North Sydney Sun October 2022

Plan for new 1500 student school in McLaren St

Plans have been revealed for a new 1500 student K-12 school in North Sydney backed by the global prestige education provider Inspired Schools.

The school campus would be housed in Harry Seidler-designed Simsmetal House, a 1972 8 storey office block in McLaren St between Walker St and Miller St opposite the Rydges Hotel site.

Inspired describes itself as a “leading global premium schools group operating in Europe, AsiaPacific, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America educating over 65,000 students across a global network of more than 80 schools.” It claims that 30% of its students gain sufficient scores to enter Oxbridge and Ivy League universities.

Inspired is already present in the Sydney market with Reddam branded early learning centres in Hornsby and St Leonards as well as a K-Year 9 campus in Woollahra and Year 10-12 in North Bondi, ranked as the 6th highest school for HSC results last year.

“Inspired is actively seeking to expand this network and has targeted Sydney’s North Shore through an extensive site selection process,” it said in a submission to the NSW government’s State Significant Projects approval system.

It added: “The adaptive reuse of this asset will breathe new life into this prominent North Sydney Centre site and enable Inspired to continue to educate and empower students and deliver world class education in line with the Inspired vision. Being a coeducational and non-denominal school, Inspired will deliver a unique and prestige academic experience within an area that predominantly consists of single-sex schools.”

The project is being developed in partnership with Built, a national, diversified general contractor and one of Australia’s largest private construction and development groups.

The 2,400 sqm site is located just 50 metres from the proposed northern entrance to the Victoria Cross Metro

station. The proposal says that under a ‘Do Nothing’ scenario, the existing commercial office asset will continue to age and depart from current workplace standards required to attract and retain premium commercial tenants.

“This option does not provide a

desirable outcome as it fails to adequately plan for future growth and opportunities to integrate a leading educational establishment into the North Sydney Centre,” the submission says. The school is projected to open for classes in 2024.

By Lowell Tarling

Peter Kingston didn’t mince words. Kingo handed back his AM medal when Margaret Court was awarded one. He regularly chalked the pavement with messages for John Howard when the Prime Minister went on his morning jogs from Kirribilli House.

Born in Sydney in 1943, Kingo attended Cranbrook School where Blake Prize winner, Justin O’Brien was art master. After this he attended the University of NSW where he studied commerce and architecture. Kingo started his public art as a cartoonist for Tharunka and OZ: magazines considered radical in the early 60s. He coproduced films and was a founding member of live-in art gallery, the Yellow House, in Sydney’s Potts Point.

Being a ‘Yellow House artist’ was like adding a diploma to one’s name. Everyone went there – Pink Floyd, Marty Feldman, politicians, opinionmakers, artists and musicians who later became household names.

In the mid-70s, Kingo was an artist working on the restoration of Luna Park alongside Martin Sharp, Richard Liney, Garry Shead and Tim Lewis. He worked on Pirate Pete’s Sea Battle,

Coney Island and eventually the illfated Ghost Train.

This was his first taste of Lavender Bay, which is where Garry lived and ran a charcuterie. Artists John FirthSmith and Brett Whiteley lived there too. Peter’s house and studio overlooked Lavender Bay and was in close proximity to Luna Park.

His first solo exhibition was at Hogarth Gallery Sydney in 1978, after which he spread into many art forms including sculpture, filmmaking, printmaking, modelmaking, creating chess sets, book designs and occasionally architecture.

Kingo painted and drew what he saw. He travelled to NZ, Europe, America, Africa, Asia, and also to many Australian country towns – like Mount Murchison, Hill End, Cairns… sketching the whole time. He liked beaches, trees, groups of people and of course Sydney Harbour, especially the Great Triumvirate – the Bridge, the Opera House and Luna Park.

