10 weeks ago our first dose vaccination rate was less than 50% and I was one of the first under 40’s to opt for AstraZeneca.
Today and we are over 90% first dose, nearly 70% second. Looking forward to greater freedoms. 
During this lockdown residents have discovered some of our hidden gems such as Echo Point Park, Roseville Beach and Swain Gardens.
With increased use also comes increased demand for bins. I’ve asked council staff whether we can increase the collection frequency and/or increase the number of bins available for use. So far they have agreed to increasing the frequency to Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
We enjoyed the sights and sounds of this bushwalk over the weekend. Stretching through the suburbs of Roseville Chase, East Lindfield and Lindfield, this is a great way to get exercise and experience nature within our LGA. It’s also amazing to see how many people were on the track; we came across a few dozen whereas pre-pandemic it would have been less than a dozen.
At council it’s important that we make decisions that align with the needs of all of our residents.
This morning I had the pleasure of joining councillors and staff across NSW to discuss how we can improve our community & stakeholder engagement. Our group shared insights which I hope to apply to future initiatives.
At Ku-ring-gai we officially have hundreds of developments each year. Most of these developments, whether they be a driveway or fencing upgrade, a building extension, or a knockdown and rebuild, are supported by the following processes.
Council’s DA Tracking website allows residents to search for records in relation to the above. However one common problem for residents has been the topic of unauthorised works and the absence of documentation that supports it.
Once allegations of unauthorised works are raised, council officers will investigate and if appropriate, serve the landowner with a notice of intention to stop, demolish or remove the works. At this point the landowner sometimes has the option of fixing up the structure to conform with the rules and receive retrospective approval in the form of a Building Information Certificate.
These Building Information Certificates for unauthorised works did not use to be available on Council’s DA Tracking Database but after several negative experiences by our residents, I politely asked council staff whether we could do anything to improve transparency on the matter. And as of last month, residents can now look up the DA Tracking Database to confirm the existence of recently issued Building Information Certificates.
Ku-ring-gai Council – eProperty – Production – DA Tracking Application Search (nsw.gov.au)
Please note however that while the database includes all of the supporting documents for Development Applications, the other processes (certified applications, building information certificates) are not readily available from the database. It was technically too difficult to achieve. If residents want to access the supporting documents for these then they will need to lodge a GIPA (Government Information Public Access) application. More information about GIPA applications is available here.
https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Council/Access-to-information/How-to-apply-for-access-to-information
Starting tomorrow, green bins will be collected weekly (previously fortnightly).
Red bins will remain weekly and the recycling bins will remain fortnightly.
St Ives Cultural annd Environmental Education Centre – Council committed to spending $4.3m to design and construct the education centre. I know some residents have criticized this decision as they’d rather see $4.3m spent to support local businesses, however it’s important to point out that this money comes from restricted funds ($1.2m environmental levy, $3.0m development contributions) and legally there is no option for council to collect money for one purpose then spend it for an entirely different purpose.
St Ives Showground and Precinct – Council recognised the importance of potentially heritage listing some of the built structures in the precinct. Before the heritage listing of any specific structure, it will be assessed against the usual eight criteria for heritage assessments.
Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra – Council voted unanimously to sponsor the KPO an amount of $28,000 for community activity throughout 2021/22.
Where do your rates go? – Council voted to investigate the possibility of adding an attachment to the annual rates notice to indicate how much money will be spent on each initiative. This isn’t exactly a groundbreaking idea, it’s been done by other councils before where the feedback has been that some residents have found it helpful. Personally, when talking to residents about the way our council spends money I usually just guide them through our annual report which contains much more detail. In the image below I’ve provided a page from our annual report showing you where $100 was spent in 2019/20.
Yesterday the State Government provided new guidance urging councils to keep playgrounds open where possible, and today our council staff made the decision that all playgrounds will reopen from this Saturday.
Please note that under public health orders, no more than 2 people should gather (excluding members of the same household) and that we should continue to observe social distancing, good health and hygiene practices.
Personally I’m still reluctant to send my children to playgrounds if I can at all keep them entertained in the home, in the yard, or at other local walks and ovals. Delta is easily transmittable. However the number of cases in Ku-ring-gai is relatively low and like many other things in life, it is up to each family to make their own risk-based decisions on the risks vs. mental and physical health benefits.
