COUNCIL NEWS & MARJORIE O'NEILL, MP Member for Coogee

WOOLLAHRA WAVERLEY RANDWICK

2021 Community and Environmental grants announced

A school uniform textile rescue program, a virtual reality experience to support the wellbeing of elderly residents, and a harbour and beach clean-up initiative are among the recipients of more than $65,000 in funding awarded to local community groups, charities and schools as part of Woollahra Council’s Grants Program.

Grants were awarded across two categories: Community and Cultural Grants providing funding of up to $7,500, and Environmental Grants of up to $2,000, for projects that work towards a connected, liveable, vibrant and creative community, and sustainability projects that protect or enhance the local environment.

The University of New South Wales and Holdsworth Community are set to collaborate with the assistance of a Community and Cultural Grant on a virtual reality project designed to bring nature walks to elderly residents unable to access local parks and reserves, and funding will also help to make mental health support available to local young people via harm minimisation and health education project A WAYS Safe Summer.

Thanks to Environmental Grants, Glenmore Road Public School in Paddington will introduce a program to prevent over 100kg of textile waste from uniforms going to landfill each year, while Splash Without the Trash will run monthly clean-ups to remove litter from Rose Bay and surrounding beaches. For more information on Council’s Grants program, including details on each of the successful recipients, visit:

woollahra.nsw.gov.au/grants

Digital Literary Award

The 2021 Woollahra Digital Literary Award is seeking submissions from talented writers. The Award offers four prizes, for Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry and Digital Innovation, and a prize pool of $7,500. The deadline for entries is August 30. For more details visit: woollahra.nsw.gov.au/dla

COVID-19 testing

Drive-through testing is available from Laverty Pathology located at Lyne Park, Vickery Avenue Car Park, Rose Bay from 8am to 10pm daily. The Rushcutters Bay Park pop-up clinic run by St Vincent's Hospital is located at Sir David Martin Reserve on New Beach Road, Darling Point and is available for walk-in tests only between 8am and 8pm.

Please continue to monitor for symptoms, get tested, maintain social distancing and ensure good hand hygiene, and check the latest updates from NSW Health on case locations and public health alerts at:

www.health.nsw.gov.au

Future-proofing residential developments against rising temperatures

The state and federal governments are being urged to act on the results of research by Waverley Council demonstrating simple ways residential developments in Sydney’s east can cope with climate change. Waverley Council’s Future Proofing Residential Development to Climate Change Project found heating and cooling of buildings can be improved through window glazing, improved shading and choice of building materials.

The Project won the Planning Disruptor Award at the recent Greater Sydney Planning Awards.

“We want to avoid dwellings that require high levels of air conditioning, are expensive to run and pose health risks during a blackout,” says Waverley Mayor Paula Masselos. Research by the project team found that as the number of warm days increase, cooling needs for houses and apartments may surge by over 300 per cent by 2070.

“Council needs to know that the buildings we approve in our area will be safe in a hotter climate in the future,” Mayor Masselos says.

“We want to avoid dwellings that require high levels of air conditioning, are expensive to run and pose health risks during a blackout.

“All governments have a responsibility to accelerate efforts to achieve net zero carbon emissions across the public, private and commercial sectors and adapt building regulations to prepare for future climate conditions.

“Therefore, we would also like to see State and Federal governments use future climate data to update planning instruments as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, the council is reassessing its 2050 carbon emission targets and is expected to declare that it aims to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

“Achieving net zero carbon emissions is a matter of urgency so that the planet can keep global temperatures below two degrees above pre-industrial levels as per the Paris Agreement on climate change,” Mayor Masselos says.

“It is estimated that 500,000 houses and apartments will be built over the next three years across Australia and these dwellings must be built to cope with the projected warmer temperatures affecting the approximately 1.3 million people who will live in them.”

Storm brewing over ferry service plans

Randwick Mayor Danny Said has lashed out at state government plans for a ferry service between Kurnell and La Perouse.

He says the an Environmental Impact Statement released by Transport NSW into the proposed project displays a cynical disregard for the community in the La Perouse area because it is “the same Liberal State government department that is taking buses away from that very spot.”

The proposed $50 million project involves construction of a wharf which many locals say will have adverse environmental consequences. It is feared the ferry service will worsen existing traffic gridlock in the peak summer season.

Mayor Said sees the plans as the latest attack on the people of the South East by the state government, coming in the wake of proposals to build a massive cruise ship terminal at Yarra Bay and an industrial incinerator at Matraville.

A ferry service across the bay was started in the 1890s and operated for about 80 years. A storm destroyed the wharf on this side of the bay in 1974.

Parks lit up during lockdown

Lights at Randwick City sports fields will be turned on until 9pm each night to allow more time and space for people to exercise during lockdown. Ten parks and sports fields will be lit in the evenings to provide additional opportunities for exercise and recreation particularly for people working during the day who may not get the opportunity during daylight hours.

The following parks are lit until 9pm: • Burrows Park, Clovelly • Kensington Oval, Kensington • Snape Park, Maroubra • Coral Sea Park, Maroubra • Pioneers Park Upper, Malabar • Chifley Reserve, Chifley • Yarra Upper, Yarra Bay • Latham Park, South Coogee • Paine Reserve, Randwick • Sections of Heffron Park, Maroubra

Marjorie O'Neill MP

MEMBER FOR COOGEE

Hello Everyone,

The past month of stay-at-home orders has been extremely challenging, especially in the Eastern Suburbs. The ongoing community transmission of COVID-19 has had a huge impact on our community members, local organisations, and small businesses.

During these challenging times, our office is working with local charities to deliver vital food and necessities to crisis shelters and others experiencing food insecurity.

You can drop off any donations of nonperishable food items to our office from 9am to 5pm on weekdays. We would like to thank those of you who have already made a donation for your generosity. We know that sudden lockdown and loss of employment is also incredibly detrimental to mental health, so we encourage all members of our community to seek out mental health support services that have been made available.

It is great to see our community come together and complying readily with social distancing, mask-wearing and getting tested for COVID-19. We ask that over the coming weeks in lockdown you continue to take every possible precaution to keep yourselves and your loved ones safe.

COVID-19 EMAIL LIST

Due to the ongoing stay-at-home orders in Greater Sydney, daily updates regarding COVID-19 community transmission and public health guidelines have become imperative.

We are sending out a daily digital newsletter with the number of new cases, locations of active cases and exposure sites in our community, as well as any new restrictions. We also provide information on financial support being announced for businesses and individuals affected by COVID-19. You can sign up to my email list by scanning the QR code below:

OFFICE CONTACT DETAILS

If you have any issues relating to the NSW Government, or you are not sure where to go to for help, please contact my office on 9398 1822; coogee@parliament.nsw. gov.au or 15/53-55b Frenchmans Road, Randwick. You can also visit my website at www.marjorieoneill.com.au, and sign up to my online community newsletter there too.