TOD SEPP Update

I understand that there has been a lot of media activity today regarding the TOD SEPP. My view is that the message portrayed to date is not entirely accurate and will clarify this by way of media release later today.

TOD Update

What the minister said vs. what the mayor said.

In short, the minister says that 6 months is a reasonable timeframe to conduct studies, bypass community consultation, establish a plan without a target for the LMRH SEPP, and get an LEP approved.

The mayor said that 12-18 months is a more realistic timeframe to consult the community with targets, plan for good outcomes, and that funding is required to make it happen.

For the last five weeks I have personally been waiting for Minister Scully to further engage but he has not. Now it is clear why; he wants to portray the message that we have not collaborated on the process when in reality he has not been engaging on reasonable terms.

Climate Litigation and Personal Responsibility

This week a European Court ruled that the Swiss Government had failed to take enough climate action, thus putting senior citizens at risk of dying during heatwaves.

This sounds hectic but Climate Litigation doesn’t happen in Europe alone.

Last decade a court blocked a coal mine near Newcastle due to climate change impacts not being in the public interest.

More recently, eight children fought against the government and blocked a coal mine extension on the basis of duty of care and climate change impacts.

I know some residents are concerned about the future, but it’s not practical to take everyone to court. So I’ll suggest three easy ways for residents to play their part.

First, most energy retailers provide the option to purchase 100% renewable energy so this is something for you to consider.

Second, many super funds offer an ethical investment option to give you confidence that your money is going towards a good cause. You should speak with a financial advisor if you want to investigate that option.

Finally, meat production is a carbon intensive activity so you should think about how much meat you consume. While I haven’t gone totally vegetarian, I do choose to eat less meat to reduce my personal footprint.

Hope those tips help, and feel free to leave your comments below.

Scouts in the 90’s

Today’s theme has been the Scouts movement and its influence on leaders in formative years. Here’s pictures of when I first became a Cub Scout. For many migrant families, academic achievement is perceived as a means of success in a new country and that was the focus of my life, however, the Scout movement was also a great way to hang out with local kids, develop practical skills and character, and form a greater appreciation of our natural environment.

Today's theme has been the Scouts movement and its influence on leaders in formative years. Here's pictures of when I first became a Cub Scout. For many migrant families, academic achievement is perceived as a means of success in a new country and that was the focus of my life, however, the Scout movement was also a great way to hang out with local kids, develop practical skills and character, and form a greater appreciation of our natural environment.

Tony Balthasar Award

Last week I learnt that Dick Smith was a former Roseville Chase resident and member of 1st East Roseville Scouts.

During his formative years a Rover Adviser Tony Balthasar created opportunities for Dick and left a real impression, contributing to the person he is today. After Tony’s passing, Dick setup a fund for the Balthasar Award which has given similar opportunities for 27 other Rovers.

We listened to its final recipient, William Wade, as he shared about his cave diving course and expedition to Mexico.

Matt Cross – Member for Davidson also gave a speech of support, and it was a good night all round.

Last week I learnt that @[100064908991835:2048:Dick Smith] was a former Roseville Chase resident and member of 1st East Roseville Scouts.

During his formative years a Rover Adviser Tony Balthasar created opportunities for Dick and left a real impression, contributing to the person he is today. After Tony’s passing, Dick setup a fund for the Balthasar Award which has given similar opportunities for 27 other Rovers.

We listened to its final recipient, William Wade, as he shared about his cave diving course and expedition to Mexico.

@[100087669656114:2048:Matt Cross - Member for Davidson] also gave a speech of support, and it was a good night all round.
Last week I learnt that @[100064908991835:2048:Dick Smith] was a former Roseville Chase resident and member of 1st East Roseville Scouts. During his formative years a Rover Adviser Tony Balthasar created opportunities for Dick and left a real impression, contributing to the person he is today. After Tony’s passing, Dick setup a fund for the Balthasar Award which has given similar opportunities for 27 other Rovers. We listened to its final recipient, William Wade, as he shared about his cave diving course and expedition to Mexico. @[100087669656114:2048:Matt Cross – Member for Davidson] also gave a speech of support, and it was a good night all round.

A Strange Request

It’s amazing what Mayors are asked to do. Yesterday, I was given “nine bags of weed as evidence” of invasive growth on Tryon Road, Lindfield. The concerned resident even labelled each type of weed. Asparagus Fern, Clover, Dandelion, Ivy, Madeira Vine, Okra, Onion Weed, Turkey Rhubarb, and ‘Various’. p.s. I didn’t open the bags, and handed all nine over to a council officer.

Lest we forget

Wed Apr 10, 2024 07:07 AM

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Lest we forget

If anyone would like to add to this Ku-ring-gai list, let me know and I'll update the image.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. Lest we forget If anyone would like to add to this Ku-ring-gai list, let me know and I’ll update the image.

Pothole fixed within a day

When I want a pothole fixed, I usually email council staff and it’s done within days. But this time I tried reporting via the council website to see if ordinary requests get the same treatment, and I was pleasantly surprised by the result! I reported two holes (Killara and Roseville) on the weekend and both were fixed by Monday afternoon! 😊😊😊

The process of reporting via the website wasn’t completely smooth. It was a bit clunky and embarrassing to be honest and I think there’s scope to improve the user experience. I’ll pass the feedback onto the website team, and I’ll also share a video this afternoon to show you how easy (or hard) it was for me to do it from start to finish.

I’m keen to improve the user experience of Council’s systems, phonelines, and processes so if you ever have any constructive feedback feel free to reach out to me.

When I want a pothole fixed, I usually email council staff and it's done within days. But this time I tried reporting via the council website to see if ordinary requests get the same treatment, and I was pleasantly surprised by the result! I reported two holes (Killara and Roseville) on the weekend and both were fixed by Monday afternoon! 😊😊😊

The process of reporting via the website wasn't completely smooth. It was a bit clunky and embarrassing to be honest and I think there's scope to improve the user experience. I'll pass the feedback onto the website team, and I'll also share a video this afternoon to show you how easy (or hard) it was for me to do it from start to finish.

I'm keen to improve the user experience of Council's systems, phonelines, and processes so if you ever have any constructive feedback feel free to reach out to me.
When I want a pothole fixed, I usually email council staff and it’s done within days. But this time I tried reporting via the council website to see if ordinary requests get the same treatment, and I was pleasantly surprised by the result! I reported two holes (Killara and Roseville) on the weekend and both were fixed by Monday afternoon! 😊😊😊 The process of reporting via the website wasn’t completely smooth. It was a bit clunky and embarrassing to be honest and I think there’s scope to improve the user experience. I’ll pass the feedback onto the website team, and I’ll also share a video this afternoon to show you how easy (or hard) it was for me to do it from start to finish. I’m keen to improve the user experience of Council’s systems, phonelines, and processes so if you ever have any constructive feedback feel free to reach out to me.

Pothole repairs

When I want a pothole fixed, I usually email council staff and it’s done within days. But this time I tried reporting via the council website to see if ordinary requests get the same treatment, and I was pleasantly surprised by the result! I reported two holes (Killara and Roseville) on the weekend and both were fixed by Monday afternoon! 😊😊😊

The process of reporting via the website wasn’t completely smooth. It was a bit clunky and embarrassing to be honest and I think there’s scope to improve the user experience. I’ll pass the feedback onto the website team, and I’ll also share a video this afternoon to show you how easy (or hard) it was for me to do it from start to finish.

I’m keen to improve the user experience of Council’s systems, phonelines, and processes so if you ever have any constructive feedback feel free to reach out to me.

When I want a pothole fixed, I usually email council staff and it's done within days. But this time I tried reporting via the council website to see if ordinary requests get the same treatment, and I was pleasantly surprised by the result! I reported two holes (Killara and Roseville) on the weekend and both were fixed by Monday afternoon! 😊😊😊

The process of reporting via the website wasn't completely smooth. It was a bit clunky and embarrassing to be honest and I think there's scope to improve the user experience. I'll pass the feedback onto the website team, and I'll also share a video this afternoon to show you how easy (or hard) it was for me to do it from start to finish.

I'm keen to improve the user experience of Council's systems, phonelines, and processes so if you ever have any constructive feedback feel free to reach out to me.
When I want a pothole fixed, I usually email council staff and it’s done within days. But this time I tried reporting via the council website to see if ordinary requests get the same treatment, and I was pleasantly surprised by the result! I reported two holes (Killara and Roseville) on the weekend and both were fixed by Monday afternoon! 😊😊😊 The process of reporting via the website wasn’t completely smooth. It was a bit clunky and embarrassing to be honest and I think there’s scope to improve the user experience. I’ll pass the feedback onto the website team, and I’ll also share a video this afternoon to show you how easy (or hard) it was for me to do it from start to finish. I’m keen to improve the user experience of Council’s systems, phonelines, and processes so if you ever have any constructive feedback feel free to reach out to me.

Gordon Creek

Gordon Creek is usually just a trickle but on Saturday midday, a few hours after the rain stopped, I joined my reptilian friend in watching a robust stream pass through. The stream was fed by runoff from stormwater systems, overland flow, and underground seepage as it made its way downhill. With the State Government’s future Transport Oriented Development, we will see more hard surfaces directly connected to stormwater and less soft landscaping (trees, bush, grass) to absorb and hold back the rain. This in turn will mean that water will get released into our creeks and rivers at a much faster rate, causing greater flooding and erosion.

Gordon Creek is usually just a trickle but on Saturday midday, a few hours after the rain stopped, I joined my reptilian friend in watching a robust stream pass through. The stream was fed by runoff from stormwater systems, overland flow, and underground seepage as it made its way downhill.

With the State Government's future Transport Oriented Development, we will see more hard surfaces directly connected to stormwater and less soft landscaping (trees, bush, grass) to absorb and hold back the rain. This in turn will mean that water will get released into our creeks and rivers at a much faster rate, causing greater flooding and erosion.

Vertical Espresso, South Turramurra

Yesterday I was keen to check out Vertical Espresso in South Turramurra.

Table order was via QR code and online payment. The food was fantastic and the place was packed.

I suspect part of the busyness was due to the power outage which affected most of South Turramurra. People gotta eat.

Yesterday I was keen to check out @[100063542174747:2048:Vertical Espresso] in South Turramurra.

Table order was via QR code and online payment. The food was fantastic and the place was packed.

I suspect part of the busyness was due to the power outage which affected most of South Turramurra. People gotta eat.
Yesterday I was keen to check out @[100063542174747:2048:Vertical Espresso] in South Turramurra. Table order was via QR code and online payment. The food was fantastic and the place was packed. I suspect part of the busyness was due to the power outage which affected most of South Turramurra. People gotta eat.

KNA Opening Day

🏐 Visited Canoon Road on the opening day of Netball. Usually I turn up and have tea, but this time was more hands on.

⚡️ Because of the local power outage, the electronic locks to the toilets and change rooms were not functioning and I had to ask council staff to come with a key, which they did within an hour.

📦 We also talked about the storage situation (currently a container) and ideas for how to improve it going forward.

Ku-Ring-Gai Netball Association

🏐 Visited Canoon Road on the opening day of Netball. Usually I turn up and have tea, but this time was more hands on.

⚡️ Because of the local power outage, the electronic locks to the toilets and change rooms were not functioning and I had to ask council staff to come with a key, which they did within an hour.

📦 We also talked about the storage situation (currently a container) and ideas for how to improve it going forward.

@[100046972015011:2048:Ku-Ring-Gai Netball Association]

Power Outages

There are over 3,000 households in Ku-ring-gai without power right now. If you want to know the estimated time for power restoration, visit the Ausgrid website. https://www.ausgrid.com.au/Outages/Current-Outages

There are over 3,000 households in Ku-ring-gai without power right now. If you want to know the estimated time for power restoration, visit the Ausgrid website.
https://www.ausgrid.com.au/Outages/Current-Outages

Thu Apr 4, 2024 07:07 AM

Yesterday I visited the Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury Sydney Lindfield Book Depot where residents drop off their books and a team of volunteers sorts through them for resale.

The work of these volunteers goes towards funding crisis support, suicide prevention, support groups, counselling and emergency relief. By giving these books a second (or fifth) life, they are also promoting re-use and reducing the waste that otherwise would go to pulp or landfill.

If you want to support the cause, you can buy a selection of second hand books at their store at 328 Pacific Highway Lindfield or you can wait til they have their big book fair held 18-21 July at Knox Grammar School.

For more information, visit their website. https://lifelineh2hsydney.org.au

Yesterday I visited the @[100064520299383:2048:Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury Sydney] Lindfield Book Depot where residents drop off their books and a team of volunteers sorts through them for resale.

The work of these volunteers goes towards funding crisis support, suicide prevention, support groups, counselling and emergency relief. By giving these books a second (or fifth) life, they are also promoting re-use and reducing the waste that otherwise would go to pulp or landfill.

If you want to support the cause, you can buy a selection of second hand books at their store at 328 Pacific Highway Lindfield or you can wait til they have their big book fair held 18-21 July at Knox Grammar School.

For more information, visit their website.
https://lifelineh2hsydney.org.au
Yesterday I visited the @[100064520299383:2048:Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury Sydney] Lindfield Book Depot where residents drop off their books and a team of volunteers sorts through them for resale. The work of these volunteers goes towards funding crisis support, suicide prevention, support groups, counselling and emergency relief. By giving these books a second (or fifth) life, they are also promoting re-use and reducing the waste that otherwise would go to pulp or landfill. If you want to support the cause, you can buy a selection of second hand books at their store at 328 Pacific Highway Lindfield or you can wait til they have their big book fair held 18-21 July at Knox Grammar School. For more information, visit their website. https://lifelineh2hsydney.org.au

25th Blood Donation

Quiet week, had the chance to make my 25th blood donation. I’d encourage everyone to give it a go. @Australian Red Cross Lifeblood

Quiet week, had the chance to make my 25th blood donation.
I'd encourage everyone to give it a go.
@@[100064597483307:2048:Australian Red Cross Lifeblood]
Quiet week, had the chance to make my 25th blood donation. I’d encourage everyone to give it a go. @@[100064597483307:2048:Australian Red Cross Lifeblood]

That is half a house!

The developers encircled, and this person said NO! This isn’t an April Fools’ joke, it’s happening in Sydney as we speak.

The real joke is the 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 of the Transport Oriented Development SEPP.

To deliver 1.2 million homes in 5 years, Australia is initially bottlenecked not by supply but by construction capacity. We need a 30-50% increase in construction workers to make it happen. But they have not planned for this increase.

I’m fully supportive of providing more homes near transport hubs, but it needs to be a carefully planned approach which involves community consultation.

The State Government’s proposal of rushing a SEPP in 4 months does not meet community expectations. Given our construction bottlenecks, a responsible approach would be to allow councils 18-24 months to properly plan for where the density should go, as well as the infrastructure and amenities to support.

I want to provide the future residents of NSW with a great place to live. But jamming in homes then retrofitting amenities and infrastructure does not give future residents what they deserve.

Happy April Fools’ Day.

The developers encircled, and this person said NO!
This isn't an April Fools' joke, it's happening in Sydney as we speak.

The real joke is the 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 of the Transport Oriented Development SEPP.

To deliver 1.2 million homes in 5 years, Australia is initially bottlenecked not by supply but by construction capacity. We need a 30-50% increase in construction workers to make it happen. But they have not planned for this increase.

I'm fully supportive of providing more homes near transport hubs, but it needs to be a carefully planned approach which involves community consultation.

The State Government's proposal of rushing a SEPP in 4 months does not meet community expectations. Given our construction bottlenecks, a responsible approach would be to allow councils 18-24 months to properly plan for where the density should go, as well as the infrastructure and amenities to support.

I want to provide the future residents of NSW with a great place to live. But jamming in homes then retrofitting amenities and infrastructure does not give future residents what they deserve.

Happy April Fools' Day.
The developers encircled, and this person said NO! This isn’t an April Fools’ joke, it’s happening in Sydney as we speak. The real joke is the 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 of the Transport Oriented Development SEPP. To deliver 1.2 million homes in 5 years, Australia is initially bottlenecked not by supply but by construction capacity. We need a 30-50% increase in construction workers to make it happen. But they have not planned for this increase. I’m fully supportive of providing more homes near transport hubs, but it needs to be a carefully planned approach which involves community consultation. The State Government’s proposal of rushing a SEPP in 4 months does not meet community expectations. Given our construction bottlenecks, a responsible approach would be to allow councils 18-24 months to properly plan for where the density should go, as well as the infrastructure and amenities to support. I want to provide the future residents of NSW with a great place to live. But jamming in homes then retrofitting amenities and infrastructure does not give future residents what they deserve. Happy April Fools’ Day.

Easter Services

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” – 1 Peter 3:18

This Easter I was invited to an 8am service at Corpus Christi Catholic Church followed by 11am at my own church St Barnabas Anglican Church East Roseville.

Both churches celebrated Jesus’ death and resurrection, and what it means for us today.

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” – 1 Peter 3:18 This Easter I was invited to an 8am service at @[100068667876782:2048:Corpus Christi Catholic Church] followed by 11am at my own church @[100064383624077:2048:St Barnabas Anglican Church East Roseville]. Both churches celebrated Jesus’ death and resurrection, and what it means for us today.

162 New Citizens!

🇦🇺This month we welcomed 162 new citizens from 29 countries to our LGA. It’s always good to see the smile on their faces!

Special thanks go to: – the Ku-ring-gai Ranger Guides for their involvement – guest speaker Kevin Hao (Youth Citizen of the Year) for encouraging our residents to participate in volunteering – Matt Cross – Member for Davidson for his welcome speech, and – Cr Barbara Ward for leading the affirmation.

🇦🇺This month we welcomed 162 new citizens from 29 countries to our LGA. It's always good to see the smile on their faces!

Special thanks go to:
- the Ku-ring-gai Ranger Guides for their involvement
- guest speaker Kevin Hao (Youth Citizen of the Year) for encouraging our residents to participate in volunteering
- @[100087669656114:2048:Matt Cross - Member for Davidson] for his welcome speech, and
- Cr Barbara Ward for leading the affirmation.