For more information refer to the following links.
https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Council/News-and-media/Latest-news/Important-information-about-COVID-19
This week we received over 80 submissions to the public exhibition and while I can say that I agreed with what residents have been saying about the priorities and potential delivery path of the Lindfield Village Hub project as a whole, I’d also say that none of the submissions talked about the Planning Proposal itself (which is about land rezoning) and the submissions may therefore end up not addressing any of the land zoning issues that are opened up by the planning proposal. To explain, think of the Lindfield Village Hub project as two workstreams.
Workstream one covers the financial and project delivery elements including questions such as:
The issues with workstream one are being addressed behind the scenes as part of a separate process.
Workstream two is unrelated to, but separate from, the first work stream. It covers the land use and zoning of council-owned land with questions such as:
The Planning Proposal is in relation to workstream two and I’ve covered it in more detail in the previous post.
The 80+ emails cover workstream one and not the Planning Proposal so how could they make things worse? Council staff could say “we received over 80 responses to the planning proposal and not one objected to the reduction in park size”.
If you want to make a submission please make sure that it’s about the Planning Proposal, not unrelated matters.
Several residents have asked about the Lindfield Village Hub Planning Proposal which is currently on public exhibition until 27 August 2021. At 1,288 pages, residents have said that the material was difficult to understand and did not know whether the Planning Proposal should be a cause for concern.
The short answer to this is that the land for the future Lindfield Village Hub is currently zoned for seven storeys but in order to improve the economic viability (and success) of the project, council is proposing to rezone the land to support nine storeys. The increase of two storeys requires a Planning Proposal.
I am personally comfortable with single-digit storey heights as it means the proposed buildings will be no taller than the buildings on the other side of the Pacific Highway. However what I am uncomfortable with as a councillor is that the Planning Proposal creates the possibility of a northern tower that encroaches land which was previously intended as green space under the 2015 Master Plan. The 2015 Master Plan provided for 3,000 sqm of ‘green open space’ however in more recent years the language has shifted to ‘plaza, park and open space’ to draw attention away from the anticipated reduction of green space.
In the future, Council will choose a delivery partner to design and construct the Lindfield Village Hub. It is my hope that we can choose a delivery partner who has the means to make the project happen with 3,000 sqm of green space to meet the recreational needs of our local residents.
In other news, the State Government announced last month that it had finalised negotiations with Council to deliver 135 commuter parking spaces for the Lindfield Village Hub. This announcement provides more certainty for Council as it seeks to progress with delivering the community facilities.
I have more to say about the Hub but will leave it for another post. In the meanwhile, if you want to check out the Planning Proposal you can do so via the following link.
It’s good to support local. On this occasion we ordered online at Money King Thai (Lindfield) and picked up 30 mins later. Very quiet, very safe, and consistently delicious food.
Last month Ku-ring-gai Council was one of only two councils in the Sydney metro area to close its playgrounds despite the absence of a public health order to do so. The decision by staff to do this was a conservative one made genuinely in the interest of our residents’ physical health, and in the context of ambiguous stay at home orders.
After some feedback from local residents, councillors and MPs, council staff have reassessed the situation and have decided that from this Friday (6 August), nine of Council’s playgrounds will be reopened to the public as part of a two week trial. These playgrounds will be cleaned and entry will require a QR code scan. Towards the end of the trial and depending on the situation with Delta at the time, council staff will then consider what to do next (e.g. open more playgrounds, leave as is, close the playgrounds again).
The nine playgrounds are:
This news will be of great relief to some parents, especially those whose kids are stuck in apartments and going nuts. Having said all that, I’d like to remind everyone that we still have orders to remain 1.5m apart while exercising (if not in the same household). The Delta strain has also proven to be quite infectious and has a greater impact on young people than its predecessors so even as a parent, I’d be cautious about sending my children to these playgrounds. Keep an eye on the latest COVID sites, remember that there’s usually a week-or-so delay before the sites pop up on the case locations list, and make a risk-based decision as to whether or not you want your children to be out at these playgrounds (as opposed to running around an oval or walking around the neighbourhood).
Everyone, take care.
Samuel King Oval – Council to explore re-allocating $500,00 of Sport Australia grant funding towards toilet, kitchen, changing room and store room upgrades at Samuel King Oval, North Turramurra.
Women’s Advisory Committee – The concept is to give women the opportunity to participate in planning and improving council services, facilities, programs and projects.
