Peter Cundall turns 90
Peter Cundall’s 90th birthday on April 1 was celebrated in Hobart with “Pete’s Picnic”, a public picnic in the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens.
Born in Manchester to a poverty-stricken family in 1927, Cundall migrated to Tasmania in 1956.
He became a household name as the host of ABC TV’s Gardening Australia but his love of nature also led him to become an environmental activist.
He was involved with protests against the Franklin Dam in the 1970s and ’80s.
In 2009 he was one of 50 activists who were arrested during a protest against Gunns' proposed Tamar Valley pulp mill organised by the group Pulp the Mill.
Empty hotel to house homeless youth
The Addison Hotel in Kensington, Sydney, which would have remained empty for the next year while a development plan awaits approval, has been offered by the building’s owners as a refuge for young people needing crisis accommodation.
The 42 fully-furnished rooms, with their own bathroom and kitchenette, will be offered free of charge.
Residents will also be given free food, clothes and laundry facilities.
A supermarket run by OzHarvest offering rescued food has been set up in the lobby.
A clothing rescue service, Thread Together, has opened next to the hotel and Orange Sky Laundry, a mobile laundry service, will visit once a week.
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