Open in Time for Easter Long Weekend

On 7 August 2023 I shared that Roseville Park Oval will be undergoing extensive irrigation and fencing upgrades over an eight month period.

Yesterday on 28 March 2024 I watched as our team removed the construction fencing to unveil the improved surface.

So it took just under 8 months and was within expectations. A real win for local recreation.

I might see you there for the Lindfield Fun Run on 19 May!

But it’s not always good news. The Norman Griffith Oval is facing delays due to ground conditions and inclement weather, and we are now expecting completion around July 2024 subject to favourable weather.

🎉Open in time for Easter Long Weekend!🎉

On 7 August 2023 I shared that Roseville Park Oval will be undergoing extensive irrigation and fencing upgrades over an eight month period.

Yesterday on 28 March 2024 I watched as our team removed the construction fencing to unveil the improved surface.

So it took just under 8 months and was within expectations. A real win for local recreation.

I might see you there for the @[100064649686516:2048:Lindfield Fun Run] on 19 May!

But it’s not always good news. The Norman Griffith Oval is facing delays due to ground conditions and inclement weather, and we are now expecting completion around July 2024 subject to favourable weather.

Ku-ring-gai Tree Forum

This week over 100 residents registered for our first ever Tree Forum to hear what Ku-ring-gai is doing to protect its trees, ask questions, and contribute their own ideas.

👮Council spoke about its plans to increase tree compliance officer activity supported by a 24/7 hotline. The jobs are currently being advertised for anyone interested.

🌲Council also spoke about the recent introduction of Tree Replacement Orders which require landowners to plant replacement trees for illegal activity, with regular followups and fines for non-compliance. The Tree Replacement Order is tied to the land rather than the owner, so future land owners are also required to follow the order until the tree reaches maturity.

🎄Council covered other initiatives such as our urban forest strategy, tree inventory and planting analysis, community nursery, street tree planting pilot, tree tag project, smart schools and comms.

⚖️Council explained that much of what we can do (nature of investigation, size of fines, effectiveness of court orders) is constrained by State law.

Thanks everyone for your role in this process.

For further information, refer to the video and slide pack. https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Council/News-and-media/Latest-news/Tree-Forum-success

This week over 100 residents registered for our first ever Tree Forum to hear what Ku-ring-gai is doing to protect its trees, ask questions, and contribute their own ideas.

👮Council spoke about its plans to increase tree compliance officer activity supported by a 24/7 hotline. The jobs are currently being advertised for anyone interested.

🌲Council also spoke about the recent introduction of Tree Replacement Orders which require landowners to plant replacement trees for illegal activity, with regular followups and fines for non-compliance. The Tree Replacement Order is tied to the land rather than the owner, so future land owners are also required to follow the order until the tree reaches maturity.

🎄Council covered other initiatives such as our urban forest strategy, tree inventory and planting analysis, community nursery, street tree planting pilot, tree tag project,  smart schools and comms.

⚖️Council explained that much of what we can do (nature of investigation, size of fines, effectiveness of court orders) is constrained by State law.

Thanks everyone for your role in this process.

For further information, refer to the video and slide pack.
https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Council/News-and-media/Latest-news/Tree-Forum-success
This week over 100 residents registered for our first ever Tree Forum to hear what Ku-ring-gai is doing to protect its trees, ask questions, and contribute their own ideas. 👮Council spoke about its plans to increase tree compliance officer activity supported by a 24/7 hotline. The jobs are currently being advertised for anyone interested. 🌲Council also spoke about the recent introduction of Tree Replacement Orders which require landowners to plant replacement trees for illegal activity, with regular followups and fines for non-compliance. The Tree Replacement Order is tied to the land rather than the owner, so future land owners are also required to follow the order until the tree reaches maturity. 🎄Council covered other initiatives such as our urban forest strategy, tree inventory and planting analysis, community nursery, street tree planting pilot, tree tag project, smart schools and comms. ⚖️Council explained that much of what we can do (nature of investigation, size of fines, effectiveness of court orders) is constrained by State law. Thanks everyone for your role in this process. For further information, refer to the video and slide pack. https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Council/News-and-media/Latest-news/Tree-Forum-success

Ride2School Day

Last week I visited St Ives Park Public School for National Ride2School Day. Families were encouraged to ride to school instead of drive, and the kids were keen to show off their bikes and scooters.

The event aims to demonstrate that active transport is fun, healthy, and good for the environment.

Last week I visited @[100063606878717:2048:St Ives Park Public School] for National Ride2School Day. Families were encouraged to ride to school instead of drive, and the kids were keen to show off their bikes and scooters.

The event aims to demonstrate that active transport is fun, healthy, and good for the environment.
Last week I visited @[100063606878717:2048:St Ives Park Public School] for National Ride2School Day. Families were encouraged to ride to school instead of drive, and the kids were keen to show off their bikes and scooters. The event aims to demonstrate that active transport is fun, healthy, and good for the environment.

Advertising Signage in Roseville?

Earlier this month we received an email from a resident who was concerned about a really ugly electronic advertising sign that council had supposedly approved next to a heritage conservation area.

I went to look and yes, there was an advertising sign but it wasn’t a council approved one. It’s an EV charger installed on Transport for NSW land for the purpose of providing residents with “access to a free fast charging session every 24 hours”. And because it’s transport infrastructure on transport land, it bypasses all council approvals.

I decided to try it out today and learnt the following.

🤣They spent so much time trying to optimise the location of the advertising sign (charging unit) that they didn’t think about the user experience. The parking spot is difficult to get into, plus the cable is so short that it doesn’t reach the rear charging port for vehicles like my MG4 or Tesla Model 3. I hear that the charging provider has realised this issue and will be replacing the cable with a longer one in the coming weeks.

⚡️It’s meant to be free, and when I signed up to the app it says that the first 7kw is free. But when it came to actually trying to charge there was no free option selectable. It’s $0.49/kw and $1/min for idle fee.

I don’t think they will reverse the installation. But once they fix the teething issues, it might be worth considering if you want a mini top-up.

Easter at St Barnabas

We’d love you to join us and explore the meaning of Easter at St Barnabas Anglican Church East Roseville.

Church services are Friday 29 March 10am and Sunday 31 March 9am and 11am. A kids program (which I’m involved with) is also available at the 10am and 11am services.

Hope to see you there and if you plan to come, drop me a message so that we can catch up before or after.

We’d love you to join us and explore the meaning of Easter at @[100064383624077:2048:St Barnabas Anglican Church East Roseville].

Church services are Friday 29 March 10am and Sunday 31 March 9am and 11am. A kids program (which I’m involved with) is also available at the 10am and 11am services.

Hope to see you there and if you plan to come, drop me a message so that we can catch up before or after.
We’d love you to join us and explore the meaning of Easter at @[100064383624077:2048:St Barnabas Anglican Church East Roseville]. Church services are Friday 29 March 10am and Sunday 31 March 9am and 11am. A kids program (which I’m involved with) is also available at the 10am and 11am services. Hope to see you there and if you plan to come, drop me a message so that we can catch up before or after.

Bare Creek Trail Run 2024

This morning at Acron Oval we welcome 850 participants in the Bare Creek Trail Run. We have 43% of participants from outside the LGA and it’s a fantastic opportunity to check out the beautiful trails in Ku-ring-gai.

I had the joy of ringing the cowbell for the 20km and 12km runs.

This morning at Acron Oval we welcome 850 participants in the @[100063775322592:2048:Bare Creek Trail Run]. We have 43% of participants from outside the LGA and it’s a fantastic opportunity to check out the beautiful trails in Ku-ring-gai.

I had the joy of ringing the cowbell for the 20km and 12km runs.
This morning at Acron Oval we welcome 850 participants in the @[100063775322592:2048:Bare Creek Trail Run]. We have 43% of participants from outside the LGA and it’s a fantastic opportunity to check out the beautiful trails in Ku-ring-gai. I had the joy of ringing the cowbell for the 20km and 12km runs.

Bobbin Head Cycle Classic

This morning we had the Bobbin Head Cycle Classic with 2,500 riders, organised by local Rotary clubs and raising funds for Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury Sydney , KYDS Youth Development Service , Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Women’s Shelter , Mentoring Men, Hornsby Connect and other local charities.

Events like this could not be organised without the help of volunteers and I thank the 450 who helped out today.

I normally volunteer as a marshall at these events, directing cyclists on which direction to ride next But this time as Mayor I decided to visit the oval where cyclists hang out before and after. I popped by at the Loving Living Ku-ring-gai stand with Cr Barbara Ward and made a smoothie with cycle power. I visited the Triple H 100.1 FM and Radio Northern Beaches booth to have a chat on the radio. And I tried out an electric cargo bike… more on that in a subsequent post.

Kuring-gai Rotary Ku-ring-gai Rotary Community Network Rotary Club of St Ives, NSW – District 9685 Rotary Club of Turramurra Rotary Club of Wahroonga Rotary Club of Upper Northern Beaches

This morning we had the @[100063544543419:2048:Bobbin Head Cycle Classic] with 2,500 riders, organised by local Rotary clubs and raising funds for @[100064520299383:2048:Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury Sydney] , @[100057506479179:2048:KYDS Youth Development Service] , @[100067239740050:2048:Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Women's Shelter] , @[100064756027471:2048:Mentoring Men], @[100064255587087:2048:Hornsby Connect] and other local charities.

Events like this could not be organised without the help of volunteers and I thank the 450 who helped out today.

I normally volunteer as a marshall at these events, directing cyclists on which direction to ride next But this time as Mayor I decided to visit the oval where cyclists hang out before and after. I popped by at the @[100064452052016:2048:Loving Living Ku-ring-gai] stand with Cr Barbara Ward and made a smoothie with cycle power. I visited the @[100063480253757:2048:Triple H 100.1 FM]  and @[100051622493530:2048:Radio Northern Beaches] booth to have a chat on the radio. And I tried out an electric cargo bike… more on that in a subsequent post.

Kuring-gai Rotary @[100087346601405:2048:Ku-ring-gai Rotary Community Network]  @[100064308056841:2048:Rotary Club of St Ives, NSW - District 9685] @[100064523176140:2048:Rotary Club of Turramurra] @[100064675150272:2048:Rotary Club of Wahroonga]  @[100064759118653:2048:Rotary Club of Upper Northern Beaches]

St Ives Library

Nice to have a quiet space in the St Ives Library while waiting for family to do a few things. Nice array of Easter books on offer (though it’s more about eggs, bunnies and chickens rather than Jesus bringing new life).

Nice to have a quiet space in the St Ives Library while waiting for family to do a few things. Nice array of Easter books on offer (though it's more about eggs, bunnies and chickens rather than Jesus bringing new life).

Barra Brui Probus

I was recently invited to guest speak at Barra Brui Probus Club where I spoke 45 mins on: 🏡 the National Housing Accord and its target of delivering 1.2 million well located homes in 5 years 🎯 the achievability of NSW’s share of 377,000 homes by 2029 📄 key provisions of the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act including strategic planning, LEPs, DCPs, SEPPs, and infrastructure contributions 🏃‍♀️ the implications of uplifting Ku-ring-gai’s dwellings from 46,000 to 100,000+ without any commitment for planning or infrastructure funding

We then opened up for Q&A where residents shared their concerns about the impacts on congestion, parking, amenities, and general quality of life.

I said that I hoped council will proceed with establishing an alternate LEP / DCP that better addresses liveability and diverse dwellings without taking the one-size-fits-all approach.

I was complimented for speaking without notes and not having any grey hair. But by the time these housing policies are implemented, I will probably have a few!

March Ordinary Meeting of Council

We had a relatively quick and uneventful council meeting where we voted:

To adopt The Glade Masterplan with a few additional criteria for future works and mitigations.

To appoint members to an Arts and Cultural Committee.

To explore best practices from other councils for a future Youth Advisory Committee, which will help inform Ku-ring-gai policy, events and services.

I also provided an update on (the unreasonable) State housing policies, with a decision on further action to be taken at the next council meeting.

Ku-ring-gai Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee

This evening I’m attending Ku-ring-gai’s Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee as an observer.

Of particular interest this quarter are two audits on 🤵‍♀️ Customer Service and 🌲Tree Management, where opportunities were identified to improve our service delivery. I look forward to seeing the benefits flow to you as ratepayers.

This evening I’m attending Ku-ring-gai’s Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee as an observer.

Of particular interest this quarter are two audits on 🤵‍♀️ Customer Service and 🌲Tree Management, where opportunities were identified to improve our service delivery. I look forward to seeing the benefits flow to you as ratepayers.
This evening I’m attending Ku-ring-gai’s Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee as an observer. Of particular interest this quarter are two audits on 🤵‍♀️ Customer Service and 🌲Tree Management, where opportunities were identified to improve our service delivery. I look forward to seeing the benefits flow to you as ratepayers.

Ku-ring-gai Library

At Ku-ring-gai Library you can borrow up to 50 items at a time, and with renewals you can hold most items for almost three months.

We returned 18 books last week. They were getting heavy!

At @[100064678122520:2048:Ku-ring-gai Library] you can borrow up to 50 items at a time, and with renewals you can hold most items for almost three months.

We returned 18 books last week. They were getting heavy!
At @[100064678122520:2048:Ku-ring-gai Library] you can borrow up to 50 items at a time, and with renewals you can hold most items for almost three months. We returned 18 books last week. They were getting heavy!

Irish Dancing World Championships

☘️☘️☘️Good luck to the kids from Cox Academy of Irish Dance as they head off to Glasgow for the Irish Dancing world championships.

I was joined by Cr Simon Lennon and Councillor Alec Taylor to watch their performance at Anglicare Gordon Quarter earlier this week.

☘️☘️☘️Good luck to the kids from @[100063753515008:2048:Cox Academy of Irish Dance] as they head off to Glasgow for the Irish Dancing world championships.

I was joined by Cr Simon Lennon and @[100075918232069:2048:Councillor Alec Taylor] to watch their performance at Anglicare Gordon Quarter earlier this week.
☘️☘️☘️Good luck to the kids from @[100063753515008:2048:Cox Academy of Irish Dance] as they head off to Glasgow for the Irish Dancing world championships. I was joined by Cr Simon Lennon and @[100075918232069:2048:Councillor Alec Taylor] to watch their performance at Anglicare Gordon Quarter earlier this week.

Little Gumnuts Early Learning – West Pymble

Happy to attend the grand opening of Little Gumnuts Early Learning Group in West Pymble. This family business has substantially improved the interior of the building and the centre has the best outdoor playspace that I’ve seen in Ku-ring-gai.

Local residents looking for a 7:30am-6pm option for their 2+ year olds should give this place a visit, particularly if their children don’t have regular access to a backyard. I was very jelly as I wished my kids had this when growing up.

Happy to attend the grand opening of @[61553695284493:2048:Little Gumnuts Early Learning Group] in West Pymble. This family business has substantially improved the interior of the building and the centre has the best outdoor playspace that I've seen in Ku-ring-gai.

Local residents looking for a 7:30am-6pm option for their 2+ year olds should give this place a visit, particularly if their children don't have regular access to a backyard. I was very jelly as I wished my kids had this when growing up.

NSROC Meeting

Because of COVID ripping through our household, I had to attend the quarterly NSROC meeting of Northern Sydney councils online. The focus of this quarter’s meeting was on waste recycling and transfer as well as support for urban canopies. Also discussed was the impact of the Rozelle Interchange on traffic in Ryde / Hunters Hill / Lane Cove, as well as a brief update on the State Government’s Housing Policies.

I’ll be holed up for a while, although appreciate that there’s more flexibility these days with outdoor exercise, etc.

Because of COVID ripping through our household, I had to attend the quarterly NSROC meeting of Northern Sydney councils online. The focus of this quarter’s meeting was on waste recycling and transfer as well as support for urban canopies. Also discussed was the impact of the Rozelle Interchange on traffic in Ryde / Hunters Hill / Lane Cove, as well as a brief update on the State Government’s Housing Policies.

I’ll be holed up for a while, although appreciate that there’s more flexibility these days with outdoor exercise, etc.

Clean Up Australia

Glad to join local residents and Rotary Club of Wahroonga at today’s Clean Up Australia event.

I had a good time talking to a local resident Phil, and it’s amazing how much rubbish there is when you look for it… especially at the village carpark!

Glad to join local residents and @[100064675150272:2048:Rotary Club of Wahroonga] at today’s @[100064705539354:2048:Clean Up Australia] event.

I had a good time talking to a local resident Phil, and it’s amazing how much rubbish there is when you look for it… especially at the village carpark!
Glad to join local residents and @[100064675150272:2048:Rotary Club of Wahroonga] at today’s @[100064705539354:2048:Clean Up Australia] event. I had a good time talking to a local resident Phil, and it’s amazing how much rubbish there is when you look for it… especially at the village carpark!

Grace Cossington Smith Gallery – HSC Artworks

For the next 3 weeks the Grace Cossington Smith Gallery is exhibiting the HSC artworks of students from the Upper North Shore.

The schools include: Abbotsleigh Asquith Boys’ High School, Asquith Girls’ High School, Barker College Brigidine College St Ives Cheltenham Girls’ High, Cherrybrook Technology High School, Hornsby Girls’ High School, Killara High School Knox Grammar School Loreto Normanhurst, Masada College Normanhurst Boys’ High School, Northolm Grammar School, Pymble Ladies’ College Ravenswood School for Girls – Official Site St. Ives High School St Leo’s Catholic College and Turramurra High School.

I enjoyed meeting the students and parents at this weekend’s opening day.

The gallery is open Tues-Sat 10am-5pm until 23 March 2024.

For the next 3 weeks the @[100063453438185:2048:Grace Cossington Smith Gallery] is exhibiting the HSC artworks of students from the Upper North Shore.