Sale of Bates Park – Mixed news. The sale has been postponed by a few months while a consultant ($15-20k) further looks into the matter. I disagreed with this approach and instead proposed to just cancel the sale on the spot. That consultant money could have gone towards providing other public benefits, and during my time on council I’ve seen occasions where consultants are used to support / validate an outcome that did not reflect the reality of what local residents (including myself) have observed or experienced.
Roseville Chase and Gordon Bowling Clubs – Based on my discussions with local residents, the majority thought that starting the process to rezone and sell 21,000 sqm of public recreational land two months before an election was not a good idea. I proposed to defer the matter to the next council term and this was defeated. Instead, council will proceed with plans to rezone with a final decision to sell the land at market value likely to occur next council term. We still have some time to ponder the implications of selling public land (noting that any money gained from land sale will also theoretically be reinvested in other projects of community benefit).
Confidential Item: Lindfield Village Green – This was in relation to the Lindfield Village Green where the intention is to have an additional café or restaurant in the area.
Confidential Item: Lindfield Village Hub – There has been some meaningful work in this space, though due to the sensitivity of what was reported, I can’t talk about it.
Due to the spread of the COVID-19 Delta strain, the council elections have been deferred to Saturday 4 December. For more information see the links below.
https://gazette.legislation.nsw.gov.au/so/download.w3p?id=Gazette_2021_2021-347.pdf
You can report issues through to council directly (kmc@kmc.nsw.gov.au / 9424 000) or reach out to one of your councillors.
When residents contact me, my usual approach is to go out to meet the resident, see the issue for myself, and discuss the likely options and outcomes. However during a lockdown it’s been more difficult and we limit the interactions to online.
In the picture provided, one of our residents reported last week that there was a slippery wooden bridge at Queen Elizabeth Reserve, West Lindfield, and that she had seen a few kids nearly slipping off their bikes and scooters.
I passed the details onto council staff and during the same week they went to the site, pressure washed the bridge, and sanded it to provide more grip.
Our resident then reported that it was much better and I passed the positive feedback back to our council staff.
Enjoying a lollipop after my first jab. Like many other under 40’s, I’ve had to consider whether to follow ATAGI advice and wait for Pfizer or to just get AstraZeneca now. I’ve had conversations about the risks vs benefits and decided that in my particular case, it’s best to get vaccinated given that we are about to enter an election campaign. I’d imagine that other front line workers such as teachers and taxi drivers may be considering the same.
The Roseville Vaccination Centre has plenty of next day timeslots for those who want to get vaccinated with AZ, and the process was relatively quick (14 minutes). I’d encourage everyone to consider when they should get vaccinated (and get AZ if you are over 60) because the sooner that we are all vaccinated, the sooner Australia can return to normal.
If I experience any side effects such as aches, pains, or increased internet speeds I will let you know in the coming days.
I support Ku-ring-gai’s aim for Net Zero by 2040 and 100% renewable by 2030 (aiming for 2025) but why not aim for sooner? For electricity, it helps to look at real data to understand the challenges we need to overcome to get there.
This chart depicts yesterday’s power generation and demand for the National Electricity Market (NEM) which comprises all of Australia’s States and Territories except for WA and NT.
Australia is now at a point where ☀️ renewable energy is often cheaper to produce than fossil fuels, and and there’s going to be much more market-driven investment in renewables in the coming years. Yesterday we were at 40% renewable energy at noon when the sun was brightest.
However the sun doesn’t shine at night and the wind is not always available so we can’t rely on renewable tech along to get us to Net Zero. At midnight, renewables only contributed to 17% of our needs.
So how do we access electricity at the times when we can’t reliably generate enough from renewables? In the short and medium term this comes from fossil fuels, which provided nearly three quarters of our energy needs yesterday. And in the long term we hope to plug that gap through 🔋 energy storage; we hope to generate excess energy during the day then store up enough to last through the night. That’s a lot of energy storage!
Energy storage will come through a range of technology options which we have yet to fully master including lithium, green hydrogen and pumped hydro. There are various Australian firms innovating in this space and I’m sure Australia will get to Net Zero, though not within this decade.
Having said that, Ku-ring-gai Council will get to Net Zero earlier than the rest of Australia because we are already working on specific initiatives such as improving the efficiency of our assets, street lighting and fleet while also collectively sourcing renewable energy at reduced rates with other Sydney metro councils.
There’s a lot more that can be discussed on this matter so if you’re keen I’m happy to catch up sometime.
