The community spirit is very strong in Burra and there are numerous examples of people helping out when trouble arises - whether it be bush fires, house fires, medical emergencies or locating missing persons.  Apart from emergencies, people in the area volunteer for all of the regular tasks that arise in a community.  Some idea of the range of volunteer responsibilities can be gleaned from the community activities highlighted on this page.
 

There are a number of different community groups, which have formed over the years.  As with any organisation of this nature, each is dependent on volunteers to run them, organise people or children and coordinate their special activities.  You can find a list of Burra clubs and organisations on our community groups page.

Burra Hall is owned by Queanbeyan Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) and is maintained jointly by Council and a local community committee, the Burra Cargil Parks Management Committee (BCPMC). The BCPMC sets hire fees, manages bookings for the Hall and pays for electricity and any other on-going fees. BCPMC also organises volunteer teams to do some small maintenance work around the Park and Hall and QPRC (sometimes in conjunction with volunteers) handles larger maintenance tasks, such as slashing the grass on the oval and cleaning the public toilets. Improvements to the Hall and Park are usually paid for with the aid of grants or donations from community-minded groups (Lions, Rotary, Clubs NSW, etc.) and well-disposed individuals. The assets at the Park include:

  • The Hall, with a fully-equipped kitchen, storage space, cleaning equipment, heating and cooling, and is available for hire at advertised prices.
  • An Annex, currently used by the Tennis Club, the Arts Group and the Scouts.
  • Tennis courts.
  • Public toilets.
  • Children’s playground.
  • Cricket pitch.
  • Free barbecue area.
  • Seating and shade trees throughout the Park.

The Hall is available for hire for weddings, parties, meetings, presentations and so on.  Contact the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

General maintenance on the Park and Hall assets is carried out by the groups that use them, with the aid of QPRC, as necessary, for larger items.

The management Committee (the BCPMC) is a Committee that is appointed by Council, after recommendations from the local community, and is referred to as an s.355 Committee. The minimum size of the Committee is 4 and a maximum of 12, and meetings are held as necessary, but at least 4 times a year. Ideally, members of the Committee are representative of users of the Hall and Park.  QPRC has prepared a set of guidlines for s.355 Committees and a copy is available here.  The AGM is held at the beginning of the calendar year and the latest minutes (including names and contact details of the members) is available here.   The minutes of the latest meeting are available here.

The community newsletter for Burra/Urila is The Intermittent.  The aim is that it will be produced once per month (except for January) and delivered quickly by e-mail and delivered to every household in Burra and Urila by a team of volunteers.  If you want to receive the earlier (and coloured) copy by e-mail, you can register with the volunteer This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (currently Robyn Oswald and Pilar Perez-McKay).  The Editor also welcomes articles from Burrans, on any topic that you think may interest others in the community.

Here is the latest issue of The Intermittent.

The Craft Spot example of a "zine" shown on page 12 of the November Intermittent can be downloaded here.

BurraRFSThe Burra Brigade of the Rural Fire Service (RFS) is made up from volunteers from the community.  The Captain of the Brigade is Fiona Matthews, the President is Greg Hedger and the Secretary is Dave Bromhead.  Training sessions are held on a Saturday morning and a high standard of readiness is expected from members who, if on duty, can be called out at a moments notice.  The Brigade has participated in fire-fighting throughout NSW and has benefited from reciprocal arrangements with other brigades.

The Fire Shed is located quite close to the Burra Hall and the Brigade holds a regular "Hot Spots CafĂ©" on the last Sunday of each month (except December).  Anyone in the Burra community is very welcome to attend and to bring excess produce for sale or swap.  The Burra Quilters regularly attend and have some excellent goods for sale.

The Burra Brigade, besides being on standby for fire fighting, is very active in fire prevention and community awareness of the danger of fires in the Burra/Urila areas.  If you are a landholder in the region, you can request an assessment of your property for fire safety and a demonstration of fire-fighting equipment and techniques.  If you are planning a hazard reduction burn, or a pile burn, the Brigade can provide valuable advice to prevent things getting out of hand.  During the fire season, it is required that you obtain a permit from the Brigade for any burn and you must notify them (and the Queanbeyan Fire Control Officer on 6128 0600) if you plan a burn outside the fire season.  Notification of a pile burn outside the fire season is best done by using the RFS website.

You can learn more about the Burra RFS brigade from their Facebook Page