Mayfield's first grass-roots urban revitalisation Better Block, took place in the sunshine on Saturday 21 May and it was a grand success! The Mayfield Business Association (This Is Mayfield), in collaboration with CycleSafe Network and Remake Creative Resource Centre, hosted a fantastic community event that was very well attended by locals and the greater Newcastle community alike. The Mayfield Better Block showcased the talents of Mayfield businesses, residents and community organisations.

Opened by the Awabakal singer/dancers, it was a thoroughly enjoyable day that showcased many Mayfield business, talent and organisations. In a celebration of our wonderful cultural diversity here in Mayfield, there was a myriad of delicious, mouthwatering foods on offer from the Islamic Centre (who also hosted an open day all day), The Bhakti Tree, Rotary Club of Newcastle Enterprise, A Little Bit Of Spain and Afghani Kebabs.

Mayfield's own England Purton Dance Academy provided 3 dance shows, and local young talent Olivia and Bailey Clarke as well as Zac Sharah entertained us all day with their beautiful music from the custom-made stage that was hand built by the Waratah Mayfield Men's Shed & painted by local artist Jessica Miller. Mayfield's own The Bhakti Tree cafe even led us in public Kirtan and meditation!

Punters lazed around on arm chairs in the middle of the closed-to-traffic Victoria Street and under the new Thomas Jackson mural on the gorgeous greenspace. The Victoria Street greenspace was cleared, cleaned, repaired & tidied by Newcastle City Council & the mural made possible by an NCC Make Your Own Place grant.

We had a great lineup of guest speakers educating us on a range of interesting topics:

• William Vorbioff from Transition Streets talked about creating a sustainable future in your neighbourhood.
• Mel Duffy-Fagan from Remake Creative Resource Centre spoke about opportunities for using recycled materials in early education.
• Cathy Stuart of Newcastle Upcyclers talked about - well, upcycling in Newcastle!
• Lachlan Storrie of Mayfield's Tree Frog Permaculture spoke about transforming urban space.
• Michelle Roach of Mayfield's Beanstalk Organic Co-Op spoke about "food is community".
• Megan Sharkey of the CycleSafe Network talked about Better Blocks, and Mayfield's engagement to create safe walking/biking/shared pathways in our suburb.

There were stalls featuring a great range of local businesses and organisations:

• Transition Newcastle were talking to many people about transforming neighbourhoods, and how we can do that right here in Mayfield.
• QuickCuts of Mayfield West hosted a pop-up barber shop on Victoria Street and were kept very busy all day making our gents of Mayfield beard-iful!
• Newcastle Upcyclers hosted workshops all day upcycling and reusing materials into new and exciting forms.
• Rotary Club of Newcastle Enterprise held a Monster Garage Sale and BBQ on the roof of the Ironworkers building
• Newy Ventures of Eighteen04 (a clean tech co-working space based in the CSIRO at Steel River) hosted a stall educating & informing our guests and residents on some of the wonderful and amazing advances in Smart Cities technology that is coming out of very clever teams in our Mayfield!
• Beanstalk Organic Co-Op were selling gorgeous organic fresh produce, grown by local farmers, as well as letting everyone know about membership to their Church St Mayfield based Co-Op.
• ReMake Creative Reuse Centre hosted a kids play and activity area that was very popular indeed!
• Local artist Jessica Miller offered free facepainting for the kiddies, and local youth Ewan sold icy cold drinks.
• The Ethnic Communities Council had a multi-faceted stall, featuring produce from their community garden, the ECC and the Men's Shed.
• Mayfield's Tree Frog Permaculture held hands-on workshops all day, demonstrating how to weave banana leaf fibre (from leaves chopped down right there in the greenspace), and making "insect hotels" - or native bee habitats to be hung in local gardens.
• CycleSafe Network hosted valet bike parking and free bike maintenance, as well as provided really interesting maps & information about cycle pathways n Mayfield and Newcastle.

​Mayfield's Acrobat Removals assisted greatly by loaning and transporting furniture & materials to transform Victoria Street and the Dora St carpark into social leisure spaces with lounges, flooring and games. Many local residents volunteered their time, expertise and energy to bring the Mayfield Better Block to you - we say a very , very special thank you to them.

We are excited and delighted about the success of the first Mayfield Better Block, and we hope it will be the first in many collaborative urban revitalisation projects hosted by The Mayfield Business Association. Would you like to be involved in our next adventure? Let us know by completing this contact form below:

Mayfield Business Association is leading the charge in environmental & community responsibility by becoming part of a growing, international movement known as Better Block and will host “Mayfield Better Block,” the first event of its kind in Newcastle, on Saturday 21st May at Victoria St & Maitland Rd from 10 - 4pm.
Better Block was a concept co-created by Jason Roberts, a native Texan who, in 2010, organised a series of “Better Block” demonstrations, taking blighted blocks with vacant properties in Southern Dallas and converting them into temporary walkable districts with popup businesses, bike lanes, cafe seating, and landscaping. The project has now become an international movement and has been featured in the New York Times and Ted Talks. Events have been held all over the world including Tehran and Melbourne.