“We are building a new disabled parking area and a connecting pathway to the Church, so that people can get across the gravelly lot more easily,” Barry Barnes, the main organiser for the project, told NOTA.

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“People have had difficulty on the gravel, and this will let us clearly designate disabled parking spots, too,” Mr Barnes explained.

“There actually were markers in the old gravel, but they got covered over years ago.”

With components and hired machinery fully funded by the Church, the volunteers brought their skills and whole-hearted determination to the project, fuelled by their common desire to make the world better for all, even just a church parking lot.

Some volunteers came in from out of town, as far as Tamworth, as relatives of local churchgoers also got involved.

The existing lot has been tamped hard by decades of vehicles and pedestrians, making the necessary digging and levelling tough going.

“We hired two key pieces of machinery, the mechanical digger and the ‘finishing helicopter’ from Karuah Hire,” Mr Barnes added.

“It is good to have access to such tools relatively close to town, otherwise we would have to go much farther to find them.”

The ‘finishing helicopter’ (aka ‘power trowel’), is a heavy machine with chopper-like blades that allows an operator to level the top surface of the slab, finishing off the surface with a non-slip pattern that will aid its users immediately.

Reverend Richard Goscombe is excited by the addition, saying, “Many thanks to Barry and the Team, as people will benefit from all this hard work to provide better all-weather access.

“More and more people are attending both Church Services and the Op Shop, and we want the place to be accessible to every member of our community.”

By Thomas O’KEEFE