The schools include: @[100063700954501:2048:Abbotsleigh] Asquith Boys' High School, Asquith Girls' High School, @[100064001411105:2048:Barker College] @[100064030569835:2048:Brigidine College St Ives] Cheltenham Girls' High, Cherrybrook Technology High School, Hornsby Girls' High School, @[100042421646674:2048:Killara High School] @[100063701513330:2048:Knox Grammar School] Loreto Normanhurst, @[100064109882425:2048:Masada College] Normanhurst Boys' High School, Northolm Grammar School, @[100064290420673:2048:Pymble Ladies' College] @[100063456553855:2048:Ravenswood School for Girls - Official Site] @[107905552563501:274:St. Ives High School] St Leo's Catholic College and @[100054222200512:2048:Turramurra High School].

I enjoyed meeting the students and parents at this weekend’s opening day.

The gallery is open Tues-Sat 10am-5pm until 23 March 2024.
For the next 3 weeks the @[100063453438185:2048:Grace Cossington Smith Gallery] is exhibiting the HSC artworks of students from the Upper North Shore. The schools include: @[100063700954501:2048:Abbotsleigh] Asquith Boys’ High School, Asquith Girls’ High School, @[100064001411105:2048:Barker College] @[100064030569835:2048:Brigidine College St Ives] Cheltenham Girls’ High, Cherrybrook Technology High School, Hornsby Girls’ High School, @[100042421646674:2048:Killara High School] @[100063701513330:2048:Knox Grammar School] Loreto Normanhurst, @[100064109882425:2048:Masada College] Normanhurst Boys’ High School, Northolm Grammar School, @[100064290420673:2048:Pymble Ladies’ College] @[100063456553855:2048:Ravenswood School for Girls – Official Site] @[107905552563501:274:St. Ives High School] St Leo’s Catholic College and @[100054222200512:2048:Turramurra High School]. I enjoyed meeting the students and parents at this weekend’s opening day. The gallery is open Tues-Sat 10am-5pm until 23 March 2024.

Switching to Induction Cooking

🔥We agonised for two years on whether to replace our gas cooktop and oven. We didn’t like the idea of throwing it out because of all the embedded energy, however the oven no longer worked properly and gas apparently has health impacts in an indoor environment.

⚡The transition to induction cooktop was amazing!!! The cooktop heats things so quickly, it’s faster to boil water on the cooktop than to use an electric kettle. It’s easy to specify the exact amount of power that we want, the cooktop is easy to clean, and no accidental burns. We’ve really benefitted form the induction cooktop and wish we had made the transition earlier.

🗓️If you’re interested to find out more, our council has a webinar on Switching to Induction Cooking on 13th March at 12pm. For more info visit https://www.facebook.com/events/664389969046472/

🧑‍🍳If you prefer something hands on rather than online, feel free to contact me and we can arrange to cook a meal together.

Loving Living Ku-ring-gai

🔥We agonised for two years on whether to replace our gas cooktop and oven. We didn't like the idea of throwing it out because of all the embedded energy, however the oven no longer worked properly and gas apparently has health impacts in an indoor environment.

⚡The transition to induction cooktop was amazing!!! The cooktop heats things so quickly, it's faster to boil water on the cooktop than to use an electric kettle. It's easy to specify the exact amount of power that we want, the cooktop is easy to clean, and no accidental burns. We've really benefitted form the induction cooktop and wish we had made the transition earlier.

🗓️If you're interested to find out more, our council has a webinar on Switching to Induction Cooking on 13th March at 12pm. For more info visit
https://www.facebook.com/events/664389969046472/

🧑‍🍳If you prefer something hands on rather than online, feel free to contact me and we can arrange to cook a meal together.

@[100064452052016:2048:Loving Living Ku-ring-gai]
🔥We agonised for two years on whether to replace our gas cooktop and oven. We didn’t like the idea of throwing it out because of all the embedded energy, however the oven no longer worked properly and gas apparently has health impacts in an indoor environment. ⚡The transition to induction cooktop was amazing!!! The cooktop heats things so quickly, it’s faster to boil water on the cooktop than to use an electric kettle. It’s easy to specify the exact amount of power that we want, the cooktop is easy to clean, and no accidental burns. We’ve really benefitted form the induction cooktop and wish we had made the transition earlier. 🗓️If you’re interested to find out more, our council has a webinar on Switching to Induction Cooking on 13th March at 12pm. For more info visit https://www.facebook.com/events/664389969046472/ 🧑‍🍳If you prefer something hands on rather than online, feel free to contact me and we can arrange to cook a meal together. @[100064452052016:2048:Loving Living Ku-ring-gai]

Return and Earn Update

We’ve recycled 123 containers per resident in the last six years through the return and earn scheme.

I remember when the scheme first started, I travelled to Marrickville to check out one of the machines but now we have five options in Ku-ring-gai ⚙️ St Ives Shopping Village ⚙️ Turramurra Coles Carpark ⚙️ Roseville Chase Shops 👩‍🍳 Gordon Fish & Chips 🍾 Porter’s Liquor Wahroonga

For more info, visit https://returnandearn.org.au/map/

We've recycled 123 containers per resident in the last six years through the return and earn scheme.

I remember when the scheme first started, I travelled to Marrickville to check out one of the machines but now we have five options in Ku-ring-gai
⚙️ @[100063684966751:2048:St Ives Shopping Village] 
⚙️ Turramurra Coles Carpark
⚙️ Roseville Chase Shops
👩‍🍳 Gordon Fish & Chips
🍾 @[100040790266630:2048:Porter's Liquor Wahroonga] 

For more info, visit
https://returnandearn.org.au/map/
We’ve recycled 123 containers per resident in the last six years through the return and earn scheme. I remember when the scheme first started, I travelled to Marrickville to check out one of the machines but now we have five options in Ku-ring-gai ⚙️ @[100063684966751:2048:St Ives Shopping Village] ⚙️ Turramurra Coles Carpark ⚙️ Roseville Chase Shops 👩‍🍳 Gordon Fish & Chips 🍾 @[100040790266630:2048:Porter’s Liquor Wahroonga] For more info, visit https://returnandearn.org.au/map/

Charizard

🔥🔥🔥Excited to get my limited edition Charizard EBWorld membership card today!

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is also coming out tomorrow, and the kids are keen to see me play more of “the Cloud Game”. Curious to see if Aerith will escape her fate.

🔥🔥🔥Excited to get my limited edition Charizard EBWorld membership card today!

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is also coming out tomorrow, and the kids are keen to see me play more of “the Cloud Game”. Curious to see if Aerith will escape her fate.
🔥🔥🔥Excited to get my limited edition Charizard EBWorld membership card today! Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is also coming out tomorrow, and the kids are keen to see me play more of “the Cloud Game”. Curious to see if Aerith will escape her fate.

Keeping Pets Safe Indoors

🐱🐱🐱Ku-ring-gai recently ran a competition to encourage people to keep pets safe indoors. Here are the winners.

Tamara, West Pymble Lauren, Roseville Maegen, Roseville Justin, Lindfield Allison, Gordon Ben, Lindfield Rebecca, West Pymble Catherine, Gordon Helen, St Ives Carole, Wahroonga

Green Bans

Today I visited Woolloomooloo which in the 70’s was at the heart of major union confrontations seeking to protect their homes against inappropriate development.

Through the Builders Labourers Federation (BLF) and the Green Bans movement, strikes were organised against developers who were seeking to build skyscrapers at Woolloomooloo, The Rocks, Leichhardt, Hunters Hill, the Botanical Gardens and other parklands which were considered trash in the past but are now treasured for their heritage values today (and major tourist hotspots).

Some places like Woolloomooloo did not entirely escape development. There were politicians, developers, police, thugs, media all working together against the workers who squatted and refused to leave their homes. A much loved newspaper owner Juanita Nelson was murdered. And eventually the $$$ won out.

The mural behind me depicts local workers and resident action groups protesting to “Support BLF Green Bans” and “Demand Homes for Public Need, Stop Highrise for Private Greed”.

The Liberals eventually lost office and the new Labor Government introduced the Heritage Act 1977 as well as the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. These laws introduced heritage conservation, community consultation, development controls, and a planning assessment process where environmental considerations were given weight.

Ironically, these principles are ones that appear to be going out the window fifty years on under a different Labor government.

Today I visited Woolloomooloo which in the 70’s was at the heart of major union confrontations seeking to protect their homes against inappropriate development.

Through the Builders Labourers Federation (BLF) and the Green Bans movement, strikes were organised against developers who were seeking to build skyscrapers at Woolloomooloo, The Rocks, Leichhardt, Hunters Hill, the Botanical Gardens and other parklands which were considered trash in the past but are now treasured for their heritage values today (and major tourist hotspots).

Some places like Woolloomooloo did not entirely escape development. There were politicians, developers, police, thugs, media all working together against the workers who squatted and refused to leave their homes. A much loved newspaper owner Juanita Nelson was murdered. And eventually the $$$ won out.

The mural behind me depicts local workers and resident action groups protesting to “Support BLF Green Bans” and “Demand Homes for Public Need, Stop Highrise for Private Greed”.

The Liberals eventually lost office and the new Labor Government introduced the Heritage Act 1977 as well as the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. These laws introduced heritage conservation, community consultation, development controls, and a planning assessment process where environmental considerations were given weight.

Ironically, these principles are ones that appear to be going out the window fifty years on under a different Labor government.
Today I visited Woolloomooloo which in the 70’s was at the heart of major union confrontations seeking to protect their homes against inappropriate development. Through the Builders Labourers Federation (BLF) and the Green Bans movement, strikes were organised against developers who were seeking to build skyscrapers at Woolloomooloo, The Rocks, Leichhardt, Hunters Hill, the Botanical Gardens and other parklands which were considered trash in the past but are now treasured for their heritage values today (and major tourist hotspots). Some places like Woolloomooloo did not entirely escape development. There were politicians, developers, police, thugs, media all working together against the workers who squatted and refused to leave their homes. A much loved newspaper owner Juanita Nelson was murdered. And eventually the $$$ won out. The mural behind me depicts local workers and resident action groups protesting to “Support BLF Green Bans” and “Demand Homes for Public Need, Stop Highrise for Private Greed”. The Liberals eventually lost office and the new Labor Government introduced the Heritage Act 1977 as well as the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. These laws introduced heritage conservation, community consultation, development controls, and a planning assessment process where environmental considerations were given weight. Ironically, these principles are ones that appear to be going out the window fifty years on under a different Labor government.

Letter to the Premier

This week I wrote a letter to the Premier in response to his invitation to councils, and I hope to hear from him soon.

In the letter I outline why Ku-ring-gai is particularly impacted by the housing changes proposed. Key themes are:

1️⃣ The loss of enabling infrastructure and homes due to a recent state government decision.

2️⃣ The timing of the April Transport Oriented Policy, which is sudden, without public consultation, and secretive.

3️⃣ The uncertainty regarding heritage.

Click through to read more about it.

February Ordinary Meeting of Council

Good morning everyone. At last night’s council meeting, council voted to:

🏙️Support the council’s submission on the state housing proposals. While council recognises the need to provide more housing, each council must have the opportunity to say where the housing goes and back it with appropriate planning and infrastructure.

🎭Investigate the cost of reviving the Marian Street Theatre with minimal works.

🙋Support the introduction of the Welcome Here project in Ku-ring-gai, which aims to promote community awareness and safety for the LGBTIQ community.

🏐Commence a public exhibition to explore more flexibility with age restrictions at the Canoon Road netball facilities.

😓Implement a once off grant program to support residents undergoing financial hardship.

📊Begin the recruitment process for the General Manager.

𝗙𝗲𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹
Good morning everyone. At last night’s council meeting, council voted to:

🏙️Support the council’s submission on the state housing proposals. While council recognises the need to provide more housing, each council must have the opportunity to say where the housing goes and back it with appropriate planning and infrastructure.

🎭Investigate the cost of reviving the Marian Street Theatre with minimal works.

🙋Support the introduction of the Welcome Here project in Ku-ring-gai, which aims to promote community awareness and safety for the LGBTIQ community.

🏐Commence a public exhibition to explore more flexibility with age restrictions at the Canoon Road netball facilities.

😓Implement a once off grant program to support residents undergoing financial hardship.

📊Begin the recruitment process for the General Manager.
𝗙𝗲𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 Good morning everyone. At last night’s council meeting, council voted to: 🏙️Support the council’s submission on the state housing proposals. While council recognises the need to provide more housing, each council must have the opportunity to say where the housing goes and back it with appropriate planning and infrastructure. 🎭Investigate the cost of reviving the Marian Street Theatre with minimal works. 🙋Support the introduction of the Welcome Here project in Ku-ring-gai, which aims to promote community awareness and safety for the LGBTIQ community. 🏐Commence a public exhibition to explore more flexibility with age restrictions at the Canoon Road netball facilities. 😓Implement a once off grant program to support residents undergoing financial hardship. 📊Begin the recruitment process for the General Manager.

Lunar New Year

Glad to see so many people come to welcome the Lunar New Year with the Qing Fong Lion Dance Team at St Ives.

The event also featured the CASS Performance Group, Qing Fong Dragon Dance team, multiple food and game stalls, and was supported by @Multicultural NSW .

We were joined by councillors (from left to right) Cr Simon Lennon Deputy Mayor of Ku-ring-gai, Cr Christine Kay Councillor Martin Smith Councillor Kim Wheatley and Councillor Barbara Ward.

My kids enjoyed playing the duck game and talking to other residents while waiting in the face painting line.

Glad to see so many people come to welcome the Lunar New Year with the @[100064338533655:2048:Qing Fong Lion Dance Team] at St Ives.

The event also featured the CASS Performance Group, Qing Fong Dragon Dance team, multiple food and game stalls, and was supported by @@[100064486761194:2048:Multicultural NSW] .

We were joined by councillors (from left to right) Cr Simon Lennon  @[100049240526757:2048:Deputy Mayor of Ku-ring-gai, Cr Christine Kay]  @[100063481211240:2048:Councillor Martin Smith]  @[100081079106909:2048:Councillor Kim Wheatley]  and Councillor Barbara Ward.

My kids enjoyed playing the duck  game and talking to other residents while waiting in the face painting line.
Glad to see so many people come to welcome the Lunar New Year with the @[100064338533655:2048:Qing Fong Lion Dance Team] at St Ives. The event also featured the CASS Performance Group, Qing Fong Dragon Dance team, multiple food and game stalls, and was supported by @@[100064486761194:2048:Multicultural NSW] . We were joined by councillors (from left to right) Cr Simon Lennon @[100049240526757:2048:Deputy Mayor of Ku-ring-gai, Cr Christine Kay] @[100063481211240:2048:Councillor Martin Smith] @[100081079106909:2048:Councillor Kim Wheatley] and Councillor Barbara Ward. My kids enjoyed playing the duck game and talking to other residents while waiting in the face painting line.

Happy Year of the Dragon

🏮🏮🏮Wishing you all a Happy Year of the Dragon🐲🐲🐲

🐉🐉🐉 Lion Dancing is a common part of the festivities and we will have it at the St Ives Village Green, Friday 16 Feb 5pm

However lions aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. When I first introduced my daughter to this particular lion at Causeway Bay, she wasn’t too impressed.

🏮🏮🏮Wishing you all a Happy Year of the Dragon🐲🐲🐲

🐉🐉🐉 Lion Dancing is a common part of the festivities and we will have it at the St Ives Village Green, Friday 16 Feb 5pm

However lions aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. When I first introduced my daughter to this particular lion at Causeway Bay, she wasn’t too impressed.
🏮🏮🏮Wishing you all a Happy Year of the Dragon🐲🐲🐲 🐉🐉🐉 Lion Dancing is a common part of the festivities and we will have it at the St Ives Village Green, Friday 16 Feb 5pm However lions aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. When I first introduced my daughter to this particular lion at Causeway Bay, she wasn’t too impressed.

Lunar New Year Activities

We have a range of Lunar New Year activities this fortnight to bring on the Year of the Dragon. The main event is our Lunar New Year food market at the St Ives Village Green, Friday 16 February at 5pm. We also have artwork exhibitions, folk dance performances, calligraphy workshops, storytime for children, tai-chi sessions, dessert-making, and other activities which you can read about on our website https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Things-to-do/Events-and-festivals/Lunar-New-Year

We have a range of Lunar New Year activities this fortnight to bring on the Year of the Dragon.

The main event is our Lunar New Year food market at the St Ives Village Green, Friday 16 February at 5pm.

We also have artwork exhibitions, folk dance performances, calligraphy workshops, storytime for children, tai-chi sessions, dessert-making, and other activities which you can read about on our website
https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Things-to-do/Events-and-festivals/Lunar-New-Year

Visit to 1st Turramurra Scout Group

I popped by to visit the 1st Turramurra Scout Group today and present a certificate of appreciation for their participation at a recent citizenship ceremony.

The scouts movement is close to my heart because I used to be involved in the 90’s. If it wasn’t for scouts, I wouldn’t have as much appreciation for the outdoors and for community service.

I popped by to visit the @[100080528076694:2048:1st Turramurra Scout Group] today and present a certificate of appreciation for their participation at a recent citizenship ceremony.

The scouts movement is close to my heart because I used to be involved in the 90’s. If it wasn’t for scouts, I wouldn’t have as much appreciation for the outdoors and for community service.
I popped by to visit the @[100080528076694:2048:1st Turramurra Scout Group] today and present a certificate of appreciation for their participation at a recent citizenship ceremony. The scouts movement is close to my heart because I used to be involved in the 90’s. If it wasn’t for scouts, I wouldn’t have as much appreciation for the outdoors and for community service.

Little One

In Australia we are blessed to have a great public hospital system. We’d like to thank Jen, Kim, Julia, Camellia, Brie, Kirsten, Tracy, Olivia, Mary, and all the other midwives, doctors, and hospitality staff at the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital for their care (Hornsby Hospital , Northern Sydney Local Health District ).

Bub is healthy and Mum is in a good state. The kids love their baby sister.

In Australia we are blessed to have a great public hospital system. We’d like to thank Jen, Kim, Julia, Camellia, Brie, Kirsten, Tracy, Olivia, Mary, and all the other midwives, doctors, and hospitality staff at the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital for their care (@[100064047011022:2048:Hornsby Hospital] , @[100063785275960:2048:Northern Sydney Local Health District] ).

