THE Yarrawarra Aboriginal Cultural Centre (YACC) at Corindi Beach has won funding to upgrade the 25-year-old amenities building to become more accessible for visitors of all abilities.

The NSW Government Regional Tourism Grant has approved the full $261,188 applied for through the Activation Fund, Visitor Accessibility and Inclusion Enhancements category.

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Yarrawarra is one of the few renowned Aboriginal owned and operated cultural centres that exist today in regional NSW.

The centre provides a range of eco-tourism and cultural experiences as well as educational resources to many regional government and non-government organisations as well as visitors from throughout Australia and overseas.

The funding is going directly to building an amenities block on site at the YACC and will solve their shortage of basic facilities for visitors, which includes school groups of up to 100 people at a time.

Contributing to the success of the grant application was that the project has one easily defined outcome: a new all-access amenities block adjacent to the Yarrawarra Gallery to cater for visitors of all abilities.

“The new block will be aesthetically neutral within its setting, use visual and tactile aids to help those who need them and reduce our routine maintenance costs,” Julie Perkins, Manager of Gurehlgam told News of The Area.

“It is a critical step toward our next stage of growth as a tourism attraction, with a goal of catering to overnight visitors in glamping and other accommodation.

“As an art gallery, we will harmonise the structure with appropriate artwork, making for an added attraction to YACC.

“In the interest of economy and leaving a lighter energy footprint, we will install a solar power system to provide power to the pumps and lighting.

“As a bonus, the area created by removing the existing facilities will provide much needed space for the continued preservation of our local Indigenous Heritage collection which is essential to community identity, community education and cultural tourism.

“We are over the moon,” said Julie, adding, “I remember the first dig being made on the original building – this funding is a milestone in our goal of reinvigorating Yarrawarra.

“Many thanks to Elder Tony Perkins, the late Will Skinner and their partners for their vision of Yarrawarra.

“Also acknowledging the community members who worked on site and actually built the Centre all those years ago.

“There is a real cultural revitalisation going on in Australia and we want YACC to be a part of it.

“Our gallery is first class with an extraordinary collection of Indigenous art; we’re on the outskirts of Coffs Harbour and it is a great little day out for locals, and a destination for tourists countrywide as well internationally.

“The new amenities block is just the beginning of our bigger plan,” said Julie.

Member for Coffs Harbour Gurmesh Singh visited YACC on Thursday 17 March.

“Building a new amenities block will give people with disability the opportunity to visit the centre comfortably while learning about the culture and practices of our Indigenous community,” said Mr Singh.

“The funding will also be used to build new covered, wheelchair friendly footpaths and add solar panels to the new amenities block, ensuring an economic and energy efficient approach is taken for the operation of the new facilities.”

For more information, go to: www.nsw.gov.au/RTAFund.

By Andrea FERRARI