This month we are seeking to reverse a decision made by the previous term councillors to sell Bates Park (97 Babbage Road, Roseville Chase). Bates Park is a small parcel of land rich in native flora and abundant with native wildlife including Echidnae, Wallabies, endangered Bandicoots, the Powerful Owl, and a range of other native birds. Based on observations of what has happened in similar situations in the past, our concerns are that once sold there will be no effective way to protect our wildlife and that the ecological damage does not justify the tiny (and once off) financial gain.
If you agree (or disagree) with stopping the land sale there are two ways in which you can contribute.
First, in the absence of a public forum due to COVID, you can officially make an online submission either as written text or a video, to be presented to the councillors. Submissions are due Monday 12 July 2021, 5pm and further information is in the link below.
https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Council/Council-meetings/Council-Meetings-and-Public-Forums
Secondly, there is also a petition organised by residents associated with saving the park. For more information see the following link.
https://www.facebook.com/kuringgaiparks/posts/789118758417090
I’d like to thank Councillor Jeff Pettett and our Deputy Mayor Cedric Spencer for their support in stopping the land sale. Without their care and support we might not have had this opportunity to even propose a reversal of our predecessors’ decision to sell.
I’d also like to thank the local residents who organised the awareness campaign on this important matter. I’ve actually wanted to reverse this decision ever since finding out about it in 2018 but it was difficult to establish a base case for reversing the decision without know that there was local support.
Council has closed the library, pool, and a range of other indoor community facilities in line with public health orders. Our sports ovals and customer call center remain open.
However at this stage Ku-ring-gai is the only council in the Sydney Metro region to have actively closed off our playgrounds. Some of our residents have found this strange, especially given the general support for outdoor exercise in small groups and also the school holidays, so yesterday I asked council staff to provide clarification on this matter.
At this stage I can say that there are some differences in interpretation of the public health order and our staff have reached out to the State Government for further clarification. In the meanwhile, staff have taken a precautionary approach by closing the playgrounds given the higher transmission rates of the Delta variant.
Personally I’m not informed enough to make a call on whether this is ‘right’, however I haven’t personally been encouraging my children to touch anything whilst out on the daily walk.
For the latest status on service & playground closures, refer to the link below.
https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Council/News-and-media/Latest-news/Important-information-about-COVID-19
🚽 Have you ever tried to use a public toilet and thought ‘eww this place is gross’? Each year Council upgrades some of its public facilities. Pictured below is an upgrade that happened earlier during the pandemic, where the prison-style toilets at Queen Elizabeth II Reserve were upgraded to something cleaner, brighter, with a functional mirror and energy/water efficient fixtures. It makes for a pleasant and safer experience for our residents at West Lindfield.
To all those who are about to enter lockdown, I wish you well. Many school holiday plans cast aside and much restlessness at home.
If you have any symptoms, please get tested as we need the data to protect the public. I had to get a test earlier this afternoon at Killara, the queue went all the way back to Nelson Road but at least it was all done in the comfort of my car. All up it took about twenty minutes which was a real surprise.
I met up with residents a few months ago to discuss safety issues on Lady Game Drive.
To improve visibility of vehicles at the roundabout, the feral hedge was trimmed back.
To make the entry to the roundabout a bit safer for pedestrians, speed cushions were added to slow the traffic (a request for a zebra crossing was declined).
Council also has State Government in principal support to install a wombat crossing (raised zebra crossing) at the school crossing on Lady Game Drive. Next steps with this is to find a source of funding the project, but I hope to see it in the near future.
I believe it’s important for councillors to invest in professional development so that they can better serve the community. These last two years I’ve been completing an MBA at my own expense and was recently selected to go on MBA Exchange at Oxford. It’s a shame that international borders are closed because I miss out on the travel and networking experience, but I know that what I’ve learnt regarding land use, valuations, emerging trends, as well as the role of debt and risks with large scale developments will be of use when it comes to building our community hubs in Lindfield, Turramurra and Gordon.
Thanks to AGSM at UNSW Business School for giving me this opportunity.
Public Domain Plan (including Havilah Underpass) – Councillors asked for a site inspection to better understand the issues. Matter deferred to July or August.
Killara Bowling Club and Lawn Tennis Club – Council to work towards heritage listing the site.
Mona Vale Road – Council to ask the State Government what can be done to improve cyclist safety.
St Ives Showground – Council to ask the State Government to investigate measures to make the entry / exit on Mona Vale Road safer. Measures to be investigated may include traffic lights and a reduced speed limit.
