Welcome Street Party

The developer, Cedar Woods, invited us to a street party to celebrate the completion of ‘Stage 12’, which sounds like a milestone in the Nazi Party’s master plan for the human race, or perhaps another step on the path to Nirvana. Oh Nevermind. The real reason was to welcome us to our sand, and to meet the new neighbours.

We travelled to the new promised land in the Queen’s car of course, not needing to part the waters of the Swan River on the way. We initially parked at our block, and we could see the party starting to blossom in the street at the very top of the development, which showcased the views of the city. As it was impossible for me to throw a stone at the crowd, we jumped back into the car and parked much closer, avoiding the trek uphill. No point in arriving unable to hold a glass of wine, eh?

The fabulous Gerda greeted us and stuck our name badges on us. Our badges fell off almost immediately due to oriental adhesive, but they immediately transformed us into socialites, ready to mingle and be interesting. We swept through the crowd to the free wine stall, which we had located prior to entry. Everyone else had the same idea, so we started to mix pre-libation, getting to know some of the neighbours near us and obviously comparing block sizes and positions.

I could see everyone was having a great time. Everyone was engaged in great conversation, there was laughter and interaction. So clearly this was the time for the company that had been hired to get the interaction started, to fire up their PA system and interrupt the party with banter designed to make sure we were interacting. Which we were. It was a bit like waking someone up to take their sleeping tablet. Anyhow, there was a nice chap on the end of the mic telling us about how we were all now part of a community and that we should communicate and look after each other. He then passed the mic over to who he introduced as a director of Cedar Woods, but who wasn’t a director of Cedar Woods, instead a regular bloke telling us all about the development.

After speeches, we got straight back into the interaction and what turned out to be a very nice but chilled paella. Then we had the opportunity to get our picture taken with a ‘sold’ sign that we could stick on our block signs. This involved walking with the photographer to our block, which would also involve us walking over sand from the party and back – so obviously dead in the water. We got a picnic blanket as a gift, which was nice, but it wasn’t the magnum of Moet I had hinted at on arrival. C’est la vie.

It was a brief party – for security reasons the entrance gates shut at 7pm – and so I mooched over to the paella stand to see if there was a takeaway opportunity that would be good for the next day. No paella left, but a vegan rice dish that I initially turned my nose up to, only to be pleasantly surprised with the next day. Given our competence for libation, we had dissuaded each other from taking a ‘spare bottle’, and I was driving anyway – so off we trotted and went home saying nice things about the experience.

The tagline for the development is “modern living shaped by nature – a truly sustainable community just 16km from the Perth CBD”. The word ‘community’ is present on just about every page of the developer’s web site; in fact, it has its very own menu. We met some great neighbours who appear to be people who want to participate in, and give to, a community. So well done Cedar Woods, I get the impression you are following through on what you say you want to achieve. And I’m looking forward to meeting again those people I met at the welcome party – with glass in hand judging by their similar standards. Cheers!