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COUNCIL NEWS & MARJORIE O'NEILL, MP Member for Coogee
We want your feedback on our customer service
Providing a positive customer experience is important to us. We are always looking for new ways to help and support our community and our customers, so we would love you to share your feedback on our services and provide us with suggestions for improvement.
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Tell us about your customer experiences with Council before Aug 31 for the chance to win a $300 voucher to spend on a local business. It’s our way of saying thanks for your time and your feedback, as well as demonstrating our support for local businesses. Visit yoursay.woollahra.nsw.gov.au/ customer-survey to take part.
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Entries open for Woollahra Garden Awards
We encourage all residents, local businesses, school groups and community organisations to showcase their gardens – big or small - by entering this year’s Woollahra Garden Awards. We want you to share your creativity, hard work and sustainable gardening practices with us.
Don’t miss your chance to win some great prizes. The overall winner will receive a $500 garden voucher. The winner of each category will receive a $100 garden voucher.
Entries close Oct 14, 2022. Winners will be announced in Nov 2022. To enter, visit woollahra.nsw.gov.au/gardenawards to enter.
Youth Photographic Award and Short Film Prize
Our annual Youth Photographic Award and Short Film Prize provides an opportunity for young aspiring photographers and filmmakers to reach a broader audience and to win cash prizes of more than $2,000.
Students in years 7 to 12 who attend school in Woollahra or nearby areas or who live in the Woollahra Municipality can participate and be part of the exhibition at Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf from Sept 14 to Oct 2, 2022. Entries close Aug 15, 2022. Visit woollahra.nsw.gov.au/ypa for further info.
Digital Literary Award
Entries are now open for the Woollahra Digital Literary Award, our national award supporting innovation in Australian literature and publishing, encouraging writers producing work in a digital medium. There is a prize pool of $7,750 up for grabs across Fiction, Non-Fiction, Digital Innovation, Poetry and Readers' Choice categories. Visit woollahra.nsw.gov.au/dla for further details. Entries close on Aug 29.
Council Chambers refurbishment
The refurbishment project of the Council Chambers building in Bondi Rd has progressed after Council last month voted to progress to detailed design following extensive consultation with the community and Councillors which resulted in changes to the initial concept.
The major refurbishment of the Chambers building will bring it up to code and make it fit for the current and future needs of the Council and the community. The building is at the end of its life, and over the years, has been subject to several costly ad-hoc alterations and additions that have resulted in major and costly layout, design, accessibility and compliance issues.
The goal is to create a sustainable civic asset where Council can gather with the community and share ideas. Additional customer service facilities offered at the refurbished chambers will include a Duty Planner booking system and JP services.
Save Our Buses
Waverley Council continues to call on state government to resume control of bus services in NSW. Region 9 (eastern suburbs) has the highest patronage of any region in the Sydney bus network with 68 million trips, or 21% of the total 315 million trips across the network each year.
We strongly object to the public purse being used to subsidise commercial operations that are geared to making a profit rather than fulfilling a social contract between the government and the people of NSW. The public bus service was not broken – it is now.
If you would like to lodge a complaint with Council about the government's privatisation of buses, please email
buscomplaints@waverley.nsw.gov.au
For more, visit the Save Our Buses page on our website.
Living Connections
The Free Living Connections program relaunched in July is open to all residents in the Waverley LGA with a garden, courtyard or suitable balcony who want to increase cool, green space for our native fauna.
Participants receive free native seedlings and habitat gardening resources. If you live in one of our habitat biodiversity corridors, you may also be eligible for a visit from a horticulturist or extra seedlings. For more information, visit the Living Connections
https://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/environment/bushland_and_wildlife/living_ connections
Competition to re-use historic Coogee piers
The old Coogee pier footings recently removed from Coogee Beach could be re-imagined and returned to public display as public art. Randwick Council resolved to hold a public art competition seeking ideas from local groups and artists about how to reuse the 12 concrete piers. The piers recently resurfaced during large storms at Coogee Beach and were removed from the beach due to safety risks. The concrete piers are the last remaining remnant of the 1928 Coogee Pleasure Pier. It was extensively damaged by a number of storms and eventually closed and demolished in 1934.
Council raises environmental concern about Ferry Wharf proposal
Council will write to the NSW Minister for the Environment reaffirming its opposition to a NSW Government plan to reinstate a ferry service and build a ferry wharf at La Perouse and Kurnell. Council has raised concerns on a number of occasions about the impact of the construction and ongoing ferry operations on local marine life including sensitive threatened species such as seahorses and coral. The proposal has completed the assessment stage and is currently with the NSW Government for approval.
Boost to solar and battery rebates
Council will double its battery rebate program from $500 to $1,000 and increase its rooftop solar program for multi-unit dwellings from $2,000 to $5,000. The move follows a review by Council of the take-up of solar and battery technology in Randwick City which found apartments were lagging behind. As apartment dwellings make up 72% of all Randwick City households, they present a significant opportunity to increase locally created energy, but generally present higher costs due to the complexity of strata ownership structures. Council also resolved to encourage more electric vehicle take-up by increasing the rebate for installing EV chargers in apartment buildings from $2,000 to $5,000.
Solar-powered emergency phones providing a direct line to the NSW Surf Life Saving State Operations Centre will be installed at Little Bay and Malabar Beaches. The Emergency Response Beacons (ERBs) are purpose-built for more extreme coastal environments and fitted with a camera.
Marjorie O'Neill MP
MEMBER FOR COOGEE
Hi everyone,
World-class public transportation can do many amazing things for society. It can help those who can’t drive on their own to access more of our beautiful Eastern Suburbs, it can reduce traffic, and it’s an easy way for us to collectively reduce transport emissions. It beggars belief then, that in recent years the East has lost some 31 bus routes and over 50 bus stops, culminating in the privatisation of our entire bus network in April this year, in the face of massive community opposition.
In the months since the privatisation finalised, many locals have found that the places they live, work, and play are harder to access. Commute times for some working in the CBD have doubled and what used to be simple trips now require multiple changes along the way if your stop even still exists.
Without the passion, hard work, and regular input of locals on the ground, the Save Our Buses campaign would have died the day Transdev John-Holland took over Region 9, but the fight continues as strong as ever. As your local member I’m committed to helping push for the changes our community demands, so today I’m asking you to demand it.
Scan the QR code below or head to my website and fill out my new survey on the Save Our Buses campaign page to have your say and steer us on a better route for the Eastern Suburbs’ public transportation.
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 too!