Local Character Background Study – Document amended to reflect community feedback and adopted. Indicative timeline of next steps to be provided to councillors.
Roseville RSL – Majority of councillors voted to adopt site specific development controls for the site to allow for seven storey apartments.
Confidential Item: Land Acquisition for Open Space and Public Roads and Divestment of Surplus Council Land – Majority of councillors voted to support the staff recommendation. I voted against this because I don’t like voting in relation to the sale of assets when members of the public don’t know which public assets we are talking about.
Many residents have contacted councillors in the past week with objections to council staff’s proposed plans to remove the westbound lane of the Havilah Underpass and replace it with a cycleway.
I will answer the most frequently asked questions below.
If the westbound lane is removed, how will we get to Coles, to Holy Family, to Highfields, to West Lindfield and beyond?
In addition to the removal of the westbound lane in Havilah, traffic lights will be installed at the intersection of Strickland Avenue and Pacific Highway. The staff (most who don’t live locally) believe that this will be sufficient to offset the loss of westbound Havilah, however as a local resident who knows just how bad both Havilah and Strickland can get even in the current state, my gut feel is that the proposed changes won’t be enough to allow effective flow and will have unintended consequences (especially at the intersection of Strickland and Lindfield Ave). This is also the view of many other residents that I talk to.
In the future residents on the East side wanting to head North on Pacific Highway via traffic light, there will only be four options. Roseville’s Clanville, Lindfield’s Strickland, Killara’s Lorne, and Gordon’s St Johns.
Has there been any statistics or modelling of traffic at these intersecitons?
There was a 2014 report on traffic in the Lindfield Town Centre. If you look at pages 34, 36 and 38 of the report, it indicates that Pacific x Balfour was one of the worst intersections and required attention. I think it’s important to note here that the study is nearly 7 years old and that traffic conditions are arguably worse today.
Agenda of Ordinary Meeting of Council – 10 November 2015 (nsw.gov.au)
Is Balfour x Pacific dangerous? What’s the crash history?
In the five years from 2010-2015 there were 23 recorded crashes, 5 of which involved vehicles turning right from Balfour and conflicting with pedestrians.
In the five years from 2015 to 2020 there were 5 recorded crashes, 1 of which involved vehicles turning right from Balfour and conflicting with pedestrians.
Sometime between 2013 and 2016, Transport for NSW installed a no right turn light at this intersection and this appears to have reduced the number of pedestrian collisions.
Why is the performance of this intersection so bad?
Local residents know that it’s because there are cautious drivers who want to turn right but don’t want to creep into the middle of the intersection to allow the vehicles behind them to go straight or turn left. This causes unnecessary holdups and worsens the performance of the intersection.
What are Transport for NSW’s priorities?
Transport for NSW prioritises the overall network performance of state roads and generally holds these with higher regard than traffic issues at local roads. I’ve previously presented sensible solutions / requests to them about other network performance or safety issues at intersections such as Archbold x Boundary, Pacific x Clanville, Lady Game x Delhi, Boundary in front of the Roseville Chase shops and on each occasion the focus of non-local staff is on state road performance without understanding whether reasonable adjustments can lead to overall better state and local road performance.
With regard to the Lindfield Town Centre, their priority is the performance of Pacific Highway so a simplified version of their logic is that if we add a traffic light at Strickland, something else has to go (i.e. Havilah). Hence Transport for NSW has been in discussions with Council Staff about the possibility of turning Havilah into one way.
Having said that, the Havilah one lane is only one of many options and I think it’s reasonable to say that there may be other solutions that improve State and Local network performance without severely compromising the Pacific Highway. One such suggestion by local residents as well as our State MP Jonathan O’Dea (in his submission to the public domain plan) was to leave Havilah Underpass as two lanes of traffic with a no right turn onto Pacific during peak. With the no right turn in place, the flow of traffic from the East will be much smoother and without significantly impacting the performance of the Pacific Highway (in fact it may improve Pacific Highway performance as we won’t have cars unnecessarily going south to Strickland and then driving back up North on the highway towards Coles / Holy Family / Highfields). I haven’t seen any evidence that this suggestion from residents and our State MP has been seriously considered or modelled vs. the one way design.
What about widening the underpass to three lanes?
