Running a Community

A big truck empties my garbage bins.
A big truck sweeps my street.
I go to a park to play.
A new swimming pool is being built near my street.
The council does these things.

In a community the garbage gets collected, the streets are cleaned, there are spaces for parking cars, there are parks and playgrounds. There are libraries and kindergartens, there are sports grounds. All these things and more are done by the council or shire. The names are different in different parts of Australia, but the job is the same. Adults who live in a community vote for people to run the council, and the council has lots of workers who help look after the community.

A council makes plans for a community. It decides where to have parks and shops. It decides how tall buildings can be and where those buildings are. A council decides what people in the community may need. For example, in a community near the sea, the council keeps the beach clean and may build places where people can tie up boats or where people on holiday can put tents and caravans. Communities in the bush, a big city or in the mountains will have different needs.

Councils give each house and shop wheelie bins for rubbish. On the day the garbage is collected in their street, people put out their wheelie bins and a big truck empties them and takes the garbage away.

Some bins are for things that get recycled. Some bins are for green waste, which is weeds pulled out from the garden or the leaves people cut from trees and bushes. Big trucks go along the streets to sweep the rubbish out of the gutters.

Councils build swimming pools in the community, and have people to keep them clean and safe. Libraries are built and filled with books, CDs and DVDs that people can borrow. Did you go to kindergarten when you were little? It was probably built and run by your community council.

You may have a favourite park where you can run and play. The park is kept nice by council workers who plant trees and flowers and mow the grass. People can walk their dogs, play games, have a picnic or just enjoy the outdoors.

There are playgrounds with slides and swings that council workers make sure are safe. Sporting clubs can play sports like football, cricket, basketball and netball in places run by the council.

There are places where people can meet to talk or learn skills. They are Neighbourhood Houses, or clubs for older people, or community halls.

Councils have to have to make money so that they can pay for all the things they provide. People who own a house or shop pay the council money each year. People pay to park their cars by putting coins in a parking meter.

These are just some of the ways a council earns money.

Index	Community	Churches	Dentists	Doctors and nurses	Firefighters	Groups
Houses	Shops	Sports	Natural features	Police	Food	Schools