Tura Corridor Zombie Development Application (Mirador Stages 8, 9 & 13) is up for FEDERAL REVIEW - meaning the approval could be overturned and the nature refuge saved. We must write in numbers to make sure this happens.
Link to the submission guide here:
This nature corridor needs you to write on its behalf.
CrunchtimeAus is a movement being lead from the Yuin region. It’s calling for homes which benefit both people and the planet.
It began when a ‘Zombie’ development project sprung up in Tura Beach, on Yuin Country, in 2022. To this day this project threatens to critically damage the Tura Wildlife Corridor - an ecological highway near Merimbula, NSW.
The threatened Tura Corridor - the last bastion of nature between two surban centres. Photo: Jordan Mundey
In response, a passionate group of young people from the Yuin region banded together and launched key iniatives which have strengthened the movement for simple and safe housing, on all fronts.
ABOVE: Youth voice their support for the Tura Corridor at a meeting atteneded by local citizens. Photo: Supplied
Two young locals, Jacob Shields and Jordan Mundey, kicked things off with a deep diving doco into significance of the Tura Corridor. It premeired to a sold out audience at the Merimbula Picture Showman in early 2023.
ABOVE RIGHT: Seats sold out a week before the premiere of Crunch Time. ABOVE LEFT: NSW state candidates Cathy Griff and Michael Holland in conversation with filmmakers Jacob Shields and Jordan Mundey; both politicans pledged to fight for the Tura Corridor during a panel discussion held after the screening. PHOTOS: Sam Hsiao
Read more: Merimbula's Picture Show Man cinema packed for Crunch Time: Saving Tura's Biodiversity
Jacob and fellow activists Juliet Fontaine and Freya occleshaw then planned and excecuted an enormous tour of the South Coast. The team visited six communites who are facing similar outdated and dangerous zombie housing projects. They held a Y.E.S (Youth Empowerent Session) at each destination, during which young people formed a strategy for future housing which benefits people and the planet.
ABOVE: Young citizens of Manyana participate in a Youth Empowerment Session geared towards creating green housing
Following the South Coast tour Poppy Collins and Niamh Occleshaw came on board as core organisers. With their help the south coast crunch network orchestrated a delegation to NSW Parliament House in Sydney.
With help from the Social Justice Advocates of the Sapphire Coast, the crunch crew drove a bus load of south coast youth to the big smoke, where we got to chat with the Ministers for Housing, Environment and Youth.
ABOVE : Jacob hosts a panel discussion at Parliament House with youth activists, councillors, social justice workers and politicans.
We presented solutions to the ZDA crisis which we asked be realised within two years. We are following thier progress closely.
But times are crunchy and we can’t wait that long, so now we are moving towards phsyically building some community-orineted housing projects.
Stay tuned.
- crunchycrew
ABOVE : Youth from many small villages on the south coast got to mingle with Sydney based activists.
“When housing projects benefit people and the environment, the whole world wins.”- A call to action from Yuin region youth
The cast of characters, so far:
JULIET FONTAINE
Hey!
My name is Juliet Fontaine and I use she/her pronouns.
My journey into the activism has been an embarrassingly late and selfish one. All my life I found myself feeling out of place- as cliché as that sounds. To counter this low self-esteem and feeling of alienation I threw myself wholeheartedly into the party scene, probably a little too early. After a year of superficial happiness, distractions and connections I hit an all-time low and knew I was doing something wrong.
Needing change I threw myself into things that sparked joy for me, my passions: feminism, sexology, environmental protection, music, genuine connections, fashion and I found that the world lit up around me. I reconnected to the feelings of joy and life I hadn’t felt since I was a child, and I realised; this is how you do it right.
The idea for CrunchtimeAus came to me from a feeling of injustice, that society, my teachers at school, and angry teenage boys, had dulled me and convinced me that my voice was not of worth. I never want anyone to feel like this but I do want them to feel the joy for life and purpose that I have found in finding myself and contributing to the world. So, I truly hope I can help anyone and everyone with this, in some way big or small. I’m so excited to meet you all and change the world together.
Its Crunchtime!
JACOB Shields
Hyelo,
My name is Jacob and I use he/him pronouns.
I don’t really know how I got here. The last couple of years have been a massive journey of self-discovery - one which I’ve only just begun, really.
All through highschool I was essentially a d*ickhead. By this I mean I was far too concerned about appearing cool, slick, smooth, nonchalant, aloof - whatever. And I hurt people in the process of keeping up appearances. Thankfully, I met people and had experiences which showed me another side to the world - one which made it a more habitable place. I discovered that everything felt much better if I stopped acting like other people and started acting like me.