Bub is healthy and Mum is in a good state. The kids love their baby sister.
In Australia we are blessed to have a great public hospital system. We’d like to thank Jen, Kim, Julia, Camellia, Brie, Kirsten, Tracy, Olivia, Mary, and all the other midwives, doctors, and hospitality staff at the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital for their care (@[100064047011022:2048:Hornsby Hospital] , @[100063785275960:2048:Northern Sydney Local Health District] ). Bub is healthy and Mum is in a good state. The kids love their baby sister.

Little Leo’s Early Learning and Preschool Killara

Glad to visit the Little Leo’s Early Learning and Preschool Grand Opening in Killara on the weekend, where there were over 450 in attendance. I was joined by Cr Simon Lennon in cutting the ribbon for this family business.

Coming from a community preschool background myself, I was impressed (in fact jealous) of the wide range of new equipment and resources, both inside and outside the classroom, at these facilities. It’s worth checking out if you are looking for an early learning 7am to 6pm option and I wish the family business all the best.

Glad to visit the @[100063840555831:2048:Little Leo’s Early Learning and Preschool] Grand Opening in Killara on the weekend, where there were over 450 in attendance. I was joined by Cr Simon Lennon in cutting the ribbon for this family business.

Coming from a community preschool background myself, I was impressed (in fact jealous) of the wide range of new equipment and resources, both inside and outside the classroom, at these facilities. It's worth checking out if you are looking for an early learning 7am to 6pm option and I wish the family business all the best.
Glad to visit the @[100063840555831:2048:Little Leo’s Early Learning and Preschool] Grand Opening in Killara on the weekend, where there were over 450 in attendance. I was joined by Cr Simon Lennon in cutting the ribbon for this family business. Coming from a community preschool background myself, I was impressed (in fact jealous) of the wide range of new equipment and resources, both inside and outside the classroom, at these facilities. It’s worth checking out if you are looking for an early learning 7am to 6pm option and I wish the family business all the best.

Council Meeting Update

Last night council voted unanimously to take action against the State Government’s housing policies. It was an unusual experience because as councillors we almost never agree on something this big!

In short, the view was that housing uplift needed to be accompanied with appropriate urban planning – however the state approach bypasses both community consultation and planning and would therefore deliver suboptimal outcomes.

My own speech from last night is provided below.

𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙉𝙄𝙈𝘽𝙔 𝙫𝙨 𝙔𝙄𝙈𝘽𝙔 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙉𝙄𝙈𝘽𝙔’𝙞𝙨𝙢, 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜.

𝘈𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘚𝘞, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘣𝘴, 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘴, 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴, 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵, 𝘣𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳.

𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦’𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘕𝘚𝘞 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴… 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘕𝘚𝘞 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘤𝘺, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘚𝘞 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.

𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘰 𝘒𝘶-𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘨𝘢𝘪, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘴.

𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴.

𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘧 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘐𝘯 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘉𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘗𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘴𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 20 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘷𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘥 2 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘹. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.

𝘖𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘒𝘶-𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘨𝘢𝘪’𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘱𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦-𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘺. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺.

𝘖𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥. 𝘋𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦-𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘴, 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘖𝘝𝘐𝘋, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘯 12𝘵𝘩 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 – 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 – 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 $9.8𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴. 𝘊𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦.

𝘉𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳, 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘒𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘱.

𝘗𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘖𝘋 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦 10 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.

𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘧 𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 40% 𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘣𝘺 2036. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 7% 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘴𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 15-20% 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴’ 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬.

𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘧 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭.

𝙆𝙪-𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜-𝙜𝙖𝙞, 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙡𝙨, 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙖 𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚. 𝙒𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙂𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨. 𝙄 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜.

Last night council voted unanimously to take action against the State Government's housing policies. It was an unusual experience because as councillors we almost never agree on something this big!

In short, the view was that housing uplift needed to be accompanied with appropriate urban planning - however the state approach bypasses both community consultation and planning and would therefore deliver suboptimal outcomes.

My own speech from last night is provided below.

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𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙉𝙄𝙈𝘽𝙔 𝙫𝙨 𝙔𝙄𝙈𝘽𝙔 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙉𝙄𝙈𝘽𝙔’𝙞𝙨𝙢, 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜.

𝘈𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘚𝘞, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘣𝘴, 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘴, 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴, 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵, 𝘣𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳.

𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦’𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘕𝘚𝘞 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴… 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘕𝘚𝘞 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘤𝘺, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘚𝘞 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.

𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘰 𝘒𝘶-𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘨𝘢𝘪, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘴.

𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴.

𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘧 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘐𝘯 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘉𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘗𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘴𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 20 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘷𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘥 2 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘹. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.

𝘖𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘒𝘶-𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘨𝘢𝘪’𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘱𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦-𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘺. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺.

𝘖𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥. 𝘋𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦-𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘴, 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘖𝘝𝘐𝘋, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘯 12𝘵𝘩 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 - 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 - 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 $9.8𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴. 𝘊𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦.

𝘉𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳, 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘒𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘱.

𝘗𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘖𝘋 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦 10 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.

𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘧 𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 40% 𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘣𝘺 2036. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 7% 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘴𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 15-20% 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴’ 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬.

𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘧 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭.

𝙆𝙪-𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜-𝙜𝙖𝙞, 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙡𝙨, 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙖 𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚. 𝙒𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙂𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨. 𝙄 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜.
Last night council voted unanimously to take action against the State Government’s housing policies. It was an unusual experience because as councillors we almost never agree on something this big! In short, the view was that housing uplift needed to be accompanied with appropriate urban planning – however the state approach bypasses both community consultation and planning and would therefore deliver suboptimal outcomes. My own speech from last night is provided below. — 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙉𝙄𝙈𝘽𝙔 𝙫𝙨 𝙔𝙄𝙈𝘽𝙔 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙉𝙄𝙈𝘽𝙔’𝙞𝙨𝙢, 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝘈𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘚𝘞, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘣𝘴, 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘴, 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴, 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵, 𝘣𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦’𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘕𝘚𝘞 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴… 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘕𝘚𝘞 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘤𝘺, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘚𝘞 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘰 𝘒𝘶-𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘨𝘢𝘪, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘧 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘐𝘯 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘉𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘗𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘴𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 20 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘷𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘥 2 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘹. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘖𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘒𝘶-𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘨𝘢𝘪’𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘱𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦-𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘺. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘖𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥. 𝘋𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦-𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘴, 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘖𝘝𝘐𝘋, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘯 12𝘵𝘩 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 – 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 – 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 $9.8𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴. 𝘊𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳, 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘒𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘱. 𝘗𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘖𝘋 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦 10 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘧 𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 40% 𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘣𝘺 2036. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 7% 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘴𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 15-20% 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴’ 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬. 𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘧 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭. 𝙆𝙪-𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜-𝙜𝙖𝙞, 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙡𝙨, 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙖 𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚. 𝙒𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙂𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨. 𝙄 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜.

Trip to Meadowbank

As a politician from the North Shore, I received a generous invitation from our State Treasurer Daniel Mookhey MLC today to visit Meadowbank and “tell them what’s wrong with it”.

What did I find? Well I found that the residents at Meadowbank are incredibly blessed with multiple forms of public transport (ferry, train, buses) all within a few hundred metres of their home. They also had close proximity to multiple parks, open spaces, sports facilities, a shopping village, a foreshore walk and a pleasant sea breeze.

It’s a sensible place to put housing density and I am actually quite jealous of the residents who live here.

But the only reason why it is the way it is is because there has been deliberate planning in the establishment of the suburb, with the benefit of repurposing large former industrial lots and certain natural advantages that come with the geographic area.

Suburbs like Roseville and Killara, by contrast, do not have any of these advantages and it is difficult for developers to do anything meaningful without the almost impossible task of purchasing entire street blocks. And so when it comes to planning for future growth (which I am open to), it is important to consider how to deliver appropriate infrastructure and provide for the quality of life amenities that the residents of Meadowbank have.

But that is not what the residents of Roseville and Killara are getting in April. They will have housing policies imposed on them without any consultation, and without the natural infrastructure benefits that Meadowbank has.

If the state government was generous enough to support our infrastructure and amenities then sure, that would be a different conversation, but in the current form the housing proposals are not tenable.

I will share more about the flaws in the current proposal in my next post.

As a politician from the North Shore, I received a generous invitation from our State Treasurer @[100050246809705:2048:Daniel Mookhey MLC]  today to visit Meadowbank and “tell them what’s wrong with it”.

What did I find? Well I found that the residents at Meadowbank are incredibly blessed with multiple forms of public transport (ferry, train, buses) all within a few hundred metres of their home. They also had close proximity to multiple parks, open spaces, sports facilities, a shopping village, a foreshore walk and a pleasant sea breeze.

It’s a sensible place to put housing density and I am actually quite jealous of the residents who live here.

But the only reason why it is the way it is is because there has been deliberate planning in the establishment of the suburb, with the benefit of repurposing large former industrial lots and certain natural advantages that come with the geographic area.

Suburbs like Roseville and Killara, by contrast, do not have any of these advantages and it is difficult for developers to do anything meaningful without the almost impossible task of purchasing entire street blocks. And so when it comes to planning for future growth (which I am open to), it is important to consider how to deliver appropriate infrastructure and provide for the quality of life amenities that the residents of Meadowbank have.

But that is not what the residents of Roseville and Killara are getting in April. They will have housing policies imposed on them without any consultation, and without the natural infrastructure benefits that Meadowbank has.

If the state government was generous enough to support our infrastructure and amenities then sure, that would be a different conversation, but in the current form the housing proposals are not tenable.

I will share more about the flaws in the current proposal in my next post.
As a politician from the North Shore, I received a generous invitation from our State Treasurer @[100050246809705:2048:Daniel Mookhey MLC] today to visit Meadowbank and “tell them what’s wrong with it”. What did I find? Well I found that the residents at Meadowbank are incredibly blessed with multiple forms of public transport (ferry, train, buses) all within a few hundred metres of their home. They also had close proximity to multiple parks, open spaces, sports facilities, a shopping village, a foreshore walk and a pleasant sea breeze. It’s a sensible place to put housing density and I am actually quite jealous of the residents who live here. But the only reason why it is the way it is is because there has been deliberate planning in the establishment of the suburb, with the benefit of repurposing large former industrial lots and certain natural advantages that come with the geographic area. Suburbs like Roseville and Killara, by contrast, do not have any of these advantages and it is difficult for developers to do anything meaningful without the almost impossible task of purchasing entire street blocks. And so when it comes to planning for future growth (which I am open to), it is important to consider how to deliver appropriate infrastructure and provide for the quality of life amenities that the residents of Meadowbank have. But that is not what the residents of Roseville and Killara are getting in April. They will have housing policies imposed on them without any consultation, and without the natural infrastructure benefits that Meadowbank has. If the state government was generous enough to support our infrastructure and amenities then sure, that would be a different conversation, but in the current form the housing proposals are not tenable. I will share more about the flaws in the current proposal in my next post.

Trip to Summer Hill

Today I visited Summer Hill, a suburb which in many ways reminds me of Roseville as it has its fair share of heritage conservation areas. The houses here are beautiful and reflect the character and early development of Sydney.

There is however one thing that distinguishes Summer Hill from Roseville and that is the wider range of infrastructure and transport options available to it. Like Roseville there is a railway station but this one is closer to the city (16 mins vs 23 mins). But Summer Hill also has a light rail station; it is incredibly well connected. Summer Hill also has a supermarket!

Given its distinct advantages over Roseville it does surprise me that Summer Hill has not been flagged for April’s non-consultative TOD housing program.

Two weeks ago at a briefing with the Department of Planning we asked them for the rationale of selecting Roseville, Lindfield, Killara and Gordon as part of the plan. And do you know what they said? They told us that modelling had been done but that it was “cabinet in confidence” so they can’t tell us.

I think what they meant to say was that since Summer Hill is in the heart of Transport Minister Jo Haylen ‘s electorate, it could not be touched regardless of its proximity to the city.

All in all, quite disappointing really and in tonight’s motion Councillor Martin Smith and Councillor Kim Wheatley will seek to acquire these documents through the GIPA (similar to freedom of information) process.

To rub insult into injury, Minister Haylen was also the one who effectively killed off the Lindfield Village Hub in December when, just one day before council was to sign a contract with the developer, illegally withdrew state government funding without consultation and thew the project in disarray. Gone is the opportunity to deliver a few hundred homes for residents this decade. Gone is the opportunity to provide a library, open space, park, and community facilities for the residents of tomorrow.

I am disappointed by this value destructive behaviour. Bringing the population of Chatswood into each of our four stations, without providing the necessary infrastructure or urban planning for each centre to thrive will ultimately lead to poorer outcomes than if the state government were to work together with us on these matters.

Today I visited Summer Hill, a suburb which in many ways reminds me of Roseville as it has its fair share of heritage conservation areas. The houses here are beautiful and reflect the character and early development of Sydney.

There is however one thing that distinguishes Summer Hill from Roseville and that is the wider range of infrastructure and transport options available to it. Like Roseville there is a railway station but this one is closer to the city (16 mins vs 23 mins). But Summer Hill also has a light rail station; it is incredibly well connected. Summer Hill also has a supermarket!

Given its distinct advantages over Roseville it does surprise me that Summer Hill has not been flagged for April’s non-consultative TOD housing program.

Two weeks ago at a briefing with the Department of Planning we asked them for the rationale of selecting Roseville, Lindfield, Killara and Gordon as part of the plan. And do you know what they said? They told us that modelling had been done but that it was “cabinet in confidence” so they can’t tell us.

I think what they meant to say was that since Summer Hill is in the heart of Transport Minister @[100044424429649:2048:Jo Haylen] 's electorate, it could not be touched regardless of its proximity to the city.

All in all, quite disappointing really and in tonight’s motion @[100063481211240:2048:Councillor Martin Smith] and @[100081079106909:2048:Councillor Kim Wheatley] will seek to acquire these documents through the GIPA (similar to freedom of information) process.

To rub insult into injury, Minister Haylen was also the one who effectively killed off the Lindfield Village Hub in December when, just one day before council was to sign a contract with the developer, illegally withdrew state government funding without consultation and thew the project in disarray. Gone is the opportunity to deliver a few hundred homes for residents this decade. Gone is the opportunity to provide a library, open space, park, and community facilities for the residents of tomorrow. 

I am disappointed by this value destructive behaviour. Bringing the population of Chatswood into each of our four stations, without providing the necessary infrastructure or urban planning for each centre to thrive will ultimately lead to poorer outcomes than if the state government were to work together with us on these matters.
Today I visited Summer Hill, a suburb which in many ways reminds me of Roseville as it has its fair share of heritage conservation areas. The houses here are beautiful and reflect the character and early development of Sydney. There is however one thing that distinguishes Summer Hill from Roseville and that is the wider range of infrastructure and transport options available to it. Like Roseville there is a railway station but this one is closer to the city (16 mins vs 23 mins). But Summer Hill also has a light rail station; it is incredibly well connected. Summer Hill also has a supermarket! Given its distinct advantages over Roseville it does surprise me that Summer Hill has not been flagged for April’s non-consultative TOD housing program. Two weeks ago at a briefing with the Department of Planning we asked them for the rationale of selecting Roseville, Lindfield, Killara and Gordon as part of the plan. And do you know what they said? They told us that modelling had been done but that it was “cabinet in confidence” so they can’t tell us. I think what they meant to say was that since Summer Hill is in the heart of Transport Minister @[100044424429649:2048:Jo Haylen] ‘s electorate, it could not be touched regardless of its proximity to the city. All in all, quite disappointing really and in tonight’s motion @[100063481211240:2048:Councillor Martin Smith] and @[100081079106909:2048:Councillor Kim Wheatley] will seek to acquire these documents through the GIPA (similar to freedom of information) process. To rub insult into injury, Minister Haylen was also the one who effectively killed off the Lindfield Village Hub in December when, just one day before council was to sign a contract with the developer, illegally withdrew state government funding without consultation and thew the project in disarray. Gone is the opportunity to deliver a few hundred homes for residents this decade. Gone is the opportunity to provide a library, open space, park, and community facilities for the residents of tomorrow. I am disappointed by this value destructive behaviour. Bringing the population of Chatswood into each of our four stations, without providing the necessary infrastructure or urban planning for each centre to thrive will ultimately lead to poorer outcomes than if the state government were to work together with us on these matters.

Public Information Session on State Government’s Housing Proposals

Encouraged to see so many register to attend Wednesday’s public information session on the State Government’s housing proposals.

800 had registered to attend but with a capacity of 150, Zoom was offered as a spillover. The slides plus video of the event are available here. krg.nsw.gov.au/housinginfosession

Ku-ring-gai’s diverse group of residents often disagree on big issues, but it is amazing how the State Government’s lack of public consultation, secrecy, and overzealous approach has brought those who usually disagree onto the same page.

Looking at the broader picture, I understand that some people in NSW see this as pure NIMBYism but from my perspective that is a gross oversimplification that does not truly account for what is happening on the ground. There are many residents who believe that more can be done to support housing diversity however the State Government’s approach does not achieve this in a realistic or appropriate manner.

Key concerns shared include the inadequacy of funding and support for existing and future infrastructure (existing traffic bottlenecks, future congestion, stormwater limitations, access to open space, etc.), the impact on tree canopy, biodiversity and climate resilience, and the loss of local heritage and character.

In the minority, there has also been the occasional YIMBY in Ku-ring-gai but my message to them is that while I understand the sentiments, it does not mean careful planning, modelling, procedure, consultation, and budgeting needs to be thrown out the window in an attempt to obtain a theoretical but unworkable outcome. To date there have been some pretty dismissive responses such as “developer contributions will fund everything” but if you look at the details and do the numbers, it’s clear that it will not be adequate given the LGA’s physical constraints and existing funding models.

All Ku-ring-gai residents are encouraged to read about the housing changes, let us know their thoughts via the survey, and make a submission to the State Government. For more information refer to krg.nsw.gov.au/housingchanges

p.s. I was late to the meeting, ironically due to traffic congestion from Roseville to Gordon.

Encouraged to see so many register to attend Wednesday’s public information session on the State Government’s housing proposals.

800 had registered to attend but with a capacity of 150, Zoom was offered as a spillover. The slides plus video of the event are available here. krg.nsw.gov.au/housinginfosession

Ku-ring-gai’s diverse group of residents often disagree on big issues, but it is amazing how the State Government’s lack of public consultation, secrecy, and overzealous approach has brought those who usually disagree onto the same page.

