20 COUNCIL NEWS
EASTERN SUBURBS Ed 42, June, 2022
Marjorie O'Neill MP MEMBER FOR COOGEE
Aboriginal Heritage Award
Congratulations to our Strategic Planning Team, who won the Aboriginal Heritage category in the National Trust NSW 2022 Heritage Awards for the Woollahra Aboriginal Heritage Study. The Study provides Council and the community with an understanding of local Aboriginal history and heritage and a strategy to manage both known and undocumented places and areas of significance in a culturally appropriate way. We hope the Study, which involved the support and guidance of Dr Paul Irish of Coast History and Heritage and the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council, will continue to promote greater local awareness and appreciation of Aboriginal heritage.
Bondi gets ready to rock again
Live music is returning to Bondi Beach. Councillors have approved the staging of an all-ages surf music event, The Drop Live, in October. A report to Council said the event would “feature a strong connection to surfing culture” and be held on a Saturday in the first half of October. The date will be set once the headline act is confirmed. The report said the Drop Live team are “experienced and competent event producers” who previously staged Beach Fest 2015 in Bondi Park. Since then, The Drop Live has successfully produced 12 events at a range of coastal locations across Australia. Council anticipates a crowd size of 10,000. The event will be licenced and the impact on regular beach users is predicted to be minimal. “A section of the southern end of Bondi Beach will be closed to the public for a period of approximately six days,” the report stated. “Recreational access will be maintained along the waterline throughout this period.”
Diamond Bay wastewater outfall
Council is working with Sydney Water on ending one of the final vestiges of the days when untreated wastewater was pumped directly into the ocean from the base of the cliff line. Dr Paul Irish and Noeleen Timbery from LPLALC with the award
Visit woollahra.nsw.gov.au/aboriginalheritagestudy for further information.
Rose Bay upgrade
Woollahra Council has received a $480,000 grant to upgrade the laneways, streets and carparks on both sides of New South Head Rd as part of the NSW Government’s Streets as Shared Spaces program.
This still happens at Diamond Bay. But now a project is being designed to divert the Diamond Bay outfall to the Bondi Wastewater Treatment Plant. From there it will be released three kilometres out to sea via the Deep Ocean Outfall, constructed in the early 1990s. The project will involve the construction of two pumping stations, along with a series of maintenance pits and ventilation points.
The funding will help to increase foot traffic and accessibility, support small businesses and make Rose Bay an even better place to live, work and visit.
At the latest full meeting of Waverley Council, councilors agreed to investigate “options to configure underground infrastructure to consolidated tanks and pits as close together as practical to reduce the overall underground footprint.”
Digital parking launches in Woollahra
Concerns about private bus services
Digital parking is now available in the Woollahra area, with the new Park’nPay App making it possible to pay for more than 500 local parking spaces through your phone. You can use the app to find the location of the nearest parking meter and electric vehicle charging station, receive real-time parking availability and also conveniently top-up a meter while on the go. For more information, visit parknpay.nsw.gov.au.
A meeting of the Strategic Planning and Development Committee agreed to make a strong submission to Transport for NSW on the impact of bus service privatization in Sydney Buses’ Region 9, covering the eastern suburbs. The submission will warn that a reduction in services would lead to congestion on the roads of Waverley LGA as more people opt for private transport.
Markets, commercial revitalisation for Kingsford
Randwick Council is taking steps to revitalise Kingsford businesses, which have suffered a downturn thanks to Light Rail construction, followed by COVID. The rescue mission is being led by Greens Councillor and former deputy mayor Philippa Veitch, who put up plans to bring Kingsford commerce out of the doldrums, including re-establishing markets at the Rainbow Street carpark. Cr Veitch thinks there can be both day and night markets at the neglected site. She also called for a council marketing campaign aimed at boosting patronage of restaurants, cafes, specialty food shops and other businesses in the Kingsford town centre. Local businesses “are in need of urgent support to revitalise the area and attract residents to this major town centre,” she said. Councillors carried Cr Veitch’s motion that a report on the operation of markets and promotional strategies be produced by October.
Council may right traffic wrong in Matraville
Good news for locals who have been inconvenienced by a no right turn restriction introduced a few years ago in Matraville – a councillor is trying to get it scrapped. The unpopular signage imposes a right turn only restriction on the right lines in both directions at the junction of Bunnerong Road and Franklin/Perry Streets. Newly-elected South Ward Councillor Bill Burst (Liberal) says this creates a bottleneck, with the merging of traffic into a single lane posing “a safety issue for the community.”
Fred Hollows Reserve not a sight for sore eyes What would the late eye surgery champion Dr Fred Hollows say? The two hectare gully in Randwick named in his honour has become overgrown with weeds. Now the site, known as Glebe Gully before being dedicated to Dr Hollows in 1993, has been closed by council.
But North Ward councillor Rafaela Pandolfini (Greens) is taking steps to ensure that the dedication of the reserve to the ophthalmologist was not a hollow gesture. Councillors agreed to her motion that regular maintenance be carried out by bushcare volunteers and contractors.
Hi everyone, Preserving and protecting our local environment is a very important issue to our entire community. We have fought to eradicate single use plastics and continue the fight to take real action on climate change. Working towards a sustainable future is of paramount importance to our community, and it is crucial that all levels of Government work together to resolve these issues. My office has been conducting online community town halls over the last few months on a variety of issues, including public transport, planning, and healthcare. Our next online community town hall will be on the topic of the environment, and I am interested to hear your experiences of our environmental system. In the last few years, members of the community have contacted my office about the issues of bushfire recovery, climate change, koalas, and threatened species. These issues are incredibly important to me, and I have been calling on our Government for a plan to protect our environment to help address them. To ensure your voice is being heard, I invite everyone to come to our forum so you can share your experiences and concern. I will be joined by NSW Labor Shadow Minister for the Environment, The Hon. Penny Sharpe, MLC. To register, please scan the QR code below or head to the link: https://marjorieoneill.com. au/community/community-town-hallmeetings/
This meeting is a great opportunity to raise any concerns you may have, to share your experience with our environmental system and shine a light on any areas in which you would like to see change. I look forward to seeing you there!
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 (02) 9398 1822; coogee@parliament.nsw.gov.au or visit us at 15/53-55B Frenchmans Rd, Randwick. You can also visit my website at marjorieoneill.com.au and while you’re there, be sure to sign up to my online community newsletter there too!