So I began unpicking myself from the trap of superficial coolness - something I’m definetely still working on. I discovered the true meaning of cool: focusing on my passions, which are education, mycology, politics, art, the environment, community, music and soccer. And I’ve had a lot of fun ever since. And done some cool stuff too.
My passion for education has led me back to school after graduating last year, where I’m helping mentor some out of the box learners to pursue their own passions. In early 2023 my friend Jordan Mundey and I released Crunch Time: Saving Tura’s Biodiversity and things have kept rolling on from there. For now, I'm working towards this goal:
To heal the wounded lands on planet Earth and usher in a new phase of the Anthrocene characterised by regeneration and diversity.
FREYA Occleshaw
Hiya,
I'm Freya, I use he/they/she pronouns!!
I’m one of the young people behind Crunch Time Australia, a project which i’m thrilled to share with you all:]
I'm 18 years old, a recent high school graduate (woo!), just vibing through my gap year before university:0 I'm partial to Hozier, and one day I'm determined to see his live performances.
I’ve always had a kind of ache in me when looking at the state of the world, conscious of the inequities and injustices of society. As I’m aware so many my age are. It can be scary, and incredibly overwhelming. Sometimes it feels like I’m the only one in the world who seems to care, the only one who is even aware of the issues that impact us, and it can be lonely.
It took time, but fortunately I was lucky enough to find people who shared this awareness, and together we sparked that ache of mine into a passion for meaningful change.
I realised that I don’t want anyone to feel that same weight of seemingly being alone in consciousness. I want to connect like minded people with one another, hence, this project found me.
Crunch Time seemed to be the natural progression of the combined enthusiasm of some wonderful people, a group of which I’m now lucky enough to be a part of. Believe it or not, none of us have ever started an organisation before, so we kinda threw ourselves into the deep end. I’m glad we did, because in the few short months we’ve been working together, I've learnt an incredible amount: not only about organisational management, but also my own self and values (how this became my life I have no idea).
I’m so excited to share and grow this project with everyone, so without further ado:
It’s crunch time!
POPPY COLLINS
Hiii!
My name is Poppy Collins and I use she/her pronouns.
From early on I've been passionate about the need to protect this place we call home, using My voice to fight for MY future.
However I had a rocky journey in the latter years of highschool. Over time the words of others got to me, I felt silly and unworthy of the space I held. I became stuck in this race for society's acceptance, whilst falling victim to the system embedded in our education and culture. This left me feeling very lost within myself and disconnected from the present. I was unhappy. I forgot my passions and isolated myself from the world, from land.
Since then I've spent a lot of time self analysing, working really hard on learning who 'Poppy' is. By remembering how to listen and learn from myself, slowing down, sharing and being in nature, I've gradually begun to reconnect. I feel a sense of belonging within my own being and it's really exciting! I still have a lot of growing to do, but I've rekindled all those passions I once held and discovered more: Biomimicry, surfing, feminism, valued kinships, education, arts and crafts and having a good old boogie.
I think joining CrunchtimeAus was honestly just an evolutionary point from a series of convos with the team and yeah this is where I've ended up. I'm super keen to empower others to OWN their voice and use our collective power to create change. Stoked to just be down right raw with the world around me whilst also striving for Eutierria.
NIAMH OCCLESHAW
Hiya!
My name’s Niamh and I use they/them pronouns.
I’m not entirely sure when it happened, becoming conscious of the world. I remember the feelings of wonder and awe quickly becoming ones of anger and disappointment as I realised that our world was being treated as single-use by those in power. And I remember being wholly overwhelmed by the expectations being placed upon young people. How was it believed that we could finish school with flying colours, work to fund our future, and save the planet at the same time?
As I threw myself into conservation work, protesting, volunteering, and educating, my own needs were being pushed to the back of the pile. I needed direction, and other like-minded people. That’s when CrunchtimeAus materialised. Joining the CrunchtimeAus crew solidified my time and energy into one place, and gave me the direction I needed to grow around my involuntary responsibilities. While I’m still trying to prioritise all the pieces of my life, crunching has absolved my fear of the future. If these are the people leading my generation, we’re in good hands.
I’ll leave here a quote that I believe sums up the essence of my CrunchtimeAus, I hope it stirs you the same as it stirs me.
“The world should have protected you, but you have been asked to protect it. What an honour, what an injustice.”