Looking at the broader picture, I understand that some people in NSW see this as pure NIMBYism but from my perspective that is a gross oversimplification that does not truly account for what is happening on the ground. There are many residents who believe that more can be done to support housing diversity however the State Government’s approach does not achieve this in a realistic or appropriate manner.

Key concerns shared include the inadequacy of funding and support for existing and future infrastructure (existing traffic bottlenecks, future congestion, stormwater limitations, access to open space, etc.), the impact on tree canopy, biodiversity and climate resilience, and the loss of local heritage and character.

In the minority, there has also been the occasional YIMBY in Ku-ring-gai but my message to them is that while I understand the sentiments, it does not mean careful planning, modelling, procedure, consultation, and budgeting needs to be thrown out the window in an attempt to obtain a theoretical but unworkable outcome. To date there have been some pretty dismissive responses such as “developer contributions will fund everything” but if you look at the details and do the numbers, it’s clear that it will not be adequate given the LGA’s physical constraints and existing funding models.

All Ku-ring-gai residents are encouraged to read about the housing changes, let us know their thoughts via the survey, and make a submission to the State Government. For more information refer to krg.nsw.gov.au/housingchanges

p.s. I was late to the meeting, ironically due to traffic congestion from Roseville to Gordon.
Encouraged to see so many register to attend Wednesday’s public information session on the State Government’s housing proposals. 800 had registered to attend but with a capacity of 150, Zoom was offered as a spillover. The slides plus video of the event are available here. krg.nsw.gov.au/housinginfosession Ku-ring-gai’s diverse group of residents often disagree on big issues, but it is amazing how the State Government’s lack of public consultation, secrecy, and overzealous approach has brought those who usually disagree onto the same page. Looking at the broader picture, I understand that some people in NSW see this as pure NIMBYism but from my perspective that is a gross oversimplification that does not truly account for what is happening on the ground. There are many residents who believe that more can be done to support housing diversity however the State Government’s approach does not achieve this in a realistic or appropriate manner. Key concerns shared include the inadequacy of funding and support for existing and future infrastructure (existing traffic bottlenecks, future congestion, stormwater limitations, access to open space, etc.), the impact on tree canopy, biodiversity and climate resilience, and the loss of local heritage and character. In the minority, there has also been the occasional YIMBY in Ku-ring-gai but my message to them is that while I understand the sentiments, it does not mean careful planning, modelling, procedure, consultation, and budgeting needs to be thrown out the window in an attempt to obtain a theoretical but unworkable outcome. To date there have been some pretty dismissive responses such as “developer contributions will fund everything” but if you look at the details and do the numbers, it’s clear that it will not be adequate given the LGA’s physical constraints and existing funding models. All Ku-ring-gai residents are encouraged to read about the housing changes, let us know their thoughts via the survey, and make a submission to the State Government. For more information refer to krg.nsw.gov.au/housingchanges p.s. I was late to the meeting, ironically due to traffic congestion from Roseville to Gordon.

Vale Judith Rutherford AM

🌸🌸🌸Vale Judith Rutherford AM🌸🌸🌸

It’s sad to hear of Judith’s passing last week. Judith served at Willoughby City Council for 26 years and was the first councillor that I spoke to in 2017 when figuring out whether to get involved in politics. She was a good sounding board in my early years as well as a faithful member of our local church.

Judith’s funeral service will be held at St Barnabas Roseville East on Wednesday 31 January, 1:30pm.

🌸🌸🌸Vale Judith Rutherford AM🌸🌸🌸

It’s sad to hear of Judith’s passing last week. Judith served at @[100064423134687:2048:Willoughby City Council]  for 26 years and was the first councillor that I spoke to in 2017 when figuring out whether to get involved in politics. She was a good sounding board in my early years as well as a faithful member of our local church.

Judith’s funeral service will be held at St Barnabas Roseville East on Wednesday 31 January, 1:30pm.
🌸🌸🌸Vale Judith Rutherford AM🌸🌸🌸 It’s sad to hear of Judith’s passing last week. Judith served at @[100064423134687:2048:Willoughby City Council] for 26 years and was the first councillor that I spoke to in 2017 when figuring out whether to get involved in politics. She was a good sounding board in my early years as well as a faithful member of our local church. Judith’s funeral service will be held at St Barnabas Roseville East on Wednesday 31 January, 1:30pm.

Australia Day

🇺🇸My Aunt and Uncle from🗽New York are in 🦘 Australia for a few months. They enjoyed yesterday’s 🇦🇺 citizenship ceremony and I asked them whether there was anything that surprised them.

As Americans, they found it strange that in Australia we have two versions of the pledge whereas in the USA they are one nation under God 🇺🇸.

They also noticed that in Australia we pay much more respect and give prominence to our indigenous people. In the United States they would not have had someone like Uncle Brendan provide a Welcome to Country followed by a fifteen minute performance and lesson on indigenous culture by the Koomurri Aboriginal Dance Troupe.

In our car trip home we had a discussion about the commonalities and differences of our countries, as well as steps taken towards or against giving people opportunity. It’s always helpful to have an outside view when assessing our own situation.

They also loved the performances from the Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra and the Australian Girls’ Choir.

And they love the three Brush Turkeys 🦃🦃🦃 that frequent my parents’ yard in Roseville.

🇺🇸My Aunt and Uncle from🗽New York are in 🦘 Australia for a few months. They enjoyed yesterday's 🇦🇺 citizenship ceremony and I asked them whether there was anything that surprised them.

As Americans, they found it strange that in Australia we have two versions of the pledge whereas in the USA they are one nation under God 🇺🇸.

They also noticed that in Australia we pay much more respect and give prominence to our indigenous people. In the United States they would not have had someone like Uncle Brendan provide a Welcome to Country followed by a fifteen minute performance and lesson on indigenous culture by the Koomurri Aboriginal Dance Troupe.

In our car trip home we had a discussion about the commonalities and differences of our countries, as well as steps taken towards or against giving people opportunity. It’s always helpful to have an outside view when assessing our own situation.

They also loved the performances from the @[100063681105802:2048:Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra] and the Australian Girls’ Choir.

And they love the three Brush Turkeys 🦃🦃🦃 that frequent my parents’ yard in Roseville.
🇺🇸My Aunt and Uncle from🗽New York are in 🦘 Australia for a few months. They enjoyed yesterday’s 🇦🇺 citizenship ceremony and I asked them whether there was anything that surprised them. As Americans, they found it strange that in Australia we have two versions of the pledge whereas in the USA they are one nation under God 🇺🇸. They also noticed that in Australia we pay much more respect and give prominence to our indigenous people. In the United States they would not have had someone like Uncle Brendan provide a Welcome to Country followed by a fifteen minute performance and lesson on indigenous culture by the Koomurri Aboriginal Dance Troupe. In our car trip home we had a discussion about the commonalities and differences of our countries, as well as steps taken towards or against giving people opportunity. It’s always helpful to have an outside view when assessing our own situation. They also loved the performances from the @[100063681105802:2048:Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra] and the Australian Girls’ Choir. And they love the three Brush Turkeys 🦃🦃🦃 that frequent my parents’ yard in Roseville.

Ku-ring-gai’s Largest Citizenship Ceremony To Date

🇦🇺🇦🇺Ku-ring-gai’s Largest Citizenship Ceremony To Date🇦🇺🇦🇺 Today we celebrated 246 new Australian Citizens from 36 countries. It was an exciting time for everyone to celebrate this moment on our national day.

We also recognised the work of local volunteers and presented the 2024 Ku-ring-gai Local Citizen Awards. Depicted in the photo from left to right are:

Jemma Wlasichuk – Environmental Citizen of the Year – In recognition of her work at shed eleven in repurposing furniture and keeping waste out of our landfill.

Michele Bell – Citizen of the Year – In recognition for her contribution to the Ku-ring-gai Neighbourhood Centre which provides a range of social support services for the elderly and disabled.

Men’s Kitchen – Community Group of the Year – For their services in helping elderly people improve their cooking skills while providing a network for social support.

Kevin Hao – Young Citizen of the Year – For his involvement in inspiring young people to volunteer their time to social and environmental causes through Youth 4 Difference, a student organisation.

🇦🇺🇦🇺Ku-ring-gai’s Largest Citizenship Ceremony To Date🇦🇺🇦🇺
Today we celebrated 246 new Australian Citizens from 36 countries. It was an exciting time for everyone to celebrate this moment on our national day.

We also recognised the work of local volunteers and presented the 2024 Ku-ring-gai Local Citizen Awards. Depicted in the photo from left to right are:

Jemma Wlasichuk - Environmental Citizen of the Year - In recognition of her work at @[100050855472496:2048:shed eleven]  in repurposing furniture and keeping waste out of our landfill.

Michele Bell - Citizen of the Year - In recognition for her contribution to the @[100069902651371:2048:Ku-ring-gai Neighbourhood Centre]  which provides a range of social support services for the elderly and disabled.

@[100067893464380:2048:Men's Kitchen] - Community Group of the Year - For their services in helping elderly people improve their cooking skills while providing a network for social support.

Kevin Hao - Young Citizen of the Year - For his involvement in inspiring young people to volunteer their time to social and environmental causes through Youth 4 Difference, a student organisation.
🇦🇺🇦🇺Ku-ring-gai’s Largest Citizenship Ceremony To Date🇦🇺🇦🇺 Today we celebrated 246 new Australian Citizens from 36 countries. It was an exciting time for everyone to celebrate this moment on our national day. We also recognised the work of local volunteers and presented the 2024 Ku-ring-gai Local Citizen Awards. Depicted in the photo from left to right are: Jemma Wlasichuk – Environmental Citizen of the Year – In recognition of her work at @[100050855472496:2048:shed eleven] in repurposing furniture and keeping waste out of our landfill. Michele Bell – Citizen of the Year – In recognition for her contribution to the @[100069902651371:2048:Ku-ring-gai Neighbourhood Centre] which provides a range of social support services for the elderly and disabled. @[100067893464380:2048:Men’s Kitchen] – Community Group of the Year – For their services in helping elderly people improve their cooking skills while providing a network for social support. Kevin Hao – Young Citizen of the Year – For his involvement in inspiring young people to volunteer their time to social and environmental causes through Youth 4 Difference, a student organisation.

Australia Day Activities

🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺Australia Day Activities🎳🏊🎇 Three things you can consider for tomorrow’s public holiday.

1. Barefoot Bowls at West Pymble Bicentennial Club. Call 9498 3135 for more info.

2. Pool Party at the Ku-ring-gai Fitness and Aquatic Centre. Gold Coin Entry.

3. Summer Fair at the St Ives Showgrounds. $2 Entry for food trucks, animal farms, carnival games, movie night, circus and fireworks.

🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺Australia Day Activities🎳🏊🎇
Three things you can consider for tomorrow's public holiday.

1. Barefoot Bowls at West Pymble Bicentennial Club. Call 9498 3135 for more info.

2. Pool Party at the Ku-ring-gai Fitness and Aquatic Centre. Gold Coin Entry.

3. Summer Fair at the St Ives Showgrounds. $2 Entry for food trucks, animal farms, carnival games, movie night, circus and fireworks.
🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺Australia Day Activities🎳🏊🎇 Three things you can consider for tomorrow’s public holiday. 1. Barefoot Bowls at West Pymble Bicentennial Club. Call 9498 3135 for more info. 2. Pool Party at the Ku-ring-gai Fitness and Aquatic Centre. Gold Coin Entry. 3. Summer Fair at the St Ives Showgrounds. $2 Entry for food trucks, animal farms, carnival games, movie night, circus and fireworks.

Australia Day Fireworks

🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺Australia Day Fireworks!!!🎇🎇🎇 I still remember my first experience of fireworks in Australia. It was at Bicentennial Park in the 80’s or 90’s and our family watched fireworks at a council event while an orchestra played. I think it was Australia Day, and I remembered thinking how lucky we are to see the fireworks up close in this country.

Soon after becoming a councillor I asked ‘what happened to the fireworks?’ to which the response was that we hadn’t been doing it for years. I was pleased however to hear that last year we resumed Australia Day fireworks and this year the practice will continue at the St Ives Summer Fair, weather permitting.

This may be one of the easiest ways for parents to take their kids to the fireworks. More information is available on our council website.

https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Things-to-do/Whats-on/St-Ives-Summer-Fair

p.s. This video clearly isn’t from last century. I was fortunate to see the Northern Beaches sponsored NYE fireworks when driving around East Lindfield.

🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺Australia Day Fireworks!!!🎇🎇🎇 I still remember my first experience of fireworks in Australia. It was at Bicentennial Park in the 80’s or 90’s and our family watched fireworks at a council event while an orchestra played. I think it was Australia Day, and I remembered thinking how lucky we are to see the fireworks up close in this country. Soon after becoming a councillor I asked ‘what happened to the fireworks?’ to which the response was that we hadn’t been doing it for years. I was pleased however to hear that last year we resumed Australia Day fireworks and this year the practice will continue at the St Ives Summer Fair, weather permitting. This may be one of the easiest ways for parents to take their kids to the fireworks. More information is available on our council website. https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Things-to-do/Whats-on/St-Ives-Summer-Fair p.s. This video clearly isn’t from last century. I was fortunate to see the Northern Beaches sponsored NYE fireworks when driving around East Lindfield.
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Feedback on NSW Housing Policy

📣📣📣 Your Feedback Appreciated💌💌💌

We mentioned last month that the State Government is making significant changes to housing policy across all of NSW (with limited opportunity for resident and council input).

I’m frustrated that their plans have been leaked or released in snippets rather than all at once. By incrementally providing the news over the holiday break, residents haven’t had the opportunity to consider what is proposed in its entirety and make an informed view on whether the changes are appropriate.

Our own understanding of the changes have also evolved in this time. The latest information suggests that there 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 be less of an impact on neighbourhood centres away from train stations than we were initially led to believe, however this is offset by the allowance of dual-occupancies (either standalone or duplex) in small lots of 450sqm. On a larger block of 900sqm, that means there could be four homes. The potential impacts on tree canopy are also quite brutal.

Our council staff have summarised all the changes in a four page brochure and this brochure has gone out to all ratepayers. For those who receive physical rates notice, check your letterbox. For those who get it via email, check your emails from last Friday. You can also get the information on our council’s webpage.

https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Council/News-and-media/Latest-news/Proposed-changes-to-NSW-housing-policy-and-its-impacts-on-Ku-ring-gai

The State Government has established a feedback process with responses due February. As a council, we are also keen to hear what residents thinks about these changes. So take a look and please let us know what you think while council ponders next steps.

�There will also be an opportunity to attend a public information session held on Wednesday 31 January. More information will become available on the link closer to the time.

📣📣📣 Your Feedback Appreciated💌💌💌

We mentioned last month that the State Government is making significant changes to housing policy across all of NSW (with limited opportunity for resident and council input).

I’m frustrated that their plans have been leaked or released in snippets rather than all at once. By incrementally providing the news over the holiday break, residents haven’t had the opportunity to consider what is proposed in its entirety and make an informed view on whether the changes are appropriate.

Our own understanding of the changes have also evolved in this time. The latest information suggests that there 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 be less of an impact on neighbourhood centres away from train stations than we were initially led to believe, however this is offset by the allowance of dual-occupancies (either standalone or duplex) in small lots of 450sqm. On a larger block of 900sqm, that means there could be four homes. The potential impacts on tree canopy are also quite brutal.

Our council staff have summarised all the changes in a four page brochure and this brochure has gone out to all ratepayers. For those who receive physical rates notice, check your letterbox. For those who get it via email, check your emails from last Friday. You can also get the information on our council’s webpage.

https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Council/News-and-media/Latest-news/Proposed-changes-to-NSW-housing-policy-and-its-impacts-on-Ku-ring-gai

The State Government has established a feedback process with responses due February. As a council, we are also keen to hear what residents thinks about these changes. So take a look and please let us know what you think while council ponders next steps.

�There will also be an opportunity to attend a public information session held on Wednesday 31 January. More information will become available on the link closer to the time.

Looking Forward to Australia Day

🇦🇺New Australian Citizens🇦🇺 We look forward to meeting over 200 new Australian Citizens next week at our Australia Day Citizenship Ceremony.

Pictured here are Kai and Lana, dressed in traditional wear from their home country of Kazakhstan. I wish I had brought my girls because I think they would have enjoyed playing together with their (grand)children. We’ll be glad to celebrate their special day.

🇦🇺New Australian Citizens🇦🇺
We look forward to meeting over 200 new Australian Citizens next week at our Australia Day Citizenship Ceremony.

Pictured here are Kai and Lana, dressed in traditional wear from their home country of Kazakhstan. I wish I had brought my girls because I think they would have enjoyed playing together with their (grand)children. We’ll be glad to celebrate their special day.
🇦🇺New Australian Citizens🇦🇺 We look forward to meeting over 200 new Australian Citizens next week at our Australia Day Citizenship Ceremony. Pictured here are Kai and Lana, dressed in traditional wear from their home country of Kazakhstan. I wish I had brought my girls because I think they would have enjoyed playing together with their (grand)children. We’ll be glad to celebrate their special day.

Blood Donations Save Lives

🩸Blood donations save lives🩸 I’ve donated whole blood over twenty times and today I agreed to donate plasma instead. Plasma is basically blood without the red blood cells.

Plasma is more complex to get because it takes a while to filter out the blood cells and replace the plasma with saline, but it has a range of life saving purposes. Because the blood cells aren’t taken, donors can typically donate again after two weeks instead of the usual three months.

The process wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be, and I wish I had done it earlier. The main issue is just having 1.5 hours to follow through the entire process.

Before and after the blood donation they feed and hydrate you nice and well to ensure that you can pick up and get back to your other activities.

If you have any questions about the process please feel free to reach out. Perhaps we can donate blood together next time at Australian Red Cross Lifeblood Chatswood.

🩸Blood donations save lives🩸
I’ve donated whole blood over twenty times and today I agreed to donate plasma instead. Plasma is basically blood without the red blood cells.

