I recently attended the official launch of Artists for Treeline Lurline – the vision of a tree-lined boulevard from Katoomba Street to Echo Point! Lowell Tarling – legendary Blue Mountains man says: There has recently been a resurgence of projects and ideas initiated by local communities. Necessity – the mother of invention - has certainly exacerbated the need for local communities to group themselves into action. The gathering included a motivated committee comprising of arborists, landscape architects, a lawyer, a representative of the National Trust, businesspeople, creatives and enthusiasts who have given of their time and resources - and won multi-million-dollar funding to beautify a road called Lurline Street, leading to the one of the most popular tourist attraction in NSW - Echo Point.

This community group successfully applied for funding to create a boulevard of trees, gardens, seating, local heritage plaques and infrastructure for utilities. This initiative came from People-Power - from artists, poets and musicians. Some, like the late Peter Kingston (Art Gallery of NSW) and musician Mic Conway (Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band), have added their weighty creative input to the project.

In defiance of cumbersome bureaucratic thought, it flies directly into the subconscious and wins hearts and minds.