The fate of the Park lay in the balance after the 1979 Ghost Train Fire that killed six children and one male adult. The old things were auctioned. What wasn’t sold went to the tip. And

Kingo – along with other artists – was appalled. They salvaged what they could, stored and restored the old Arthur Barton paintings, which were ultimately brought back to Coney Island two decades later.

In the interim, the North Sydney Council had several major develop-

ment proposals for the site - a trade centre, a major housing development, even a casino.

Along with Martin Sharp, architect Sam Marshall and others, Kingo formed Friends of Luna Park. They

Peter Kingston. Photo courtesy of Australian Galleries

The proposed school site in McLaren St, North Sydney

Outgoing deputy mayor plans tilt for NSW parliament

After nine months as North Sydney Council’s deputy mayor, Sustainable Australia Party leader William Bourke has revealed to the North Sydney Sun that he intends a run for the NSW Legislative Council at the March state election. Bourke was confirmed as the SAP candidate last month as he stepped down from the deputy mayor position as part of a pre-ordained power share arrangement with Labor and the Real Independents who collectively control the council.

Labor’s Godfrey Santer replaces Bourke as deputy mayor.

“I’ve been very open with everyone since my term on council started, not hiding anything that I feel like that bigger picture is where I can probably even better represent the people of North Sydney and surrounds and local communities.”

“Obviously, you’d be aware that the root cause of many of our issues, I think, is the state planning system that is favoured towards developers. And to impact on that, you’ve really got to be in state parliament,” he told the Sun. “To have that platform to question and democratise that state planning system for the benefit of places like North Sydney, is kind of the next step for me, if you like,” Bourke added.

Although the SAP is a minnow party next to the Liberals, Nationals, Labor and Greens, Bourke says that simple mathematics allows him a great chance of winning a spot on the 42member Legislative Council.

“21 go up for election every four years. It’s an eight year term. The quota is basically a hundred divided by 21 plus one, which is 4.43%; is a full quota. But you get in on 50, 60% of that quota. My aim is going to be, hopefully we’ll get around 2.5 percent plus in the upper house. And if that’s the case, I’d be very, very confident,” Bourke told the Sun.

By way of comparison, Bourke achieved 4% of the vote in the recent NSW state by-election for Willoughby

and a creditable 11.9% of the vote across the North Sydney Council area last year.

“I love the fact that it’s a full proportional representation across the state, which does give that opportunity for minor parties and independents and that diversity of viewpoints in the parliament, which is representative of our democracy. That’s really what I’m passionate about. Sustainability and democracy are kind of my two things,” Bourke said.

Bourke is proud of the achievements of the SAP on Council in the past nine months, pointing to its successful advocacy of a local sustainability festival and a repair café as two achievements. “We’re still in the early stages there, but I did have a successful motion to have a report into a Repair Café being established, our first Repair Café in North Sydney. Because

obviously my big thing is sustainability,” Bourke said. “And consumption of resources is really the key point there . We need to reduce our consumption of resources. And so therefore if we’ve got a toaster or a chair or a bag that just needs a little bit of a repair; whether a new zipper, or a leg welded back on or what have you, our residents can take that into a Repair Café that’s in a designated place. And have that repaired for free. I’m very confident that we’ll have something up and running in the next 12 months.”

Bourke said that he still believes the biggest issue in North Sydney is over-development and the need for more green space.

“There’s a lot of construction going on. And our community, our residents are coming to councillors and saying we’re really upset about this. The main issue I’m dealing with is planning and

overdevelopment issues. And the New South Wales planning system is a very complex beast. Broadly speaking, our residents that are contacting me are confused about how the system works,” Bourke said.

“What I have proposed is we have a staff member that runs webinars, public events, puts together videos, takes phone calls from residents who’ve got specific queries about how the planning system works. And more importantly how they can lodge submissions and what they need to do.”

“Obviously knowledge is power. And I received a fantastic response from our community. councillors, on others to try and dive into this complex area. There might have to be a monthly forum. And you raise specific issues and there’s a collective learning process from that.”

