Merry Xmas!

What weed is that?

8.00am Thursday morning, Clare, Frances & Taus, members of Council's Bush Regeneration Team are weeding at the edge of the shared path next to Artarmon Oval. It's just the best thing to know that our Council is providing this kind of work for people - enjoyable, creative and full of meaning. Most mornings I walk through Artarmon Reserve to get my morning coffee enjoying the sights & sounds of my suburb, greeting the regulars walking their dogs, cycling to work, walking to school. Just a few steps further on and there's this raucous screeching - lorrikeets feasting on the banksias overhead! Truly its a sweet life.

HarbourLink

Here's the photomontage, published in today's Sydney Morning Herald. Linking St Leonard's Park at Falcon St to the deck level of Sydney Harbour Bridge at a 3% grade over 2ks, just imagine how uplifting the trip in to work would be each day - it's enough to make you want to work in the CBD!!
You can help make this stunning piece of sustainable transport infrastructure happen - email letters@smh.com.au or fax 9282 3492

Nice work if you can get it

Here I am hard at work, Chairing Council's Bushland Advisory Committee. Our December meeting became a Christmas Party thanks to Alfred Bernhardt, Bushland Manager (3rd from the right, with cap) It was held held last Thursday in the Edgar St Reserve, to the accompaniment of currawong carols and children playing in the sandpit. Willoughby LGA comprises around 22sq kms and has direct "care and control" of about 25 hectares of bushland within its boundaries. About half of this area (the higher ridges and main plateau - Chatswood, Willoughby and parts of Artarmon) is Wianamatta Shale the other half being Hawkesbury Sandstone and the tidal flats of Middle Harbour (Castle Cove, Castlecrag and Northbridge. Vegetation reflects the difference in geologies with remnant Blue Gum High Forest on the shale and scribbly gums, eucalyptus and banksia species characteristic of coastal sandstone to the east. We are currently reviewing our Bushland Plan of Management (a wonderful piece of work by Ian Perkins)which has been the framework for positioning Willoughby's reputation right up there, having just won a NP&WS Biodiversity Management Award (Highly Commended). Also pictured are Committee Members(left to right) KL, Ross Wellings, Peter Kenny, Jim White, Clr Terry Fogarty, Lynne Saville, AB, Gay Spies and James Smallhorn (Landscape Officer). Absent from the photo because she was taking it, is Vice Chair Lorraine Cairnes & also Clrs Philip Hickie and Adrian Cox.
Council is very, very grateful for the level of support provided by these knowledgeable and skilled residents!

Frankly my dears....

the the gloves are off and the clothes too it seems, with much talk of nakedness in yesterday's Telegraph - which it being the Tele, is all very appropriate I suppose! The subject as promised previously in this blog, is the Iemma government's " planning reforms ". In fact Frank Sartor's journalistic style does exhibit an element of the burlesque with lines such as " Stripping back to basics " and his repetition of the [hero] worshipful " by the age of 24, Alexander the Great had conquered the known world in less time than we could get three approvals through council " (er..excuse me, which Council..?) Whilst I'm not at all suprised to learn that Frank admires the kind of 'can-do' ness embodied by the young empire builder, the parrallels are not entirely comforting when it comes to suburban Willoughby. Just how good do you feel about his assurance that "around half of all development applications could be determined within 10 days" - including those of your neighbour?! As Genia McCaffery, President of the Local Government Association (and popularly elected independent Mayor of North Sydney) puts it " the first you'll know is when the scaffolding goes up! " That young whippersnapper from the Property Council will be very pleased this Xmas! The NSW government is clearly delighted with Morrison and his gang, finding them to have been very good boys indeed this (and last!) year. Very fortunately Alan Jones "gets it". Hear him at his strident best, with Genia...
(p.s Sadly the software I'm using is having trouble uploading the audiofile so if you want to hear it let me know your email & I'll send it - K)

TravelSmart

Pre-book trips anywhere within Willoughby City for just $4.

CouncilCab has been extended to Saturday - especially for the holiday season!

Older residents in particular have appreciated and made good use of this service. More sustainable and more convenient. If you know of someone who might benefit from this service, please help to spread the word!

Buy books of vouchers (5 for $20) from Council offices (31 Victor St, from the Dougherty Centre or from the driver. To book phone 8332 8338

Its just one of the smarter ways to travel..

StreetFilms.org-The Case for Separated Bike Lanes in NYC

Here's a fine piece of advocacy raising awareness about cycle access in car dependent cities.
Competition for space is hot - in NYC just like Sydney!

