Pittwater Offshore Newsletter (PON) December 2007

History Corner
According to the pioneering historian Maybanke Anderson, Phillip was fascinated by the potential of Pittwater and the Hawkesbury. Three explorations of the latter revealed that the banks of the big river and its tributaries featured “good light soil and beautiful trees like almond trees”. He believed that “the noble river” was very suitable for settlement and, during the following months 70 settlers were sent there. One of the first pair was James Ruse, later to achieve fame as the first man to successfully grow wheat in Australia.

For these early settlers, Pittwater became their port, since they could only reach Sydney by water. But this, of course, had limitations and a road was soon made to the banks of the river. The Green Hills was the apt name for the first settlement and it soon began to produce potatoes and other vegetables as well as wheat for the new colony. By 1803 it was found to be necessary to gazette stringent regulations concerning the carrying of produce in rowing or sailing boats which, at first, were the only conveyances operating.

One regulation warned the settler that “any person sending grain to Sydney in an open boat, or in a boat not trustworthy, would expect no protection from the magistrate.” Another said “If the master should take more grain than he can carry in safety, he shall forfeit five pounds to the Orphan Fund!”

These regulations, particularly designed for safety and to preserve the much needed produce from the danger of overloading, then led to the building of more stable and commodious sloops and, by the following year, 16 were employed. At least four of these were built locally, almost certainly in Pittwater where ship building was beginning to be established in several places, later including Scotland Island. Others were built at Coal Harbour, soon to be named Newcastle.

Boats continued to be the regular transport for the smaller settlers though overland transport was opening up. Near the end of 1804 prizes were offered for those who kept their boats in good order. Boats had to be registered so they could qualify for inspection and were required to be locked up at night. The regulations were put to the test in 1808, according to the Sydney Gazette, when five bushrangers, who had been captured at Parramatta and were travelling down the Parramatta River by boat, overpowered their soldier guardians, landed at Lane Cove and walked to Pittwater and found employment there.

Leicester Warburton
NEXT MONTH: Mullet Island and the Hawkesbury Bridge

Cartoon of the Month

Gwyn Perkins

Download a full version of this months calendar, ready for printing - click the calendar image to the right →

We are looking to rent or borrow a wheelchair or golf buggy, or similar, to transport our 90 year- old granny to and fro between Tennis Court Wharf and the Scotland Island Lodge during her stay with us from Christmas to the 17th January.

The last time I saw Rocky Horror Reg Livermore was in the lead and it was so long ago I can't remember who else was in the cast. It was an extravagant and lavish production which well deserved its excellent reviews. The recent production by the Scotland Island Players, tightly directed by Barbara Labram was right up there with it.

The story centres around Brad and Janet and the fantastic inhabitants of a Transylvanian castle. As their car breaks down and they go for help in a nearby castle, innocent Janet (Emmie Collins) and her recently engaged fiancé, naive Brad (Brian Frankel) go to the old castle for help. Here they encounter some weird and wonderful characters including Riff Raff (Larry Woods), Dr Frank-n-Furter (Karl Mallon), Magenta (Tracy Smith), Columbia (Justine Kirri), Dr Scott (Bob Bolton) and Rocky (Phil Meek). John Travers as the narrator, Ruth Tedder as the Usherette and Andy Moy, Denise Catt and Bec Erdman as Phantoms as well as Andrew Bain, Lizzie Brand and Leslie Woods as Time Warp Phantoms wrap up the cast.

The casting was brilliant and each performer seemed eminently suited to their roles. They all gave excellent, tight and very professional performances. They were all so good it is hard to pick out particular performers, but with my word limit, I can't discuss the entire cast in detail. Just to say that Phil Meek was an hilarious Rocky, Bob Bolton did a great German Dr Scott and certainly Karl stood out as an absolutely fantastic (and gorgeous) Frank-n-Furter.

The costumes were fabulous (thanks Lizzy), and the music, directed by David Richards supported by Maddy Banfield, Petra Godfrey, Gordon Floyd, Jon Hazelwood and Matt Lakeman was, as expected, extremely professional. As too was the make-up by Kerry Borthwick and the choreography (Denis Catt) . All those others that worked behind the scenes did a fantastic job'

And also a gold star has to go to the audience. On the night I went their costumes were great and they participated in great spirit as usual. And congratulations to all those guys who wore fishnet stockings!

As usual the standard of the Scotland Island Players goes from strength to strength.

