| Having trouble reading this newsletter? Visit https://ymlp.com/archive_gesgjgm.php | ||
 |
||
| October 20, 2010 | ||
|
Notices
for
Offshore Residents
of Pittwater, Australia
|
||
|
Controlled Burns in Pittwater The NSW Fire Brigade will be carrying out controlled pile burns in reserves across Pittwater this week, dependent upon weather conditions. The controlled burns are part of the Warringah Pittwater Bush Fire Management Committee’s 2010-2011 Hazard Reduction Program. Pile burns taking place on Monday 18 October are in Attunga Reserve East, Newport behind Burke and Attunga Roads and on Tuesday 19 October in McKay Reserve North behind Canara and Pacific Roads, Palm Beach. Other scheduled pile burns are Botham Beach Reserve, Church Point, just north of Holmport Marina for either Tuesday or Wednesday this week and in Dark Gully foreshore reserve at Palm Beach, weather permitting. The Council’s Natural Environment & Education Manager Mark Beharrell said residents may experience smoke haze while the controlled burns are taking place. “Residents may wish to close windows and doors, remove any washing from the clothes line and cover trampolines and pools if you live close to these locations,” he said. “If weather conditions change the NSW Fire Brigade will postpone the pile burns.” Mr Beharrell also urged residents across Pittwater to begin readying their homes for the bushfire season. “Now is the time to take action such as clearing gutters of leaves and removing dead vegetation from your garden,” he said. For more information about bushfire prevention visit www.rfs.nsw.gov.au Media contact: Karin Nippard, Pittwater Council Ph: 9970 1363 Message from the Offshore Vision Group  The Sustainability Evening on the 9th in the SI Community Hall was the first of its kind and a great success. We had a capacity audience, great food, great music, and a thought provoking presentation. In the Q&A afterwards, the overwhelming question was; WHAT NEXT??? As a first small step we’ve set up a Google discussion board. The purpose of the board is to allow everyone (whether you were there or not!) to ask any questions, say what’s on your mind and suggest actions for the future. We’ve also uploaded Boyd’s slide presentation in full, in case you want to see what you missed, or if you want to share it with someone else. Its in PDF form so you don’t need the presentation software. There’s a slide image followed by the narration on every second page. Its complete and uncut, including the questionable inclusion of the Edelsten newlyweds! The discussion board is an experiment for the Vision Group. It might be used for the evening’s follow up discussion only, but it could morph into how we all keep in touch on offshore sustainability issues. There’s the possibility that the whole thing could be migrated to Facebook if that’s appropriate, but for now, this discussion board has the advantage that you don’t need any special sign up to drop in see what’s been said. You’ll only need a Google sign in if you want to add a comment or start your own thread. There’s a link to the Discussion Board at the bottom of this message. If you’re at all interested in sustainability issues, especially those issues peculiar to our unique offshore living environment, we’d love you to join as a member of the discussion group. There’s no commitment other than creating a Google password for yourself (which you may already have). The benefit of being a member is that you can choose to receive all of the contributions to the discussion board as an email straight to your inbox. Here’s a quick how-to if you haven’t seen a Google discussion board before. Follow the link to go to the Home page of the board. There, you’ll see each discussion thread and lower down the page you’ll see the ‘files’ that have been uploaded. Click on a discussion thread to see what’s been said. If you’d like to post your own response to an existing thread, just hit the ‘Reply’ button, type your response and hit ‘Send’. That’s all there is to it. Your response will appear on that discussion page and it will also go out to all the email addresses of the discussion board members who have opted to receive such messages. To start a new discussion thread, go to the Home page, hit the ‘+ new post’ button. You’ll find the ‘+ new post’ button on the ‘Discussions’ bar. Here’s the link to the discussion board; http://groups.google.com.au/group/offshore-vision?hl=en Thanks again Offshore Vision Group offshorevision@gmail.com Artmart at Fire shed Saturday 23 Oct, 6-8pm Sunday 24 Oct, 10-4pm  A Capella Choir Are you interested in joining an island choir next year? We are having a meeting to discuss arrangements and costs. Make a note in your diary - we will meet outside the Kindy on Sunday 14th November at 2pm. For further information contact Gordon Floyd on 99972035. Pancake Stacks at the Kindy Sunday 24 Oct, 10-12pm 