HarbourLink

Ever cycled across Sydney Harbour Bridge?

Its a great experience - except for the 5 flights of steps at North Sydney....
So its hats (helmets?) off to Russ Webber (North Shore Bike Group) and North Sydney's Councillor Nick Ritten for their work in advocating for the visionary HarbourLink project! The concept is an elevated 2km shared path at minimal grade (about 3%) extending from the deck level of the Harbour Bridge up to St Leonards Park at Falcon Street. If you were amongst the thousands (yes, thousands) of people who crossed the Bridge by pedalpower on October 17th, Ride to Work Day (when these pics were taken) you might have met them spruiking for the project. Russ tells me he handed out over 800 brochures within an hour

Considering climate change, fuel costs, unfit adults and overweight children - active transport has to be part of our solution doesn't it?

Johns vacate top jobs

Whilst I'm happy to see Howard's end, I'll miss John Owen. After 10 years as Willoughby's General Manager, John has decided to retire at the end of the year. He has been a wonderful GM with a special talent for creating a happy workplace. Last night the Councillors resolved to offer the job to Nick Tobin, currently our Corporate Services Director. Nick has boundless energy and enthusiasm for the work and Willoughby has already benefitted greatly from his skills - I have particularly noticed his ability to attract excellent staff - Linda Cardew Civic Place Project Manager & Tracey Crouch who manages Customer Services being two of the finest. Here's a pic of the Nick and the Mayor out surveying some of the city's tags....

Snakes Alive (well fresh anyway)

Well here's something for you.

A resident of Burra Rd took this pic of a kookaburra with its mouth full - over the back fence. We think it might be a black bellied swamp snake. ( Please click on the pic - stunning detail)
In 2001, Council commissioned Dr Arthur White to conduct a fauna survey of Willoughby's remnant bushland. His method included corroborated historical data, "baited hair tubes" search for and collect tracks, burrows,shed fur, feathers and scats, spotlighting, examination of trees for scratchmarks and drays. Of Artarmon Reserve however, he wrote "intensive surveys were not carried out here because of the high public exposure of the site and its complete isolation from other reserves". Fauna records were confined to "opportunistic observations made by the public during the survey period" and these amounted to :

• 4 types of mammal (Ring & Brushtail possums, Grey headed flying foxes & dogs)
• 4 types of reptile (Eastern Water & Garden skinks, Green Tree & Golden Crown snakes, the latter having been run over in the carpark)
• 2 types of frog (Common Eastern froglets & Striped Marsh) and
• 40 species of birds (subject for another day!)

Naremburn Matters

There’s a bit of a shakeup happening at Naremburn Community Centre. Council Officers have developed plans which involve providing increasing space for the preschool and library and improved meeting spaces for community groups. Importantly, a recommendation to “relocate & rename” the Council run After School Care Service has recently been adopted by Council. The relocation is to Bales Park, Willoughby.

The population age structure of Naremburn/St Leonards is interesting and unlike the rest of Willoughby Council area in several ways. On the basis of Census data, we know that the suburb has a significantly higher number of residents aged 25 – 34 years. As you would expect, these people are starting families as evidenced by the steady growth of under 4 year old children. In 1996 there were 382, in 2001 463, and last year there were 596 – a clear upward trend.

The closure of Naremburn Public School was such a mistake wasn’t it? Council’s unsuccessful attempt to resist the sale of this public asset in the 1990s was the first unpleasant lesson for me as a new Councillor, in understanding the nature of the relationship between state and local government. Council’s decision to ‘relocate’ the After School Service 10 years later is a consequence, since the children must attend school in Cammeray, Artarmon and Willoughby, those are the preferred locations for out of hours care services. I think it sad that as the number of children in our suburb grows, the services to support them are withdrawn.

On the other hand, we are very fortunate in having two faith based communities in Naremburn St Cuthbert’s and St Leonard’s, both of which are doing a fine job of community building, something which school communities especially primary schools provide a focus for. I was especially pleased and excited to hear that Irma di Santo’s ambition to bring an icon from her family home in Italy to its new home in St Leonard’s Church has now been realised. Our Mayor Pat Reilly told me that he had attended recent celebrations associated with this friendship across the seas and that the festivities extended to a procession along Merrenburn Avenue as well the as much feasting in the best of Italian tradition!

Another development which you will have noticed and which we hope will bring great opportunities for the local community to come together is the refurbishment of the Walter Burley Griffin designed Incinerator in the Bicentennial Reserve. Council was successful in obtaining a federal grant to treat and restore this iconic heritage item which has suffered neglect and extensive ‘concrete cancer’ as a result of poor management by the previous leaseholder/s. The building is now happily, back in our hands and our plan is to establish an exhibition space, a café and hopefully some ‘artist in residence’ facilities at the lower level. Importantly we will install a lift - sensitively designed so as to add to and not detract from the original fabric of the place – to allow access for people with disabilities.

Finally, Willoughby Leisure Centre is now being managed directly by Council. This should allow us to provide services better related to your needs. Kate Day, the Centre’s Manager would like to hear from you about that. There may be some scope for physical extensions and personally, I have been advocating to establish a bike hire service, such as those servicing Centennial Park.

Suburban turkey

My neighbour Christine called me recently with the news that she has seen the first of what is bound to become a more common sight – a scrub turkey just alongside Channel 9 - no doubt due to the success of the northside Councils’ fox baiting program. Now that Young James has decided to concentrate on his gaming interests and to sell off the Channel 9 site, the presence of this bird is a timely reminder that Council needs to negotiate with whomever ends up owning the site, to achieve a green corridor connecting Flat Rock Gully with Artarmon Reserve. I believe that Expressions of Interest for the site have been invited but don’t know any details. In any case, we have made it clear to the officers that along with a compatible residential component, we would like the tower gone (which should increase the value of the land so that might happen), a sportsfield and a green corridor along the freeway alignment, upslope from the freeway walls. Of course if Frank Sartor calls it in – well, it will all go the developers way.

On the subject of Frank, Local Government had its Annual Conference in Coffs Harbour this year and although some may feel this is a needless junket, I have to say that I find the event useful - as well as enjoyable. This year we were addressed by the man we all love to hate. Frank is on a mission to “reform the planning system in NSW”. Trouble is he’s reforming it to suit the development industry and that’s about it. Of course he denies this when challenged, and says he’s “cutting green and red tape” for the “mums & dads” who are developers. From where I sit, there would be at least equal numbers of “mums & dads” who have been adversely impacted by the “reforms” thus far. Such as the introduction of Private Certifiers who, being paid by the developer/applicant have little interest in accommodating the interests of neighbours – unlike Council Officers who used to perform this function. And such as the now infamous Part 3A of the EP&A Act which allowed the redevelopment of Chatswood station to be taken right out of our hands, robbing us of millions in S94 funds as well as the possibility of a genuine transport interchange.

We anticipate a further episode of Frank’s reforms imminently so over the next months our Association and its President, Genia McCaffery, North Sydney Council’s independent & popularly elected Mayor will be preparing a campaign to draw attention to the fact that the Iemma government is incrementally but effectively, shutting the people out of planning decisions which affect them. Anything Frank deems to be “critical infrastructure” or “major development” is exempted from the need to conform with pesky legislation like the Coastal Protection Act, the Heritage Act, the Fisheries Management Act, the National Parks and Wildlife Act, the Native Vegetation Act, the Rivers and Foreshores Improvement Act, the Rural Fires Act, the Water Management Act, the Threatened Species Conservation Act and of course, local planning instruments.

At the Conference, I was able to meet and compare notes with Councillors who share similar interests but different experiences and approaches. A Councillor from Byron Shire explained that he sees bike transport and facilities as a matter of equity and access since although Byron has its share of wealthy residents, there are many residents who don’t own cars and public transport is completely absent from much of the Shire.

The theme of the Conference was of course, Climate Change….

Channel 9

Is selling up!
We haven't been told much however unless Frank Sartor decides its a State Significant site (highly possible given his record) Council is still the consent authority re zoning.
This is an unusual opportunity as large sites like this rarely come on the market in our LGA.
What are your thoughts on what should happen here?
What questions do you have?
I'd like to hear from you & will use this space to post information as it comes to me...

Welcome post

Welcome to my first post!
Friday 5th October was Walk to Work Day
At Council the previous Monday, Councillors supported my idea that we invite a local Coffee Cart vendor to provide free coffee at the Willoughby Rd bus stop while they wait - as they have to every morning - to catch a city bound bus.
As Council has limited ability to improve public transport services, at least we can thank those who do travel sustainably and draw attention to the poor level of service provided at present!!
In fact My Councillor colleagues wanted carts at the bus stops in all their Wards too !!