Church Point Plan of Management

Pittwater Council will hold a public meeting to discuss the draft plan of management for Church Point Reserve. The meeting will take place on Tuesday 4 December at 7pm at the Mona Vale Memorial Hall in Park Street, Mona Vale.

The meeting is the third in a series of public meetings to discuss the future use of the Reserve, and follows refinement of a draft plan of management first developed in 2004.
The draft plan of management is designed to resolve longstanding concerns about the future use of the reserve, especially in relation to parking.

The Council’s landscape architect Mark Eriksson said the current plan incorporated the views of offshore residents and comments from the NSW Department of Lands.

“The key issue is what proportion of the reserve should be used for parking by offshore residents and what proportion should be maintained as open space,” he said.

Mr Eriksson said the meeting would include an overview of the current draft plan and outline the remaining steps for the plan to be presented to the Council and then placed on public exhibition.

He said that representatives from the Scotland Island Residents Association, the Western Foreshores Association, the Bayview-Church Point Residents Association and the Church Point Reserve Association would attend the meeting.

“If residents have any enquiries at this stage they can contact their local representative or the Council.”

The contacts are Ian Souter on 0414 991 991 (Scotland Island); Michael Weaner on 0413 396 080 (Western Foreshores) and Frank Makin on 9999 2233 (Bayview and Church Point).

I found a pair of binoculars on Cargo Wharf on Saturday 17 November. If you have lost them, please contact Gordon on 9997 2035

The Hon. Bronwyn Bishop MP was returned to the seat of Mackellar in the recent federal election. Residents of the offshore communities congratulate her on her re-election and wish her well in her most important role as our representative to the federal government. Mrs Bishop has always been a strong

supporter of our community, with it's special needs and it's ambition to be an example to the rest of Australia in areas such as water conservation and sustainability.

Each edition of this newsletter has her contact details in the summary below. You can always ring her office or email her if you have a problem that you think needs the help of our federal representative.

You may be interested in the way in which we, as a community, voted. The details below show the polling results from the booth on Scotland Island. The two links following the results will take you to the electoral web site and will give you results that are very up to date.

Ingredients (serves 6)
* 250ml (1 cup) cranberry juice
* 2 tbs Cointreau liqueur

* 2 tbs fresh lime juice
* 6 sugar cubes
* 1 x 750ml bottle chilled pink Champagne or sparkling wine
Method
1. Place cranberry juice in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil over high heat. Cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until reduced by two-thirds. Remove from heat and set aside for 30 minutes to cool.
2. Combine the cranberry juice, Cointreau and lime juice in a small jug. Place a sugar cube in each serving glass. Pour the cranberry mixture over the sugar. Top with Champagne or sparkling wine and serve immediately.
Source: Australian Good Taste - December 2004 , Page 167

Ken Hughes, secretary of the Northern Beaches Asparagus Fern Steering Committee, has emailed me thanking all Scotland Island residents who assisted in the anti - asparagus fern event held in October and apologising for the delay in collecting same. Inclement weather on the first two days that the boat had been booked was the initial problem and this was compounded by "Human Error" - a forgotten booking - the next time. Ken promises that they will do better next time!

The Broken Bay Water Police and NSW Maritime will be out on the water in the weeks leading to the holiday season, checking that the controller of a boat has a current licence and that the vessel is seaworthy. Here are the current requirements for boat licences:

Boat Driver Licensing
The speed at which a boat is driven determines whether a person needs to be licensed.
Any person who drives a recreational powered vessel on NSW waters at a speed of 10 knots or more must have a boat driver’s licence.
Ten knots is the speed at which most accelerating boats will start to plane – that is rise up and skim on top of the water instead of ploughing through it.
The exception is anyone who drives a personal watercraft (PWC) at ANY speed must have a PWC Licence.

General Licence
A licence for people aged 16 years and over to drive any vessel, except a PWC at 10 knots or more.
General Young Adult Licence
A restricted licence for those aged from 12 to under 16 years. A Young Adult Licensee must:
(i) be accompanied by the holder of a General Licence when travelling at 10 knots or more
(ii) never exceed 20 knots

(iii) never travel at 10 knots or more after sunset and before sunrise
(iv) never travel at 10 knots or more when towing an aquaplaner
(v) never tow a water skier or wake boarder
(vi) not drive in any race, display, regatta or exhibition without prior consent from the NSW Maritime and
(vii) never operate a PWC unless the holder of a Young Adult PWC Licence.

POLLING PLACE - SCOTLAND ISLAND

Penguin Summit

Finally:

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: