, it is very interesting to see how other people live.’

With eyes already on the 2027 World Championship in the Netherlands, Jazz will be looking to apply for the Quick Response Grants again when eligible.

The City of Burnside Quick Response Grants are intended to be a fast approval form of Community Grants open to both individuals and community groups with a maximum of $500 available to each applicant – depending on event specifications.

Criteria for applicants include:

• Quick Response grants open on the first day of every quarter (January, April, July and October).
• Grants will be closed once quartely allocation funds has been exhausted.
• An applicant can only apply for one quick response grant per financial year.
• Individuals can apply for a maximum:
  • $150 for state events/competitions
  • $300 for interstate events/competitions
  • $500 for international events/competitions
• Community groups can apply for a maximum of $500 for a project/event/activity.

Visit our website for the full list of grant criteria.

Jazz at the 2023 IKF World Korfball Championships

Active Citizen of the Year – Burnside Military History Research Group

Ian Fitzgerald, Colonel Peter Scott and Ian Sando (dec).

Over the past year, the Burnside Military History Group has spent countless hours researching soldiers honoured in the Burnside District Fallen Soldiers Memorial (WWI) located in Rose Park, known as the Avenues of Honour.

This site is a part of the State Heritage List and acts as a community point of remembrance for those who lost their lives.

The Burnside Military History Group were responsible for auditing the current memorial plaques, revealing spelling errors, inaccuracies in service history details, as well as other discrepancies. To fill in the gaps in information, the group accessed primary sources such as service records and provided the City of Burnside with the accurate information. As a result, details of each soldier will be updated to include correct information on all plaques across the Memorial. The findings of the Burnside Military History Group’s research will contribute to the ongoing preservation of the Memorial and will have a lasting role in honouring the fallen in the District of Burnside.

The City of Burnside is currently using the research of the Burnside Military History Research Group to update the plaques and interpretative text along the Avenues of Honour. Updates are expected to be completed by mid-2024.

Left to right: Brett Sando (accepting on behalf of Ian Sando), Colonel Peter Scott and Ian Fitzgerald

Young Citizen of the Year – Brandon Marlow

An inspiring community leader demonstrating remarkable mentorship abilities at age 18, Brandon was selected to be a South Australian Youth Forum Member (SAYF) in 2022 and progressed to Executive Member and Mentor for the Forum in 2023.

The Annual Report is the main goal of the Forum and includes meeting discussions, models of engagement and data collection from surveys. At the conclusion of each year, Forum members meet with ministers, politicians, community leaders, local government and businesses to present findings from the report and to educate decision-makers on their role in helping to enact change.

Brandon’s other achievements include:

• (As part of SAYF) Co-led the Gender Inequality sub-committee conducting research into young people’s experiences with gender inequality at school.

• (As part of SAYF) Worked with the Department of Human Services (DHS) on their new coercive control campaign, the See The Signs campaign.

• (As part of SAYF) Commenced a partnership with Flinders University to collect world-first data on how loneliness affects young people.

• Contributed to the development of the DHS’ new Youth Action Plan.

• Collaborated with SA Power Networks as a youth representative, offering insights into their Regulatory Reset 2025–2030 Plan.

• Provided evaluations as a Voice of Youth Representative for the Uniting Communities #UnlockingLoneliness campaign.

• Premier’s Recognition for Outstanding Service to the Community

• Volunteering SA Award for being a Community Changemaker.

• Elected Head Boy of Pembroke School.

Citizen of the Year – Andrew Bills

A staple of the Burnside community, Andrew Bills has been the Area Coordinator of Neighbourhood Watch in Linden Park for 13 years. Andrew is described as a dedicated and valued leader of Neighbourhood Watch.

The Neighbourhood Watch program is instrumental in educating the community on safety and security strategies, raising awareness and inspiring local action to prevent crime by working between police and the community.

With only three Neighbourhood Watch groups left in the City of Burnside, Andrew’s contributions and commitment have been a key factor in keeping the Linden Park group running for as long as it has.

This Friday marks the beginning of the Adelaide Fringe, with over 20 shows coming to the City of Burnside! Find out about this and much more in this episode of Burnside Highlights.

Here to help the community, that is the mantra of the City of Burnside’s award-winning Customer Experience team.

Recently named one of the Snap Send Solve Top 10 Australian Solvers of 2023 as rated by the community, the Snap Send Solve Solver of the Year Award highlights the organisations that make a notable difference to their local communities throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Chief Executive Officer Chris Cowley said this win is a testament to Burnside’s approach to customer service.

‘Our OneTeam approach is fully collaborative and integrated across the entire business,’ Mr Cowley said. ‘This means our teams work together to deliver quality results for our community.’

‘This acknowledgement from Snap Send Solve is fantastic and a testament to our customer focussed approach,’ Mr Cowley said.

Team Leader of Customer Experience Kate Royle said while the award was greatly appreciated, it was the recognition by the community that was the most significant.

‘To know this award was based off of feedback by those we have assisted, means we have been consistently delivering positive outcomes for the community.’

Interacting with hundreds of people everyday, the Customer Experience team remains ready as the first point of contact for the community. Excelling under pressure, the team was put to the test following a freak storm event on the morning of 11 December 2023. Facing 150 customer contacts within the first 2.5 hours of business the team handled the surge with their usual professionalism and knowledge, assisting inquiries from across the city.

This weather event saw rainfall of over 30mm, winds of up to 69 km/h, numerous trees felled and property damaged throughout the city.

Congratulations to the City of Burnside Customer Experience team!

The Burnside Customer Experience team

Do you know what material a cob building uses?

The cottage in this photograph, of three rooms, was built circa 1850 and was one of the earliest residences in the area. The village of Burnside was laid out in 1849 and by 1883 it included 45 houses, several shops, a hotel, two churches and a tram service.

The word ‘cob’ derives form an old English word meaning lump or rounded mass. Cob building is a mix of lumps of dirt with sand and straw, sculpted into a clay.

To discover more about the history of Burnside visit https://www.burnside.sa.gov.au/About-Council/About-Us/Our-History/Our-History-Video-Series

Photo: An early cob cottage in the village of Burnside, circa 1876.

On Tuesday we had our first Council meeting for the year, with plenty to look forward to in 2024. Find out more about what’s on over the next few weeks in this episode of Burnside Highlights.

Do you remember the Symons & Symons playground on L’Estrange Street, Glenside?

William Symons, a glass manufacturer of the company Symons & Symons, built the playground in the mid-1950s using the vacant block next to his house. The playground featured swings, seesaws, a slide, a climbing tower, a trapeze and a merry-go-round, providing a fun and enjoyable experience for the local children. Symons connected the playground's loudspeaker with his home radiogram, allowing children and their parents to listen to music while they were in the park.

The annual Progress Association Picnic at the playground, pictured below, was held to raise funds for the construction of a community building for local youth.

Photo: Symons & Symons playground circa 1957. Burnside Local History Collection.