Grahame Lynch

Sustainability festival on way in 2023

North Sydney is set to get its own sustainability festival in 2023 thanks to the advocacy work of SAP councillor Georgia Lamb.

The inaugural Living Futures Festival will be held at the Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability over the period 24 – 30 April 2023.

The festival will comprise two components starting with a thought provoking ‘Living Ideas’ series and culminating in a full day activation on Sunday 30 April.

Council intends to seed the festival with a financial contribution of around $150,000. This amount will be funded from Council’s Environment Levy Reserve due to the nexus between the expected outcomes of the Sustainability Festival and the policies and plans contained within the Envi-

ronmental Levy.

Lamb told the Sun that she had the idea for such a local festival from other councils and that the opportunity was ripe for a North Sydney event because of the “environmental focus” of the current council and, specifically, the work that had been done locally on developing strong local green credentials.

Lamb praised the work of council staff on the festival concept: “They have put a lot of elbow grease into this.” The festival would have lots of “fun and accessible” activities for kids and teens but would also embrace an education function with “prominent Australian science celebrities” and the like. Lamb said she hoped the festival would be successful enough that “we could make it an annual event.”

SAP councillors Georgia Lamb and William Bourke

The Federal Government has been accused of pre-empting a feasibility study and endorsing the re-location of SBS from its Artarmon headquarters to a new Western Sydney site.

A study on the move was a Labor promise at the last election but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appeared to pre-empt the study at the Lachlan Macquarie lecture earlier this month when he said: “We’ll wait and see what the study says, but it certainly makes sense for such a fast-growing, multicultural community to be the home of the broadcaster that celebrates and serves Australia’s diversity. It would be an important cultural investment in Western Sydney and a creator of construction jobs.”

North Sydney MP Kylea Tink said: “The Prime Minister has jumped the gun with this position. Media reports this morning have left us all questioning whether the Government’s commitment to a feasibility study was just a hollow promise, as it appears to have a foregone conclusion.”

She added: “On the completion of the feasibility study, the ultimate responsibility for a decision about the relocation rightly rests with the SBS management and board, not with a political party.”

“SBS delivers terrific value for money for the Australian community.

move from

The hundreds of millions of dollars required to enable the move would deliver much better taxpayer value for money if directed towards increased production of Australian content for all our communities to enjoy,” she explained.

Tink believed it made no sense to uproot a broadcaster purely to place it in another part of Sydney at huge expense. “This would be a devastating loss for our community,” she said.

“Artarmon has been home to SBS for over 30 years. Not only is it an important employer locally, but it also reflects a significant part of our community, representing the diversity that makes North Sydney a great place to live,” she added.

Tink rejected the inference made by Albanese that because Western Sydney was identifiably multicultural it would be a better fit for SBS than the north shore.

“It’s a furphy to say that the North Sydney community doesn’t reflect Australia’s cultural diversity. North Sydney is a vibrant and diverse community with 50% of people living in our electorate born overseas, and 30% speaking a language other than English at home,” Tink said.

Labor’s policy in support of a feasibility study said there is an imbalance in infrastructure, skilled jobs and cul-

Peter Kingston remembered

held rallies, meetings and eventually wrote a draft proposal to save Luna Park. Kingo spoke of this success as a peak achievement of his long and illustrious career.

In some ways he was a driven man, driven by the best of causes.

Peter partnered with several artists, none closer than his sister Fairlie. His first ‘Phantom’ exhibition was held at DC Gallery Woollahra in 1991 with Fairlie making badges and other art pieces that complemented her brother’s works.

The Phantom has continued to sprinkle his works until and beyond a decade ago when his Phantom exhibition was held at Australian Galleries, and he exhibited and curated other artists’ ‘takes’ on the famous comic book character. Always strongly opinionated, Kingo celebrated the original Lee Falk Phantom, not the updated one (on steroids), in the same way he sought to preserve old game machines but loathed the newer brutish games that currently inhabit the Park and other amusement centres. He also loved Boofhead, Ginger Meggs and other Aussie comic icons that he depicted in his pictures.