The railway bridge and the underpass is a state government asset so it requires state government funding to widen. If you look at the structure it’s obviously quite an expensive project. I asked our State MP (again) about this last week and due to the cost-benefit of such a proposal along with the significant needs elsewhere in NSW, it’s not a current priority.
We are, however, getting pedestrian lifts at Roseville and Killara Station and so that’s something that we can appreciate.
What about a right turn green light similar to St Johns Ave x Pacific?
Right turn green lights only work if you have two lanes of traffic heading out. With the current arrangement we only have one lane of traffic out and we cannot create space for a second lane of traffic out without significantly reducing the pedestrian walkways, relocating traffic light and streetlighting poles, having to redo the support structures of the railway bridge, etc. It’s an expensive exercise for limited benefit (and the no right turn during peak sign would be much more cost effective).
Will Councillors move a Notice of Motion for a cost-benefit analysis of a pedestrian tunnel?
What I plan to do with this is to instead raise a Question with Notice and have the answers published in the July or August council papers. Council staff are required to answer Questions with Notice, whereas a similar Notice of Motion will be subject to councillor vote and will likely fail.
I will ask council staff for a high level cost-benefit analysis and let’s see what answer they come up with.
My gut feel is that it’s going to be very expensive and we won’t have any way of realistically funding it. Council (when going down its current resolved path) has found it challenging to deliver things like the Lindfield Village Hub and a Pedestrian Bridge, so if those are already a challenge to fund then a properly built 90m pedestrian tunnel even more so.
What’s this that I hear about Transport for NSW prioritising pedestrians and cycleways over vehicles?
Link to the document below. My gut feel is that the document is simplistic, a bit ambiguous, and can lead to interesting interpretations and outcomes.
I’m a cyclist and I think this plan is crazy.
I agree, I’m a cyclist as well and I think it’s perfectly fine to use the road on this occasion if it means we can retain two lanes.
Why are we in this situation where significant changes are made to town centre plans without extensive consultation with the public?
My personal view is that when significant changes like this are proposed ($24m plan to revamp Turramurra, Gordon and Lindfield), residents should be notified by mail and invited to provide feedback.
When I ask council staff about sending out notifications by mail, the general message is that notifying residents by mail is expensive and not required. Instead the preference is to rely on council’s email newsletter and advertisements in the North Shore Times.
I don’t agree with this approach, and I also think it’s inconsistent with the Ku-ring-gai Community Consultation Plan adopted by Council in November 2020. The community consultation plan will need to be reviewed to remove any ambiguities. Refer to the attached pictures for more information.
At this Tuesday’s council meeting we will be voting on whether or not the Killara Bowling Club and Killara Lawn Tennis Club Sites should be established as a proposed heritage item (GB13). What does this mean? When a property is heritage listed, it’s usually a limited or unique asset which we aim to safeguard so that present and future generations can learn and benefit from it. The property is then recognised under law, a stricter standard and approvals process is applied for development on the site, and the government provides extra support for heritage owners to upkeep their site in the form of grants, reduced council rates and reduced taxes. And in this particular case, I personally believe the site should receive such protections.
How do we decide what to heritage list and what not to heritage list? Heritage experts usually assess a potential site based on eight criteria. These are:
Heritage listings occur quite regularly at Ku-ring-gai but what I’ve found these four years is that proponents of heritage listing are often advocating heritage listing for the wrong reasons. Their reasons are not the eight criteria mentioned above, rather, they are using heritage listing as a proxy for preventing further development and congestion. And in the case of the Killara Bowling and Lawn Tennis Club Sites I’ve certainly met some residents who are using heritage as a proxy for anti-development (there’s also some internal drama within and between the two sporting clubs).
My job as a councillor is to vote on heritage listing based on the eight criteria above and my feelings regarding development, traffic congestion, internal political dramas, etc. are not relevant. So in this particular case of Killara Bowls/Tennis, based on the information available to me, I do think that the site meets the threshold for Local heritage listing (but not State, National or World). How will the other councillors vote on Tuesday? We will find out soon.
Here’s a video of a wallaby and her joey at Bates Park, 97 Babbage Road Roseville Chase. It’s quite sweet and there are more videos like this on the Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/kuringgaiparks/posts/780552675940365
Four years ago and just three months before the council elections (i.e. before my time as councillor), council voted unanimously to divest (i.e. sell) Bates Park. You can look it up in the council minutes, 13 June 2017, GB4.