Plasma is more complex to get because it takes a while to filter out the blood cells and replace the plasma with saline, but it has a range of life saving purposes. Because the blood cells aren’t taken, donors can typically donate again after two weeks instead of the usual three months.

The process wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be, and I wish I had done it earlier. The main issue is just having 1.5 hours to follow through the entire process.

Before and after the blood donation they feed and hydrate you nice and well to ensure that you can pick up and get back to your other activities.

If you have any questions about the process please feel free to reach out. Perhaps we can donate blood together next time at @[100064597483307:2048:Australian Red Cross Lifeblood] Chatswood.
🩸Blood donations save lives🩸 I’ve donated whole blood over twenty times and today I agreed to donate plasma instead. Plasma is basically blood without the red blood cells. Plasma is more complex to get because it takes a while to filter out the blood cells and replace the plasma with saline, but it has a range of life saving purposes. Because the blood cells aren’t taken, donors can typically donate again after two weeks instead of the usual three months. The process wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be, and I wish I had done it earlier. The main issue is just having 1.5 hours to follow through the entire process. Before and after the blood donation they feed and hydrate you nice and well to ensure that you can pick up and get back to your other activities. If you have any questions about the process please feel free to reach out. Perhaps we can donate blood together next time at @[100064597483307:2048:Australian Red Cross Lifeblood] Chatswood.

Pizza Master West Lindfield

The holiday break has been a great time to hang out locally and chill with family. It’s such a contrast to November and December when I spent most nights out and was unable to see the children or put them to bed.

Earlier this week, we spent an evening cycling and playing at Queen Elizabeth Reserve before watching the friendly team at Pizza Master West Lindfield create our pizzas.

The holiday break has been a great time to hang out locally and chill with family. It’s such a contrast to November and December when I spent most nights out and was unable to see the children or put them to bed.

Earlier this week, we spent an evening cycling and playing at Queen Elizabeth Reserve before watching the friendly team at Pizza Master West Lindfield create our pizzas.
The holiday break has been a great time to hang out locally and chill with family. It’s such a contrast to November and December when I spent most nights out and was unable to see the children or put them to bed. Earlier this week, we spent an evening cycling and playing at Queen Elizabeth Reserve before watching the friendly team at Pizza Master West Lindfield create our pizzas.

Urban Canopy Statistics

🔻🌳❓ Yesterday an SMH article stated that Ku-ring-gai had an 8.20% reduction in urban canopy over three years from 2019 (52.01%) to 2022 (43.81%). Some people have asked me to comment, so I will say the following.

𝟭. 𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁.

I wouldn’t be surprised by a small decrease but an 8.20% reduction over three years is a LOT and I have not seen this scale of loss on the ground. Remember that these statistics are estimates so if there are changes to underlying assumptions or data sources, or an error in modelling, then it can lead to a wild swing. Our council staff are looking into the details to further understand what has driven the swing.

Though even if the 2022 statistics are correct, Ku-ring-gai still has the greatest coverage out of the Sydney Metro councils with Hornsby as a close #2 at 42.47%.

𝟮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱.

And there is scope to improve.

In November 2023 Council resolved to increase resourcing on education, establish a hotline, and provide 7-day week coverage of tree investigations. But having more people on the ground can only go so far, in part because the on-the-spot fines of $3,000 for individuals and $6,000 for corporations are hardly a deterrent. Councils have lobbied the State Government to update Schedule 5 of its Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation to support greater on-the-spot penalties, but to date there has been no change.

Councils also have the option to commence legal proceedings against an offender which in theory acts as a greater deterrent with fines of up to $1.1m for corporations and up to $220,000 for individuals. But in reality, this rarely occurs because there is a higher burden of proof and most councils do not have the extensive resources to investigate and litigate. A tree may be poisoned but unless council is able to prove who poisoned it, there’s nobody to pursue.

𝟯. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘃𝗲𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱.

The owner may have obtained a tree permit from council (refer to Part 13 of Council’s Development Control Plans). Part 13 also provides exemptions for tree and vegetation works, such as when removing dead wood, removing tree branches within 0.5m of electrical wires, removing branches overhanging a residence, and the removal of weed species.

The owner may also have exemption from the State Government under its 10/50 Vegetation Clearing Scheme, which allows people living in bushfire prone areas to clear trees within 10m of their homes and vegetation within 50m of their homes.

The owner may have permission as part of a DA consent. Usually these come with requirements for replacement planting elsewhere on site but the replacement trees take time to grow.

Extreme weather events may also lead to reduction in tree canopy. In November 2019 we had extreme weather causing trees to fall and triggering multi-day blackouts. While new trees are planted to replace the old ones, these take time to grow.

𝟰. 𝗨𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲.

If you look at Ku-ring-gai, many of the current low density residential homes sit on 800-1,200 sqm of land with the more established plots capable of supporting over a dozen trees of various sizes. But as the population increases, governments face the dilemma of building out (and clearing lots of trees in the process) or building up in established areas (which involves clearing a smaller number of trees per person).

In the coming months, the entire state will see changes in State law that allow more homes to be established on smaller plots of land. If you look at page 42 of the proposed changes (which includes more homes everywhere with dual occupancy as the minimum uplift), the tree canopy targets and tree planting rates are quite low compared to what we currently have in Ku-ring-gai.

https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-12/eie-changes-to-create-low-and-mid-rise-housing.pdf#page=42

𝟱. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁?

From a council perspective, we are increasing resources to improve education and investigate tree crimes, however this will not entirely prevent people from conducting illegal activity.

If you are dissatisfied with the situation, consider lobbying the State Government for change. To be effective deterrents, the penalties for on-the-spot fines need to increase. You may also want to provide the State Government with feedback on its proposed changes to the housing system (see page 5 of the link above). In the coming weeks and as residents return from holidays, council will provide more information on the proposed changes and public feedback process.

🔻🌳❓ Yesterday an SMH article stated that Ku-ring-gai had an 8.20% reduction in urban canopy over three years from 2019 (52.01%) to 2022 (43.81%). Some people have asked me to comment, so I will say the following.

𝟭. 𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁.

I wouldn't be surprised by a small decrease but an 8.20% reduction over three years is a LOT and I have not seen this scale of loss on the ground. Remember that these statistics are estimates so if there are changes to underlying assumptions or data sources, or an error in modelling, then it can lead to a wild swing. Our council staff are looking into the details to further understand what has driven the swing.

Though even if the 2022 statistics are correct, Ku-ring-gai still has the greatest coverage out of the Sydney Metro councils with Hornsby as a close #2 at 42.47%.

𝟮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱.

And there is scope to improve.

In November 2023 Council resolved to increase resourcing on education, establish a hotline, and provide 7-day week coverage of tree investigations. But having more people on the ground can only go so far, in part because the on-the-spot fines of $3,000 for individuals and $6,000 for corporations are hardly a deterrent. Councils have lobbied the State Government to update Schedule 5 of its Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation to support greater on-the-spot penalties, but to date there has been no change.

Councils also have the option to commence legal proceedings against an offender which in theory acts as a greater deterrent with fines of up to $1.1m for corporations and up to $220,000 for individuals. But in reality, this rarely occurs because there is a higher burden of proof and most councils do not have the extensive resources to investigate and litigate. A tree may be poisoned but unless council is able to prove who poisoned it, there’s nobody to pursue.

𝟯. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘃𝗲𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱.

The owner may have obtained a tree permit from council (refer to Part 13 of Council’s Development Control Plans). Part 13 also provides exemptions for tree and vegetation works, such as when removing dead wood, removing tree branches within 0.5m of electrical wires, removing branches overhanging a residence, and the removal of weed species.

The owner may also have exemption from the State Government under its 10/50 Vegetation Clearing Scheme, which allows people living in bushfire prone areas to clear trees within 10m of their homes and vegetation within 50m of their homes.

The owner may have permission as part of a DA consent. Usually these come with requirements for replacement planting elsewhere on site but the replacement trees take time to grow.

Extreme weather events may also lead to reduction in tree canopy. In November 2019 we had extreme weather causing trees to fall and triggering multi-day blackouts. While new trees are planted to replace the old ones, these take time to grow.

𝟰. 𝗨𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲.

If you look at Ku-ring-gai, many of the current low density residential homes sit on 800-1,200 sqm of land with the more established plots capable of supporting over a dozen trees of various sizes. But as the population increases, governments face the dilemma of building out (and clearing lots of trees in the process) or building up in established areas (which involves clearing a smaller number of trees per person).

In the coming months, the entire state will see changes in State law that allow more homes to be established on smaller plots of land. If you look at page 42 of the proposed changes (which includes more homes everywhere with dual occupancy as the minimum uplift), the tree canopy targets and tree planting rates are quite low compared to what we currently have in Ku-ring-gai.

https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-12/eie-changes-to-create-low-and-mid-rise-housing.pdf#page=42

𝟱. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁?

From a council perspective, we are increasing resources to improve education and investigate tree crimes, however this will not entirely prevent people from conducting illegal activity.

If you are dissatisfied with the situation, consider lobbying the State Government for change. To be effective deterrents, the penalties for on-the-spot fines need to increase. You may also want to provide the State Government with feedback on its proposed changes to the housing system (see page 5 of the link above). In the coming weeks and as residents return from holidays, council will provide more information on the proposed changes and public feedback process.
🔻🌳❓ Yesterday an SMH article stated that Ku-ring-gai had an 8.20% reduction in urban canopy over three years from 2019 (52.01%) to 2022 (43.81%). Some people have asked me to comment, so I will say the following. 𝟭. 𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁. I wouldn’t be surprised by a small decrease but an 8.20% reduction over three years is a LOT and I have not seen this scale of loss on the ground. Remember that these statistics are estimates so if there are changes to underlying assumptions or data sources, or an error in modelling, then it can lead to a wild swing. Our council staff are looking into the details to further understand what has driven the swing. Though even if the 2022 statistics are correct, Ku-ring-gai still has the greatest coverage out of the Sydney Metro councils with Hornsby as a close #2 at 42.47%. 𝟮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱. And there is scope to improve. In November 2023 Council resolved to increase resourcing on education, establish a hotline, and provide 7-day week coverage of tree investigations. But having more people on the ground can only go so far, in part because the on-the-spot fines of $3,000 for individuals and $6,000 for corporations are hardly a deterrent. Councils have lobbied the State Government to update Schedule 5 of its Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation to support greater on-the-spot penalties, but to date there has been no change. Councils also have the option to commence legal proceedings against an offender which in theory acts as a greater deterrent with fines of up to $1.1m for corporations and up to $220,000 for individuals. But in reality, this rarely occurs because there is a higher burden of proof and most councils do not have the extensive resources to investigate and litigate. A tree may be poisoned but unless council is able to prove who poisoned it, there’s nobody to pursue. 𝟯. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘃𝗲𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱. The owner may have obtained a tree permit from council (refer to Part 13 of Council’s Development Control Plans). Part 13 also provides exemptions for tree and vegetation works, such as when removing dead wood, removing tree branches within 0.5m of electrical wires, removing branches overhanging a residence, and the removal of weed species. The owner may also have exemption from the State Government under its 10/50 Vegetation Clearing Scheme, which allows people living in bushfire prone areas to clear trees within 10m of their homes and vegetation within 50m of their homes. The owner may have permission as part of a DA consent. Usually these come with requirements for replacement planting elsewhere on site but the replacement trees take time to grow. Extreme weather events may also lead to reduction in tree canopy. In November 2019 we had extreme weather causing trees to fall and triggering multi-day blackouts. While new trees are planted to replace the old ones, these take time to grow. 𝟰. 𝗨𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲. If you look at Ku-ring-gai, many of the current low density residential homes sit on 800-1,200 sqm of land with the more established plots capable of supporting over a dozen trees of various sizes. But as the population increases, governments face the dilemma of building out (and clearing lots of trees in the process) or building up in established areas (which involves clearing a smaller number of trees per person). In the coming months, the entire state will see changes in State law that allow more homes to be established on smaller plots of land. If you look at page 42 of the proposed changes (which includes more homes everywhere with dual occupancy as the minimum uplift), the tree canopy targets and tree planting rates are quite low compared to what we currently have in Ku-ring-gai. https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-12/eie-changes-to-create-low-and-mid-rise-housing.pdf#page=42 𝟱. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁? From a council perspective, we are increasing resources to improve education and investigate tree crimes, however this will not entirely prevent people from conducting illegal activity. If you are dissatisfied with the situation, consider lobbying the State Government for change. To be effective deterrents, the penalties for on-the-spot fines need to increase. You may also want to provide the State Government with feedback on its proposed changes to the housing system (see page 5 of the link above). In the coming weeks and as residents return from holidays, council will provide more information on the proposed changes and public feedback process.

Chanukah at Council Chambers

Great to see so many at council chambers to celebrate Chanukah – the most I’ve seen to date.

Chabad North Shore Alister Henskens MP Matt Cross – Member for Davidson Masada College The North Shore Synagogue Kehillat Masada

Great to see so many at council chambers to celebrate Chanukah - the most I’ve seen to date.

@[100064833485045:2048:Chabad North Shore]
@[100057675354624:2048:Alister Henskens MP]
@[100087669656114:2048:Matt Cross - Member for Davidson]
@[100064109882425:2048:Masada College]
@[100064724974860:2048:The North Shore Synagogue]
Kehillat Masada
Great to see so many at council chambers to celebrate Chanukah – the most I’ve seen to date. @[100064833485045:2048:Chabad North Shore] @[100057675354624:2048:Alister Henskens MP] @[100087669656114:2048:Matt Cross – Member for Davidson] @[100064109882425:2048:Masada College] @[100064724974860:2048:The North Shore Synagogue] Kehillat Masada

HSC Results

For Year 12 students receiving their results today, it’s important to remember that this one number doesn’t control the rest of your life. There are other ways to get where you need to go, and a rewarding career doesn’t necessarily have to come from attending university either. I’m happy to meet up and chat if you want someone to listen to you or to kick ideas around.

If you know a Year 12 student who is feeling down, please give them the support that they need.

For Year 12 students receiving their results today, it’s important to remember that this one number doesn't control the rest of your life. There are other ways to get where you need to go, and a rewarding career doesn't necessarily have to come from attending university either. I'm happy to meet up and chat if you want someone to listen to you or to kick ideas around.

If you know a Year 12 student who is feeling down, please give them the support that they need.
For Year 12 students receiving their results today, it’s important to remember that this one number doesn’t control the rest of your life. There are other ways to get where you need to go, and a rewarding career doesn’t necessarily have to come from attending university either. I’m happy to meet up and chat if you want someone to listen to you or to kick ideas around. If you know a Year 12 student who is feeling down, please give them the support that they need.

Ku-ring-gai High School Presentation Day

It was great to attend the Ku-ring-gai High School Presentation Day to hear of the accomplishments of our local students. I was joined by Matt Cross – Member for Davidson in handing out the Student Representative Council Awards.

It was great to attend the @[100064119181516:2048:Ku-ring-gai High School] Presentation Day to hear of the accomplishments of our local students. I was joined by @[100087669656114:2048:Matt Cross - Member for Davidson]  in handing out the Student Representative Council Awards.
It was great to attend the @[100064119181516:2048:Ku-ring-gai High School] Presentation Day to hear of the accomplishments of our local students. I was joined by @[100087669656114:2048:Matt Cross – Member for Davidson] in handing out the Student Representative Council Awards.

Rope Bridges for our Possums

Ku-ring-gai and Sydney Uni are trialing the use of rope bridges to allow wildlife such as ringtail and brushtail possums to cross Lady Game Drive. I look forward to seeing the outcome of this trial as well as the potential to apply these concepts in other parts of Ku-ring-gai.

Ku-ring-gai and Sydney Uni are trialing the use of rope bridges to allow wildlife such as ringtail and brushtail possums to cross Lady Game Drive. I look forward to seeing the outcome of this trial as well as the potential to apply these concepts in other parts of Ku-ring-gai.
Ku-ring-gai and Sydney Uni are trialing the use of rope bridges to allow wildlife such as ringtail and brushtail possums to cross Lady Game Drive. I look forward to seeing the outcome of this trial as well as the potential to apply these concepts in other parts of Ku-ring-gai.

Hot Day!

☀️🔥🌡️ 𝗪𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝟰𝟮°𝗖 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆!!! It’s a great opportunity to check out our 50m pool at the Ku-ring-gai Fitness and Aquatic Centre . After undergoing repairs, it reopens today with the addition of a mobility hoist to make it more accessible for all.

☀️🔥🌡️ 𝗪𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝟰𝟮°𝗖 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆!!!
It's a great opportunity to check out our 50m pool at the @[100063654336434:2048:Ku-ring-gai Fitness and Aquatic Centre] . After undergoing repairs, it reopens today with the addition of a mobility hoist to make it more accessible for all.
☀️🔥🌡️ 𝗪𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝟰𝟮°𝗖 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆!!! It’s a great opportunity to check out our 50m pool at the @[100063654336434:2048:Ku-ring-gai Fitness and Aquatic Centre] . After undergoing repairs, it reopens today with the addition of a mobility hoist to make it more accessible for all.

Speaking 4 the Planet

Congratulations to Isabella, McKayla, Mayurie, Romani, Nicolas, Liam, Meera and Katja for being our winners of the Speaking 4 the Planet initiative. Our local students created written and visual work advocating for sustainable practices, and I encouraged them to think about how they can make an effective but also equitable impact in the years ahead.

You can watch their amazing work here https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Environment/Sustainable-living/Smart-schools/Speaking-4-the-Planet

Congratulations to Isabella, McKayla, Mayurie, Romani, Nicolas, Liam, Meera and Katja for being our winners of the @[100069068179081:2048:Speaking 4 the Planet] initiative. Our local students created written and visual work advocating for sustainable practices, and I encouraged them to think about how they can make an effective but also equitable impact in the years ahead.