Pittwater Council has made public its submission on the proposed development by Meriton at 14-18 Boondah Road Warriewood. The Council considered a detailed submission prepared by its staff at its meeting this week. The submission was sent to the NSW Department of Planning earlier this month on behalf of the Pittwater community, during the public exhibition of the development proposal for 14-18 Boondah Road. The NSW Department of Planning is assessing the proposal, not the Council, under NSW planning law which allows so-called ‘state significant’ development proposals to be assessed by the state government. The development application will go before a state government appointed Planning Assessment Commission, whose powers regarding the application have yet to be clarified. The Council has previously indicated that the development application does not meet local planning controls and as a result is an over-development of the site. The proposal for the Boondah site is for up to 559 units with associated facilities including a gym, swimming pool, shops, a childcare centre and a connecting road. The Council’s submission grouped its objections to the proposed development under five headings; precedent & equity, orderly planning, infrastructure & services, amenity and community expectations & participation. Commending the Council’s planning staff on their work on the submission, Mayor Harvey Rose said the Council remained steadfastly opposed to the development proposal. “We still have not been told how the community will have a voice before the Commission deliberates on this development,” Mayor Rose said. Mayor Rose added that the Council considered ‘all public submissions should be heard by the Planning Assessment Commission in open session to the public and the media.’ “The Council’s submission has again emphasised the deficiencies in the proposal, as well as the scale and bulk of the development which the Pittwater community is clearly opposed to.” Media contact: Mark Ferguson, Pittwater Council Ph: 9970 1105   LAST CHANCE TO SAVE CURRAWONG “Approving the development would not be in the public interest” Kristina Keneally - Minister for Planning - 28 April 2009 The Friends of Currawong and the Community at large thank the Premier for her courageous decision to reject the last Eco-Villages assault on the historic heritage site known as Currawong. As Planning Minister she listened to the people and rejected the subdivision development in its entirety. In addition she listed the entire site on the Heritage List. “…the proposal is inconsistent with planning objectives for the site, is beyond the community’s expectations for the site and will result in adverse impacts on historic heritage and environmental values.” - Kristina Keneally - 28 April 2009 That should have been the end of it. No! Eco-Villages have now submitted a second DA which although scaled down, is equally obnoxious. Nothing has changed! Many of the key recommendations made by the government appointed Panel of Experts (IHAP) have been ignored or contravened. * IHAP recommends that “Any future proposal should provide for public access to the cabin precinct, the foreshore and the valley floor.” * Under the new development proposal there will be no public access to any part of the site effectively creating a private enclave within the National Park. * IHAP recommends no new buildings be allowed on the foreshore because of the visual impact from Pittwater and the visual impact on the Heritage listed cottages. * The new proposal places three houses in the foreshore area in defiance of this recommendation. Two of these houses are two storeys and have a roof height of 12 metres plus. This is four metres higher than the Heritage listed original farmhouse, Midholme. Another two houses are placed behind Midholme and in front of the cottages. * IHAP recommends any additional development should be confined to the lower end of the valley north west of the cabins and be “single storey, low in height, bulk and scale and be of a size befitting holiday accommodation rather than permanent residential development.” * The developers have ignored all of these recommendations. The proposed 12 new houses are very large two storey 4 bedroom buildings designed for permanent residential use. In addition Midholme and the Conference Centre are to be converted to residential use. THE THIN END OF THE WEDGE * “Any intensification of development on the Western foreshores is inconsistent with the draft Sub Regional strategy and therefore State Plans and Metropolitan Strategy for the area. It is important to note that there is potential for further development of large parcels of privately owned land zoned for residential purposes (and otherwise) on Scotland Island and the Western Foreshores and approval of this proposal would set a precedent.” - Pittwater Council Think about it. Do you want to see a surge of massive resort type developments on the Western Shores of Pittwater and Scotland Island? It has been a long standing policy by Pittwater Council (and Warringah Council even earlier) - NOT to allow further subdivision on the Western Shores. Allowing this subdivision proposal will open the floodgates as other developers scramble to take advantage of the