Why does council sell assets? Well the theory is that underutilized assets are sold so that we have the funds to create new assets in areas where there are much greater needs. Some examples from recent years include:
Of course it would be even better if we didn’t have to sell any assets at all because once an asset is sold, it is very difficult for that land to be bought back. But the reality of how councils are funded in NSW is that rates are pegged and set by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal, and the rates that councils collect often fall short of what is actually required to deliver services and assets to the standard that ratepayers expect. This puts councils in awkward positions where they then have to consider selling some assets to create other assets.
But while I understand the rationale behind asset sales and am sympathetic to the financial constraints that most councils face, the question remains. Should we be selling community assets and if so, which ones?
What about Bates Park (which the previous council has already authorized for sale but has not yet been sold)? Should Bates Park be sold? If it’s sold for half a million, is it a worthwhile transaction given the habitat loss for wildlife? What if it’s sold for 5 million? 50 million? Where do we draw the line between sell and no sell? And if it is ever sold, shouldn’t at least some of the money be reinvested in local infrastructure such as the footpath on Babbage Road that local residents have been asking for? [I’ll talk more about this in another post.]
I’m quite conscious that each of us live in homes which used to be bushland, so in some ways you could argue that it’s hypocritical for us to argue that we continue to receive benefit when others cannot. But you can flip it the other way and say that given the significant habitat loss already, should we not seek to protect what remains? Are there some parts of bushland that are more worthy of protecting than others? How many $$$ does an asset need to be worth before it is considered better to sell for development than to retain for wildlife? What if there are endangered species on the site?
Here at Ku-ring-gai, we often talk about heritage value and we go to great lengths to protect heritage. But I find that our views on heritage are quite limited to buildings. The moment there’s an old building of some arbitrary value, we’re quick to wave the heritage flag. But what about flora and fauna? Don’t they have some sort of ecological heritage value?
At this stage I’m not (officially) saying that there’s a specific right or wrong. I’m not picking sides but I want to draw out the issue and hear what you as residents have to say on the matter. Ultimately my job as a councillor is to represent you, and I cannot do my job without hearing what you have to say on matters such as these.
Let me know what you think. My job is to represent you.
Thank you everyone for your submissions to the Ku-ring-gai Public Domain Plan. We received over 50 submissions in relation to Lindfield’s extensive pedestrian, cycleway, parking, outdoor dining and traffic flow changes, and council staff have amended the proposed plans in response to this.
Positive amendments include the removal of the proposed dedicated cycleway immediately in front of the shops on Lindfield Avenue. This allows for more ground-level parking which residents, especially the elderly, have told me is something that they value. I don’t think cyclists are disadvantaged by this change as the plans retain the dedicated cycleway on Lindfield Avenue North and South of the shops, and the lane immediately in front of the shops has and will always be a safe, low-speed area which cars and bicycles can easily share.
Another positive change is the retention of what is currently a temporary roundabout at the intersection of Lindfield and Woodside Avenue.
The most controversial remaining issue is the Havilah Road Tunnel, which faces a reduction from two lanes of traffic to only one lane. The outbound lane onto Pacific Highway is proposed to be given up, making room for pedestrians and cyclists. Under this proposal, people wanting to exit onto Pacific Highway will have to use other options such as Strickland (with traffic lights installed), Treatts, or Lorne.
If you would like to see further amendments to these plans, there is one more opportunity to do so. Prior to the council meeting on 15 June, there is also a “public forum” on 08 June where members of the public can each speak for 3 minutes on anything they want (including these proposals for changes to traffic flows). More information on how you can register to speak at the public forum (by Monday 07 June 5pm) can be found in the following link.
https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Council/Council-meetings/Council-Meetings-and-Public-Forums
For further details of the Ku-ring-gai Public Domain Plan, refer to GB20 (page 376) of the upcoming council meeting agenda.
https://eservices.kmc.nsw.gov.au/Infocouncil.Web/Open/2021/06/OMC_15062021_AGN_AT.PDF
The original draft plans for Lindfield can be found here.
It must also be noted that these are high-level concept plans for desired long term outcomes and some proposed concept designs have remained the same in the final plan. In most instances additional funding or further studies, collaboration with Transport for NSW, changes to the LEP and DCP or targeted community consultation, or all of these, will be required to realise these designs. Though the design intent has been demonstrated, the final design may be delivered differently.
Come visit the Lindfield shops and check out what our kids have drawn for Mother’s Day. The competition is organised each year by the Lindfield Chamber of Commerce.