You can watch their amazing work here
https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Environment/Sustainable-living/Smart-schools/Speaking-4-the-Planet
Congratulations to Isabella, McKayla, Mayurie, Romani, Nicolas, Liam, Meera and Katja for being our winners of the @[100069068179081:2048:Speaking 4 the Planet] initiative. Our local students created written and visual work advocating for sustainable practices, and I encouraged them to think about how they can make an effective but also equitable impact in the years ahead. You can watch their amazing work here https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Environment/Sustainable-living/Smart-schools/Speaking-4-the-Planet

Chanukah on the Green

Glad to see Chanukah this year supported by all three levels of government. We had a fantastic night at the St Ives Village Green, well attended by an inclusive, welcoming and diverse community. My kids also enjoyed meeting the team at Community Health Support and taking part in the games, rides, face painting and fireworks.

Julian Leeser MP Matt Cross – Member for Davidson Deputy Mayor of Ku-ring-gai, Cr Christine Kay Councillor Martin Smith Councillor Kim Wheatley Cr Simon Lennon Cr Barbara Ward Councillor Robert Samuel – Willoughby Chabad North Shore

Glad to see Chanukah this year supported by all three levels of government. We had a fantastic night at the St Ives Village Green, well attended by an inclusive, welcoming and diverse community. My kids also enjoyed meeting the team at @[100080313635174:2048:Community Health Support]  and taking part in the games, rides, face painting and fireworks.

@[100057708205393:2048:Julian Leeser MP] 
@[100087669656114:2048:Matt Cross - Member for Davidson] 
@[100049240526757:2048:Deputy Mayor of Ku-ring-gai, Cr Christine Kay] 
Councillor Martin Smith 
@[100081079106909:2048:Councillor Kim Wheatley] 
Cr Simon Lennon 
Cr Barbara Ward
@[100077659695386:2048:Councillor Robert Samuel - Willoughby] 
@[100064833485045:2048:Chabad North Shore]
Glad to see Chanukah this year supported by all three levels of government. We had a fantastic night at the St Ives Village Green, well attended by an inclusive, welcoming and diverse community. My kids also enjoyed meeting the team at @[100080313635174:2048:Community Health Support] and taking part in the games, rides, face painting and fireworks. @[100057708205393:2048:Julian Leeser MP] @[100087669656114:2048:Matt Cross – Member for Davidson] @[100049240526757:2048:Deputy Mayor of Ku-ring-gai, Cr Christine Kay] Councillor Martin Smith @[100081079106909:2048:Councillor Kim Wheatley] Cr Simon Lennon Cr Barbara Ward @[100077659695386:2048:Councillor Robert Samuel – Willoughby] @[100064833485045:2048:Chabad North Shore]

Roseville College End of Year

Visited the Roseville College Prize Giving Ceremonies yesterday. It was particularly cool to see those that I had previously taught at Sunday School and other local church programs get recognised for their achievements.

Visited the @[100044370982108:2048:Roseville College] Prize Giving Ceremonies yesterday. It was particularly cool to see those that I had previously taught at Sunday School and other local church programs get recognised for their achievements.
Visited the @[100044370982108:2048:Roseville College] Prize Giving Ceremonies yesterday. It was particularly cool to see those that I had previously taught at Sunday School and other local church programs get recognised for their achievements.

Mayor’s Christmas Appeal

Thanks to everyone who contributed food and gift items to the Mayor’s Christmas Appeal. Yesterday I joined Gordon Ward Councillors Simon Lennon and Barbara Ward in packing and distributing hampers for Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury Sydney at Gordon Baptist Church. The hampers went to a range of causes such as the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Women’s Shelter .

Thanks to everyone who contributed food and gift items to the Mayor's Christmas Appeal. Yesterday I joined Gordon Ward Councillors Simon Lennon and Barbara Ward in packing and distributing hampers for @[100064520299383:2048:Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury Sydney] at Gordon Baptist Church. The hampers went to a range of causes such as the @[100067239740050:2048:Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Women's Shelter] .
Thanks to everyone who contributed food and gift items to the Mayor’s Christmas Appeal. Yesterday I joined Gordon Ward Councillors Simon Lennon and Barbara Ward in packing and distributing hampers for @[100064520299383:2048:Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury Sydney] at Gordon Baptist Church. The hampers went to a range of causes such as the @[100067239740050:2048:Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Women’s Shelter] .

Abbotsleigh’s Mayor of Ku-ring-gai Award

Congratulations Sophia for being the 17th recipient of Abbotsleigh’s Mayor of Ku-ring-gai Award, recognising her excellence in leadership.

I attended Speech Day yesterday and it was great to see so many young people equipped to create a better future.

Congratulations Sophia for being the 17th recipient of @[100063700954501:2048:Abbotsleigh]’s Mayor of Ku-ring-gai Award, recognising her excellence in leadership.

I attended Speech Day yesterday and it was great to see so many young people equipped to create a better future.
Congratulations Sophia for being the 17th recipient of @[100063700954501:2048:Abbotsleigh]’s Mayor of Ku-ring-gai Award, recognising her excellence in leadership. I attended Speech Day yesterday and it was great to see so many young people equipped to create a better future.

Barker College Junior School Celebration

It was encouraging to visit the Barker College Junior School celebration today to hear of the children’s accomplishments as well as their contribution to providing education to indigenous groups through their Darkinjung, Ngarralingayil and Dhupuma Schools.

It was encouraging to visit the @[100064001411105:2048:Barker College] Junior School celebration today to hear of the children’s accomplishments as well as their contribution to providing education to indigenous groups through their Darkinjung, Ngarralingayil and Dhupuma Schools.
It was encouraging to visit the @[100064001411105:2048:Barker College] Junior School celebration today to hear of the children’s accomplishments as well as their contribution to providing education to indigenous groups through their Darkinjung, Ngarralingayil and Dhupuma Schools.

Government will seize control of housing

The media has just reported that the state government will “𝘀𝗲𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴” in 𝗥𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲, 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱, 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗼𝗻.

What does this mean? I don’t know yet as no official documents have been released. But I assume it means more building heights and when we find out the details, we will let you know.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/revealed-the-25-sydney-suburbs-where-the-government-will-seize-control-of-housing-20231205-p5ep72.html

The media has just reported that the state government will “𝘀𝗲𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴” in 𝗥𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲, 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱, 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗼𝗻.

What does this mean? I don’t know yet as no official documents have been released. But I assume it means more building heights and when we find out the details, we will let you know.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/revealed-the-25-sydney-suburbs-where-the-government-will-seize-control-of-housing-20231205-p5ep72.html
The media has just reported that the state government will “𝘀𝗲𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴” in 𝗥𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲, 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱, 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗼𝗻. What does this mean? I don’t know yet as no official documents have been released. But I assume it means more building heights and when we find out the details, we will let you know. https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/revealed-the-25-sydney-suburbs-where-the-government-will-seize-control-of-housing-20231205-p5ep72.html

Wahroonga Village Fair

Popped into the Wahroonga Village Fair, organised by volunteers from the Rotary Club of Wahroonga . The event was opened by Bagpipe and Drums from Knox Grammar School and a welcome to country from Peter Kirkwood OAM. I visited the balloon stall organised by girls from Abbotsleigh as well as Melissa from the Tiamo Baby stall.

Thanks to all the volunteers from Rotary for organising this. Funds raised go towards Rotary Club projects. There’s a lot more going on and I’d encourage residents to check it out today. (I had to dash off to the next event.)

Popped into the @[100083460155832:2048:Wahroonga Village Fair], organised by volunteers from the @[100064675150272:2048:Rotary Club of Wahroonga] . The event was opened by Bagpipe and Drums from @[100063701513330:2048:Knox Grammar School] and a welcome to country from Peter Kirkwood OAM. I visited the balloon stall organised by girls from Abbotsleigh as well as Melissa from the @[100063298356139:2048:Tiamo Baby] stall.

Thanks to all the volunteers from Rotary for organising this. Funds raised go towards Rotary Club projects. There's a lot more going on and I'd encourage residents to check it out today. (I had to dash off to the next event.)
Popped into the @[100083460155832:2048:Wahroonga Village Fair], organised by volunteers from the @[100064675150272:2048:Rotary Club of Wahroonga] . The event was opened by Bagpipe and Drums from @[100063701513330:2048:Knox Grammar School] and a welcome to country from Peter Kirkwood OAM. I visited the balloon stall organised by girls from Abbotsleigh as well as Melissa from the @[100063298356139:2048:Tiamo Baby] stall. Thanks to all the volunteers from Rotary for organising this. Funds raised go towards Rotary Club projects. There’s a lot more going on and I’d encourage residents to check it out today. (I had to dash off to the next event.)

Kuringai Youth Orchestra Christmas Concert

I was excited to attend the Kuringai Youth Orchestra Christmas concert, held at my old school St Ives Preparatory School. We heard Christmas classics such as The Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky and Anderson’s Christmas Festival. It was encouraging to see our young people make use of the facilities nearly thirty years after my time in the same hall playing in the school orchestra.

I was also invited to do the raffle draw with all funds going towards KYDS Youth Development Service.

I was excited to attend the @[100053519367057:2048:Kuringai Youth Orchestra] Christmas concert, held at my old school @[100057498966588:2048:St Ives Preparatory School]. We heard Christmas classics such as The Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky and Anderson’s Christmas Festival. It was encouraging to see our young people make use of the facilities nearly thirty years after my time in the same hall playing in the school orchestra.

I was also invited to do the raffle draw with all funds going towards @[100057506479179:2048:KYDS Youth Development Service].
I was excited to attend the @[100053519367057:2048:Kuringai Youth Orchestra] Christmas concert, held at my old school @[100057498966588:2048:St Ives Preparatory School]. We heard Christmas classics such as The Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky and Anderson’s Christmas Festival. It was encouraging to see our young people make use of the facilities nearly thirty years after my time in the same hall playing in the school orchestra. I was also invited to do the raffle draw with all funds going towards @[100057506479179:2048:KYDS Youth Development Service].

State Government Drip Feeding

The State Government has been drip-feeding information on their top-down (bypassing council) housing density changes, with a public feedback process to commence early December.

What I discovered yesterday is that their definition of a ‘well-located area’ (for greater housing density) includes E1 local centres with frequently needed goods and services such as full line supermarkets, shops, and restaurants. So that will probably include places such as North Turramurra, St Ives North, West Pymble, East Lindfield and Eastern Road.

3-6 storey apartments will be allowed as shop top housing as well as in existing R3 Medium Density Zones.

Terraces, townhouses and manor houses will be allowed in existing R2 Low Density Zones that are within 800m walk of the local centre (shops).

Everywhere beyond 800m will allow for two homes on one lot.

High level information is available on the Department of Planning website. https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/policy-and-legislation/housing/diverse-and-well-located-homes

And their original 28 Nov announcement is here. https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/news/new-planning-rules-fast-track-low-and-mid-rise-housing

At this stage, I see council’s role as to make residents aware of the proposal (once the full details have been released in the coming fortnight), to help residents understand the implications of the proposal, and to encourage residents to participate in the State Government’s public feedback process.

Separately, councils across NSW will also be lobbying for appropriate infrastructure funding to support the increasing population. Because behind the scenes there are serious road, stormwater, transport, and other bottlenecks associated with this change. [Admittedly, the densification will occur over a few decades so there will hopefully be time to ramp up.]

More information to come once the State Gov gives us the details.

Bunnings BBQ for KYDS

Come visit the KYDS Youth Development Service fundraiser at Pymble Bunnings. The Barbeque and Christmas stall is open til 4pm.

If you can’t make it but want to support the cause, visit https://kyds.kindful.com/

Come visit the @[100057506479179:2048:KYDS Youth Development Service] fundraiser at Pymble Bunnings. The Barbeque and Christmas stall is open til 4pm.

If you can’t make it but want to support the cause, visit
https://kyds.kindful.com/
Come visit the @[100057506479179:2048:KYDS Youth Development Service] fundraiser at Pymble Bunnings. The Barbeque and Christmas stall is open til 4pm. If you can’t make it but want to support the cause, visit https://kyds.kindful.com/

Christmas Tree is up

🎄Christmas tree is up! For a list of Christmas events this month, visit https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Things-to-do/Events-and-festivals/Christmas-in-Ku-ring-gai

🎄Christmas tree is up!
For a list of Christmas events this month, visit
https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Things-to-do/Events-and-festivals/Christmas-in-Ku-ring-gai
🎄Christmas tree is up! For a list of Christmas events this month, visit https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Things-to-do/Events-and-festivals/Christmas-in-Ku-ring-gai

Diwali

Earlier this month I attended a range of events connected to Diwali, which is a South Asian festivity that celebrates the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil.

To be honest, I had limited knowledge about this tradition until quite recently and as far as I know many of the Ku-ring-gai celebrations connected to this event were first started in 2022.

I’m glad to have taken part and look forward to seeing each of these events (organised in chronological order by Ku-ring-gai Council, AASHA and SHARE SMR) scaling up in the future.

Earlier this month I attended a range of events connected to Diwali, which is a South Asian festivity that celebrates the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil.

To be honest, I had limited knowledge about this tradition until quite recently and as far as I know many of the Ku-ring-gai celebrations connected to this event were first started in 2022.

I’m glad to have taken part and look forward to seeing each of these events (organised in chronological order by Ku-ring-gai Council, AASHA and SHARE SMR) scaling up in the future.
Earlier this month I attended a range of events connected to Diwali, which is a South Asian festivity that celebrates the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil. To be honest, I had limited knowledge about this tradition until quite recently and as far as I know many of the Ku-ring-gai celebrations connected to this event were first started in 2022. I’m glad to have taken part and look forward to seeing each of these events (organised in chronological order by Ku-ring-gai Council, AASHA and SHARE SMR) scaling up in the future.

Planning Institute of Australia Awards

I attended a Planning Institute of Australia event earlier this month and was pleasantly surprised when Ku-ring-gai Council was awarded the ‘𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲’ Award for the Lindfield Village Green. Congrats to the entire Ku-ring-gai Council team involved.

Quoting the Planning Institute’s reasons for giving us the award, they said that…

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘈 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬, 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱, 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘖𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦-𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺; 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴.

𝘒𝘶-𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘨𝘢𝘪 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘕𝘚𝘞 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘜𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴. 𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘦.

𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘒𝘶-𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘨𝘢𝘪 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺.

I attended a Planning Institute of Australia event earlier this month and was pleasantly surprised when Ku-ring-gai Council was awarded the ‘𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲’ Award for the Lindfield Village Green. Congrats to the entire Ku-ring-gai Council team involved.

Quoting the Planning Institute’s reasons for giving us the award, they said that…

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘈 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬, 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱, 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘖𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦-𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺; 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴.

𝘒𝘶-𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘨𝘢𝘪 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘕𝘚𝘞 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘜𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴. 𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘦.

𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘒𝘶-𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘨𝘢𝘪 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺.
I attended a Planning Institute of Australia event earlier this month and was pleasantly surprised when Ku-ring-gai Council was awarded the ‘𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲’ Award for the Lindfield Village Green. Congrats to the entire Ku-ring-gai Council team involved. Quoting the Planning Institute’s reasons for giving us the award, they said that… 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘈 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬, 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱, 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘖𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦-𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺; 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴. 𝘒𝘶-𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘨𝘢𝘪 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘕𝘚𝘞 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘜𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴. 𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘒𝘶-𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘨𝘢𝘪 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺.

Brigidine College

It’s the time of the year where we attend (and handout at) annual awards presentations. Yesterday I was at Brigidine College St Ives and it struck me how (compared to my own school in the 90’s) there was a very strong culture of nurturing each individual student as well as the promotion of social justice initiatives. It’s a great option for our local students here at Ku-ring-gai.

It’s the time of the year where we attend (and handout at) annual awards presentations. Yesterday I was at @[100064030569835:2048:Brigidine College St Ives] and it struck me how (compared to my own school in the 90’s) there was a very strong culture of nurturing each individual student as well as the promotion of social justice initiatives. It’s a great option for our local students here at Ku-ring-gai.
It’s the time of the year where we attend (and handout at) annual awards presentations. Yesterday I was at @[100064030569835:2048:Brigidine College St Ives] and it struck me how (compared to my own school in the 90’s) there was a very strong culture of nurturing each individual student as well as the promotion of social justice initiatives. It’s a great option for our local students here at Ku-ring-gai.

Better Business Partnership

I was glad to join the team at Better Business Partnership, an initiative shared by Ku-ring-gai, North Sydney and Willoughby Council along with local businesses that is tasked with exploring sustainable options for our businesses and residents.

At this month’s event I spoke about our journey to sustainability from the perspective of a Roseville resident since the 1980’s. We have improved quite significantly from a council that throws everything into one bin and now to a council that has multiple recycling options, but there’s still a long way to go.

Increasing Ku-ring-gai’s Population by 75%?

This morning the State Government proposed that in order to boost housing supply, it will: 1️⃣ allow dual occupancies (two homes) on all R2 low density across NSW 2️⃣ allow terraces and townhouses on R2 low density ‘near transport hubs and town centres’ 3️⃣ allow 4-6 storey apartments on R3 medium density ‘near transport hubs and town centres’ (meaning within 800m of hubs / centres)

With 2️⃣ and 3️⃣ it’s important to note that there has been a softening of language because last month’s message was that they will allow it across 𝘢𝘭𝘭 of NSW rather than limit it to places close to transport.

Having said that, both 1️⃣ and 2️⃣ will significantly increase the number of households here in Ku-ring-gai while decreasing the open space (and tree canopy) that we have in our yards. We currently have capacity for approximately 45,000 households but the change if implemented will result in a capacity that well exceeds 80,000. (And by way of comparison, the controversial housing strategy plans from three years ago targeted 54,000 by 2036.)

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘄𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁, 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀, 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝘀. But whether we’re talking about existing bottlenecks on Archbold Road, Boundary Street, and Pacific Highway or last week’s removal of $9.8m funding for commuter parking, the signs that I’m getting is that 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗳.

I’m meeting with the Planning Minister next month so that we can finetune our understanding of proposed changes and explore how the housing needs of Greater Sydney can be met with appropriate infrastructure.

For more information see https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/news/new-planning-rules-fast-track-low-and-mid-rise-housing

Update: Public consultation on the matter to occur over Christmas.