precedent set. OTHER KEY ISSUES HAVE NOT BEEN ADEQUATELY ADDRESSED * Parking – The developers still have no new solution to the problem of parking arising from this development other than utilizing the already overloaded public parking areas and street parking at Palm Beach. * Commuting – The developers choose to ignore the fact that residents at Currawong will demand facilities for boats for commuting and recreation. It is simply not believable that a private Community owned Water Taxi will satisfy their needs. The reality is a Currawong Private Marina will be built. * Construction Chaos – It is proposed that 11 existing buildings will be very substantially rebuilt/renovated. In addition twelve new large two storey houses are proposed – most of them perched on a steep slope. The developers do not acknowledge the magnitude of the impact on the onshore facilities and communities as a result of this construction onslaught. It is horrific to imagine the damage this proposal will cause to the fragile Currawong environment – both marine and bush alike. In the DA to Pittwater Council, Eco-Villages show photographs of a ride on lawn mower with small trailer attached and a small service vehicle with a 500 kg payload captioned “suitable construction vehicles”. We believe you. NOT. * The Heritage Listed Cottages – will be owned under a joint community title by the landowners at Currawong. There are no guarantees of public access to them as holiday accommodation. * The developers no longer mention public access to Currawong. There will be no public access to any part of Currawong. Full stop. End of story – 60 years of historic association with the Union Movement wiped out in a flash. Currawong becomes a private resort for the most privileged sector of our society. WHY CAN’T CURRAWONG BE ACQUIRED BY THE GOVERNMENT FOR A STATE RECREATION AREA? * Neville Wran, Premier in 1977 took steps to acquire Currawong for the State. The Unions withdrew their plan to sell the land. * In 1980, Eric Bedford, Minister for Lands in the Liberal Government , supported a buyback for the State. The Unions would not sell. * In 2006 the Morris Iemma Government made an offer of around $11.5 million to the Unions to buy Currawong for a State Park. Lands Minister Tony Kelly was strongly supportive. It is common knowledge that Michael Costa, Treasurer and former Union Leader, ordered the offer be withdrawn. * Subsequently John Robertson, then Secretary of the NSW Labor Council, accepted the highest so called “unconditional” offer of $15million for Currawong from Eco-Villages. * Nearly 4 years later a deposit of only $1.5million has been paid and the purchase price has been reduced to $11million. AN APPEAL TO PREMIER KRISTINA KENEALLY Dear Premier, With great respect we thank you for your enlightened decision as Planning Minister for rejecting Eco-Village’s development proposal and for Heritage Listing Currawong. Now as Premier we urge your government to consider purchasing Currawong before it is too late. This is the last opportunity for the State to negotiate a sale with one landowner, Unions NSW, rather than 14 separate landholders in the future. Should this subdivision be approved, there will never be another opportunity to acquire the entire Heritage site for the people of NSW. In addition a precedent will have been set that could see a string of similar developments on the Western Shores of Pittwater. We appreciate your decision to visit Currawong and see for yourself the extraordinary beauty and tranquillity this latest Heritage Site offers. We appreciate your decision to fully endorse the recommendations of the IHAP Panel of Experts. The developers, Eco-Villages, have decided to ignore or contravene many of the key recommendations of IHAP, thereby ignoring the will of the Government, the Opposition, Pittwater Council and the Community at large. This development must not proceed. Where others have failed may you succeed. Shane Withington for Friends of Currawong Here is the link to DA : http://portal.pittwater.nsw. Sea Scouts Gardening Fundraiser Gardening products delivered to nearest wharf ! Quality fertilizer, mulch and Water Wise Products Bayview Sea Scouts are holding their annual fund raiser this year; and what an opportunity for offshore residents. Quality gardening products delivered to your nearest wharf and proceeds go to a great local cause! This was a great success last year with the offshore community being great supporters of the event! Just fill out the attached order form and return as per details included. And the local scouts (in their faithful tinnies) will do the rest. Cheers, John, Jacqui & Angus Ewan Pittwater Boat Covers. Download the flyer and Order form here Wanted Trampoline and Commuter Boat. If your kids have out grown their trampoline or other children’s outdoor equipment, please contact us. We are also after a commuter boat. Would consider Poly or Aluminium if in good condition. Contact Mark or Jane: Tel: 9979 4270 or Mobile: 0435 819 610  The Local Guide - Community Information Click HERE to load |
||
| |