We had a rare night out without the kids at Mangiasti? in Roseville Chase. We sat at the bard and watched out food get cooked. The food and atmosphere was great. We used a Dine and Discover voucher as well. Definitely worth checking out.
In the picture below you can see three trucks bolting down southbound on Pacific Highway, turning right onto Ryde Road. It appeared that most councillors including myself agreed that this sort of thing had an undesirable impact to residents from a safety and acoustics perspective, though we did not share the same view on what would be the most appropriate way forward.
The majority of councillors voted to ask the state government to ban vehicles over 12.5m from using the Pacific Highway (except for those which have an immediate requirement to use the Pacific Highway).
Other councillors voted against this for a variety of reasons. Some of us voted against because while we agreed that action had to be taken, we disagreed with the tone of the preamble, the accuracy of the media statement surrounding the matter, as well as the tone of the speeches given by ‘the other side’ on the night. Personally speaking, these came across as being unnecessarily hostile and I would have personally preferred to approach such situations diplomatically, seeking to get a more thoroughly considered outcome by working co-operatively and constructively with the State Government. We proposed that we ask the State Government for their traffic data, gather some independent data ourselves to verify, and work collaboratively to promptly reach a range of solutions by June in a civil manner. (This is also close to what we normally would have done through the Ku-ring-gai Traffic Committee.) But our alternate motion did not receive the 50%+1 support required.
Other exciting things from last night were the approval of some Men’s Health Week activities, the trial of a Youth Leadership Program, and a request to get a report to investigate the feasibility of an expanded St Ives Nursery and Garden.
Overall it was quite a long meeting (nearly four hours) with moments of intense debate. There were also numerous accusations and conjectures flying in all sorts of directions on the night so my suggestion is that if you hear something wild and fanciful, it’s best to watch the video of the council meeting to verify for yourself whether the wild claims are true or whether the people laying the accusations have misunderstood the situation. Having said all that, this is democracy in action.
Also, it’s good to be back to meeting in person. Online meetings have been great but after a while I start to miss the face to face element.
It’s been a long day. 
5am Dawn Service and 
1am Truck Watching.
Should vehicles over 12.5m be allowed on Pacific Highway? I’m still forming a vew but what’s clear to me right now is that the issue is far more complex than what people have made it out to be. If you have any thoughts (and in particular anything more sophisticated than the usual narrative) please let me know.
Today many of us gathered to remember over 100,000 Australians who died in armed conflict and the many others who returned, often with physical or mental scars that impacted their families. It is because of these sacrifices that we can live here today.
I caught up with the netball community this morning. An emerging theme in this year’s discussions has been the chllange of encouraging immigrant families to participate in local sports, and having been a migrant in the 80’s and 90’s I was happy to offer some insights. I look forward to contributing to this space in the coming years.
Good to take a break after a hectic week.
I joined over 1,200 runners this morning as we jogged through the hilly streets of Lindfield and Roseville. It was a great opportunity to catch up with people in the community and raise funds for KYDS Youth Development Service. Special thanks to those who donated to my run with just over $500 raised.
KYDS is a Northern Sydney charity that provides mental health and other preventative services to our young people, confidentially and free of charge. (I also happen to be on its board.)
The quarantine year of 2020 saw a huge increase in demand for their services, with over 5,400 counselling sessions delivered to our young people (up from 3,300 in the prior year). The wait list is also growing, meaning that young people may have to wait a few months before getting their first service.
The funding situation has become very challenging this upcoming year so if you would like to know how you can offer support (time or money) please reach out and we can discuss.
Last year council asked us what we wanted to see in this playground upgrade and we said a larger fenced area with support for older children, better equipment and inter-generational play.
Council staff have now come up with a concept plan and we have til 7 May to provide our feedback for fine-tuning the design.
To look at the design in more detail and provide your feedback, please visit.
https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Council/Your-say/Dukes-Green-playground-upgrade
If you’re looking for an outdoor activity with young children, check out the Bilby Trail in St Ives. We went to see it recently and learnt about our local plants and wildlife.
https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Things-to-do/Whats-on/Free-Easter-Bilby-trail
Each year over 2,000 cyclists and 400 volunteers participate in this fundraising event. Organised by our local Rotary groups, it raises over $200,000 for Lifeline and other local charities.
This year I’m volunteering at this lonely outpost in St Ives. It’s been fun watching cyclists come by (and planes fly overhead).