New Library App

I’m excited about our new library app as it allows you to:

🖥️Access our digital e-book, audio, and magazine catalogue. This includes accessing paywalled material such as The Australian Financial Review

🔍Check what books we have available by scanning the barcode

📘Reserve a book for pickup, and renew your existing bookings

💳Act as your digital library card, meaning one less card for you to carry

📆 Check out upcoming events and book meeting rooms

You can search for it in your App Store. In the coming year, we will explore the possibility of other apps to make your interactions with council smoother (e.g. information on waste collection, report a problem, discover upcoming events and recreational facilities, have your say, etc.)

I'm excited about our new library app as it allows you to:

🖥️Access our digital e-book, audio, and magazine catalogue. This includes accessing paywalled material such as The Australian Financial Review

🔍Check what books we have available by scanning the barcode

📘Reserve a book for pickup, and renew your existing bookings

💳Act as your digital library card, meaning one less card for you to carry

📆 Check out upcoming events and book meeting rooms

You can search for it in your App Store. In the coming year, we will explore the possibility of other apps to make your interactions with council smoother (e.g. information on waste collection, report a problem, discover upcoming events and recreational facilities, have your say, etc.)
I’m excited about our new library app as it allows you to: 🖥️Access our digital e-book, audio, and magazine catalogue. This includes accessing paywalled material such as The Australian Financial Review 🔍Check what books we have available by scanning the barcode 📘Reserve a book for pickup, and renew your existing bookings 💳Act as your digital library card, meaning one less card for you to carry 📆 Check out upcoming events and book meeting rooms You can search for it in your App Store. In the coming year, we will explore the possibility of other apps to make your interactions with council smoother (e.g. information on waste collection, report a problem, discover upcoming events and recreational facilities, have your say, etc.)

Australia’s Largest Obstacle Course

☔️It’s a bit wet right now but we have Australia’s largest obstacle course this weekend at St Ives Showgrounds. ☀️Sunny tomorrow!

https://www.tuffnutterz.com/tuffnutterznsw-act

☔️It’s a bit wet right now but we have Australia’s largest obstacle course this weekend at St Ives Showgrounds.
☀️Sunny tomorrow!

https://www.tuffnutterz.com/tuffnutterznsw-act
☔️It’s a bit wet right now but we have Australia’s largest obstacle course this weekend at St Ives Showgrounds. ☀️Sunny tomorrow! https://www.tuffnutterz.com/tuffnutterznsw-act

November Council Meeting

𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 😢It was a sad night. Last night was meant to be the time when we voted to proceed with the Lindfield Village Hub. We were ready to announce the development partner and proceed with lodging a Development Application next year. Instead, 8 hours prior to the council meeting the State Government told Council that it will withdraw its funding and support for the Lindfield Village Hub 135 space commuter carpark (even though the $9.8m was already in our bank). This surprising turn of events changes the financial certainty of the project and as a result, the councillors voted to defer the decision while discussions take place on next steps.

Earlier this month the State Government also requested that all councils urgently look at increasing the housing capacity supported by their Local Environment Plan and Planning Controls. The frustrating thing with this is that I am a firm believer that increased density needs to be supported by appropriate infrastructure. We already have infrastructure bottlenecks in each suburb; now the State Government is killing infrastructure projects while still requiring additional housing (and it is not helped that rates increases are limited at below the rate of inflation). The local government sector has not been setup for success, and more information is available on Council’s website.

🛝Last night we also voted to select appropriate firms to upgrade stage 1 of Hassall Park in St Ives and Eldinhope Green in Wahroonga. We also voted to make a space next to Council chambers (9 Dumaresq Street) in Gordon available for passive recreation after the building that was on the site was demolished earlier in the year.

🎭We voted to establish an Arts and Culture Committee as well as a Status of Women’s Advisory Committee.

🌲We voted to increase the headcount of staff dedicated to tree issues and also to re-establish a former practice of displaying a 🕎 Chanukah-related Menorah in Gordon, next to our 🎄Christmas tree.

✉️ Councillors also voted for the Mayor to write a letter of thanks to the former General Manager and publish the letter on Council’s website.

𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴
😢It was a sad night. Last night was meant to be the time when we voted to proceed with the Lindfield Village Hub. We were ready to announce the development partner and proceed with lodging a Development Application next year. Instead, 8 hours prior to the council meeting the State Government told Council that it will withdraw its funding and support for the Lindfield Village Hub 135 space commuter carpark (even though the $9.8m was already in our bank). This surprising turn of events changes the financial certainty of the project and as a result, the councillors voted to defer the decision while discussions take place on next steps.

Earlier this month the State Government also requested that all councils urgently look at increasing the housing capacity supported by their Local Environment Plan and Planning Controls. The frustrating thing with this is that I am a firm believer that increased density needs to be supported by appropriate infrastructure. We already have infrastructure bottlenecks in each suburb; now the State Government is killing infrastructure projects while still requiring additional housing (and it is not helped that rates increases are limited at below the rate of inflation). The local government sector has not been setup for success, and more information is available on Council’s website.

🛝Last night we also voted to select appropriate firms to upgrade stage 1 of Hassall Park in St Ives and Eldinhope Green in Wahroonga. We also voted to make a space next to Council chambers (9 Dumaresq Street) in Gordon available for passive recreation after the building that was on the site was demolished earlier in the year.

🎭We voted to establish an Arts and Culture Committee as well as a Status of Women’s Advisory Committee.

🌲We voted to increase the headcount of staff dedicated to tree issues and also to re-establish a former practice of displaying a 🕎 Chanukah-related Menorah in Gordon, next to our 🎄Christmas tree.

✉️ Councillors also voted for the Mayor to write a letter of thanks to the former General Manager and publish the letter on Council’s website.
𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 😢It was a sad night. Last night was meant to be the time when we voted to proceed with the Lindfield Village Hub. We were ready to announce the development partner and proceed with lodging a Development Application next year. Instead, 8 hours prior to the council meeting the State Government told Council that it will withdraw its funding and support for the Lindfield Village Hub 135 space commuter carpark (even though the $9.8m was already in our bank). This surprising turn of events changes the financial certainty of the project and as a result, the councillors voted to defer the decision while discussions take place on next steps. Earlier this month the State Government also requested that all councils urgently look at increasing the housing capacity supported by their Local Environment Plan and Planning Controls. The frustrating thing with this is that I am a firm believer that increased density needs to be supported by appropriate infrastructure. We already have infrastructure bottlenecks in each suburb; now the State Government is killing infrastructure projects while still requiring additional housing (and it is not helped that rates increases are limited at below the rate of inflation). The local government sector has not been setup for success, and more information is available on Council’s website. 🛝Last night we also voted to select appropriate firms to upgrade stage 1 of Hassall Park in St Ives and Eldinhope Green in Wahroonga. We also voted to make a space next to Council chambers (9 Dumaresq Street) in Gordon available for passive recreation after the building that was on the site was demolished earlier in the year. 🎭We voted to establish an Arts and Culture Committee as well as a Status of Women’s Advisory Committee. 🌲We voted to increase the headcount of staff dedicated to tree issues and also to re-establish a former practice of displaying a 🕎 Chanukah-related Menorah in Gordon, next to our 🎄Christmas tree. ✉️ Councillors also voted for the Mayor to write a letter of thanks to the former General Manager and publish the letter on Council’s website.

National Recycling Week

It’s National Recycling Week and I’ve seen some pretty weird social media posts from politicians. I think it’s better to provide balance so here it is.

According to Office of Local Government data, the NSW Local Government Sector collected 4.0 Megatonnes of waste in the twelve months to 30 June 2022. Of this waste, 20% was dry recycling (paper, hard plastics, glass, tin), 21% was organics, and the remaining 58% went to landfill. Our “Diversion from Landfill” percentage was 41.8% while the NSW target is 80% by 2030.

So is the 80% achievable? At this stage my guess is no, but it is theoretically possible if everything perfectly fell into place.

The NSW Government has mandated that all councils implement FOGO (Food Organics and Garden Organics) collections by 2030, and in the unlikely event that the NSW organics industry is able to solve supply chain issues then we can see another 26% uplift to 68% diverted from landfill.

There is still a lot of paper, hard plastics, glass and metals that goes to landfill and if we are disciplined enough to recycle all of those then we can get up 91%. In reality though, some of that material may be contaminated so the realistic theoretical figure is somewhere in the 80’s.

On the Soft Plastics front we do have the supermarkets working together (with ACCC authorisation) to come up with a new solution by 2024 while the Australian Food and Grocery Council is undertaking trials in Victoria. At Ku-ring-gai we are trialling a service (RecycleSmart/APR) that has links to a local recycled with limited capacity, and other Councils up the coast are undertaking trials with Curby it. The entire industry is having a go and eventually we will reach commercial scale. However soft plastics is only a few % at most and I find that well meaning residents focus their efforts on this few percent rather than the 20%+ opportunities that exist for organics and other dry recyclables. Council only has limited funds so the effort needs to go to education and the initiatives with highest return rather than those that make residents feel happiest.

Earlier today, we also had representatives from Northern Sydney as well as Veolia meet with the State Government to discuss the future of the Woodlawn Bioreactor, which is where we currently dispose of our landfill. At the bioreactor, our landfill (including food organics) is stored and methane emissions captured to generate electricity. It was over a $100m investment and quite beneficial from an emissions perspective, but the FOGO by 2030 mandate means that the industry’s investment has an uncertain future as well as substantially higher future costs for ratepayers. Discussions are underway and I hope that there will be a sensible outcome.

Many of us know the phrase Reduce, Reuse and Recycle but when I look at the 2019 Federal and 2021 State Waste Action Plans, there is a lot of Reduction and Recycling but not so much on Reuse. I believe there are further opportunities for local government to promote the reuse of materials before they enter landfill, and I’ll be exploring some of these in the coming year.

It’s National Recycling Week and I’ve seen some pretty weird social media posts from politicians. I think it’s better to provide balance so here it is.

According to Office of Local Government data, the NSW Local Government Sector collected 4.0 Megatonnes of waste in the twelve months to 30 June 2022. Of this waste, 20% was dry recycling (paper, hard plastics, glass, tin), 21% was organics, and the remaining 58% went to landfill. Our “Diversion from Landfill” percentage was 41.8% while the NSW target is 80% by 2030.

So is the 80% achievable? At this stage my guess is no, but it is theoretically possible if everything perfectly fell into place.

The NSW Government has mandated that all councils implement FOGO (Food Organics and Garden Organics) collections by 2030, and in the unlikely event that the NSW organics industry is able to solve supply chain issues then we can see another 26% uplift to 68% diverted from landfill.

There is still a lot of paper, hard plastics, glass and metals that goes to landfill and if we are disciplined enough to recycle all of those then we can get up 91%. In reality though, some of that material may be contaminated so the realistic theoretical figure is somewhere in the 80’s.

On the Soft Plastics front we do have the supermarkets working together (with ACCC authorisation) to come up with a new solution by 2024 while the Australian Food and Grocery Council is undertaking trials in Victoria. At Ku-ring-gai we are trialling a service (RecycleSmart/APR) that has links to a local recycled with limited capacity, and other Councils up the coast are undertaking trials with Curby it. The entire industry is having a go and eventually we will reach commercial scale. However soft plastics is only a few % at most and I find that well meaning residents focus their efforts on this few percent rather than the 20%+ opportunities that exist for organics and other dry recyclables. Council only has limited funds so the effort needs to go to education and the initiatives with highest return rather than those that make residents feel happiest.

Earlier today, we also had representatives from Northern Sydney as well as Veolia meet with the State Government to discuss the future of the Woodlawn Bioreactor, which is where we currently dispose of our landfill. At the bioreactor, our landfill (including food organics) is stored and methane emissions captured to generate electricity. It was over a $100m investment and quite beneficial from an emissions perspective, but the FOGO by 2030 mandate means that the industry’s investment has an uncertain future as well as substantially higher future costs for ratepayers. Discussions are underway and I hope that there will be a sensible outcome.

Many of us know the phrase Reduce, Reuse and Recycle but when I look at the 2019 Federal and 2021 State Waste Action Plans, there is a lot of Reduction and Recycling but not so much on Reuse. I believe there are further opportunities for local government to promote the reuse of materials before they enter landfill, and I’ll be exploring some of these in the coming year.
It’s National Recycling Week and I’ve seen some pretty weird social media posts from politicians. I think it’s better to provide balance so here it is. According to Office of Local Government data, the NSW Local Government Sector collected 4.0 Megatonnes of waste in the twelve months to 30 June 2022. Of this waste, 20% was dry recycling (paper, hard plastics, glass, tin), 21% was organics, and the remaining 58% went to landfill. Our “Diversion from Landfill” percentage was 41.8% while the NSW target is 80% by 2030. So is the 80% achievable? At this stage my guess is no, but it is theoretically possible if everything perfectly fell into place. The NSW Government has mandated that all councils implement FOGO (Food Organics and Garden Organics) collections by 2030, and in the unlikely event that the NSW organics industry is able to solve supply chain issues then we can see another 26% uplift to 68% diverted from landfill. There is still a lot of paper, hard plastics, glass and metals that goes to landfill and if we are disciplined enough to recycle all of those then we can get up 91%. In reality though, some of that material may be contaminated so the realistic theoretical figure is somewhere in the 80’s. On the Soft Plastics front we do have the supermarkets working together (with ACCC authorisation) to come up with a new solution by 2024 while the Australian Food and Grocery Council is undertaking trials in Victoria. At Ku-ring-gai we are trialling a service (RecycleSmart/APR) that has links to a local recycled with limited capacity, and other Councils up the coast are undertaking trials with Curby it. The entire industry is having a go and eventually we will reach commercial scale. However soft plastics is only a few % at most and I find that well meaning residents focus their efforts on this few percent rather than the 20%+ opportunities that exist for organics and other dry recyclables. Council only has limited funds so the effort needs to go to education and the initiatives with highest return rather than those that make residents feel happiest. Earlier today, we also had representatives from Northern Sydney as well as Veolia meet with the State Government to discuss the future of the Woodlawn Bioreactor, which is where we currently dispose of our landfill. At the bioreactor, our landfill (including food organics) is stored and methane emissions captured to generate electricity. It was over a $100m investment and quite beneficial from an emissions perspective, but the FOGO by 2030 mandate means that the industry’s investment has an uncertain future as well as substantially higher future costs for ratepayers. Discussions are underway and I hope that there will be a sensible outcome. Many of us know the phrase Reduce, Reuse and Recycle but when I look at the 2019 Federal and 2021 State Waste Action Plans, there is a lot of Reduction and Recycling but not so much on Reuse. I believe there are further opportunities for local government to promote the reuse of materials before they enter landfill, and I’ll be exploring some of these in the coming year.

Congratulations Cr Christine Kay

Congratulations to our Deputy Mayor of Ku-ring-gai, Cr Christine Kay for getting elected to the Board of Local Government NSW for a period of two years.

Christine has shown an eagerness to engage with Mayors, Councillors, and General Managers across the state to understand the challenges that the sector faces and bring lessons back to Ku-ring-gai. She has already performed a similar role at ALGWA NSW to promote diverse participation in Local Government and I am sure she will do a great job of advocating for our interests at our state industry body.

Congratulations to our @[100049240526757:2048:Deputy Mayor of Ku-ring-gai, Cr Christine Kay] for getting elected to the Board of @[100064656852887:2048:Local Government NSW] for a period of two years.

Christine has shown an eagerness to engage with Mayors, Councillors, and General Managers across the state to understand the challenges that the sector faces and bring lessons back to Ku-ring-gai. She has already performed a similar role at @[100063696336134:2048:ALGWA NSW] to promote diverse participation in Local Government and I am sure she will do a great job of advocating for our interests at our state industry body.
Congratulations to our @[100049240526757:2048:Deputy Mayor of Ku-ring-gai, Cr Christine Kay] for getting elected to the Board of @[100064656852887:2048:Local Government NSW] for a period of two years. Christine has shown an eagerness to engage with Mayors, Councillors, and General Managers across the state to understand the challenges that the sector faces and bring lessons back to Ku-ring-gai. She has already performed a similar role at @[100063696336134:2048:ALGWA NSW] to promote diverse participation in Local Government and I am sure she will do a great job of advocating for our interests at our state industry body.

Killara Station Lifts

As a former Killara resident, I was excited to be invited by Matt Cross – Member for Davidson to the official opening of the Killara Station lifts last week, along with our two Gordon Ward councillors Barbara Ward and Cr Simon Lennon.

With a brief 7 minute walk, Killara Station used to be our family’s go to for trips to the city or airport but if we needed to move prams or luggage then we would aim for Lindfield. Lifts at Roseville and Killara were a popular requests from residents young and old, and I made representations to our then-State MP Jonathan O’Dea. It was encouraging to see the initiative commence during the same term of government, and it was great to see our residents using these new facilities last week.

The ribbon was cut by Joy, a Killara resident and student of the local school.

As a former Killara resident, I was excited to be invited by @[100087669656114:2048:Matt Cross - Member for Davidson] to the official opening of the Killara Station lifts last week, along with our two Gordon Ward councillors Barbara Ward and Cr Simon Lennon.

With a brief 7 minute walk, Killara Station used to be our family’s go to for trips to the city or airport but if we needed to move prams or luggage then we would aim for Lindfield. Lifts at Roseville and Killara were a popular requests from residents young and old, and I made representations to our then-State MP Jonathan O’Dea. It was encouraging to see the initiative commence during the same term of government, and it was great to see our residents using these new facilities last week.

The ribbon was cut by Joy, a Killara resident and student of the local school.
As a former Killara resident, I was excited to be invited by @[100087669656114:2048:Matt Cross – Member for Davidson] to the official opening of the Killara Station lifts last week, along with our two Gordon Ward councillors Barbara Ward and Cr Simon Lennon. With a brief 7 minute walk, Killara Station used to be our family’s go to for trips to the city or airport but if we needed to move prams or luggage then we would aim for Lindfield. Lifts at Roseville and Killara were a popular requests from residents young and old, and I made representations to our then-State MP Jonathan O’Dea. It was encouraging to see the initiative commence during the same term of government, and it was great to see our residents using these new facilities last week. The ribbon was cut by Joy, a Killara resident and student of the local school.