One of the strengths of his drawings and paintings are their depictions

of new ways of seeing the harbour, its boathouses and ferries. He loved them sliding over little waves. He delighted in the colours – greens, parchment white and shy reds, yellows and blues. For these he will always be remembered.

Peter Kingston has been included in group exhibitions since the mid60s. His work is held in important public and private collections. In 2021 he was awarded an AM for service to the Arts and Environment.

His sister Fairlie Kingston, whose care may have extended his life by one or two years, was always central to his progress. The two were inextricably linked throughout their lives and art. In 2016 they worked together on ‘Missing Dot’, a book of Fairlie’s stories and Peter’s illustrations.

Peter’s final wish was for no fuss, no funeral, no speeches. The show that he has been working on will go ahead in December at Australian Galleries as a memorial exhibition.

Lowell Tarling authored artist Martin Sharp's biography, 'Sharpest' published by ETT Imprint. Australian Galleries is planning an exhibition of Kingston’s work between 6 and 22 December in Sydney at its Paddington gallery.

tural investment in Western Sydney.

“Despite being home to 30 per cent of the State’s population, Western Sydney receives only a fraction of Commonwealth Arts program funding and the NSW Government’s Arts budget,” the policy stated.

“Western Sydney is denied much of the taxpayer-funded cultural capital that the inner city enjoys,” the policy statement said.

Labor argued that when former Prime Minister Paul Keating opened the SBS building in Artarmon over 25 years ago, it was to help mainstream SBS by moving it closer to other TV

networks, bringing radio and TV under the one roof.

“A quarter of a century later, other TV networks have relocated and SBS is a distinctive, dynamic and successful multiplatform digital broadcaster that stands on its own two feet,” Labor’s policy stated.

The prospect of a re-location of SBS has prompted a bidding frenzy from several Western Sydney councils including Parramatta and Canterbury. The prize is around some 900 jobs, as well as the activity associated with construction.

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Council, Tink mobilise against tunnel tree removal

North Sydney Council passed a motion that calls on the NSW State Government not to enter into any contracts for the Western Harbour Tunnel Stage 3 or the Northern Beaches Link projects prior to the March 2023 NSW State Government election.

The successful motion, proposed by Cr MaryAnn Beregi, also requires Council to write to the Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Roads, Minister for Heritage and Minister for the Environment seeking their assurance that no contracts in relation to the works on the Western Harbour Tunnel and Northern Beaches Link projects are signed prior to the 2023 NSW State Government election.

Council will also write to the Leader of the Opposition, Shadow Treasurer, Shadow Minister for Roads, Shadow Minister for Heritage and Shadow Minister for the Environment seeking their commitment that should they be elected in March 2023, that they will immediately halt and review the Western Harbour Tunnel Beaches Link Project. Assurances will also be sought from the Prime Minister, the Federal Minister for the Environment, and the Federal Minister for Transport that no federal funding will be provided for this project

The Council’s action came as concerns spread about tree removal at Cammeray Park associated with the project to other locales on the Warringah Freeway which are set for works, including Alfred St North between Falcom St and High Street.

Residents there held a protest rally on 8 October attended by over 50 people. Rally organiser Kel Cowling told the North Sydney Sun that “local residents are furious about the impending loss of hundreds of mature trees, to make way for a freeway upgrade which no one wants.”

“More furious still because the vast majority of residents in this area had absolutely no idea that this would be happening. Transport For NSW and the State Government will say they ran information sessions and sought local opinion when flagging this project, but the specifics of what we would lose has always been very well hidden by a PR machine that does everything in its power to keep us in the dark,” Cowling charged.

The rally was addressed by federal North Sydney MP Kylea Tink who said: “What takes 3 hours to cut down took 30 years to grow. We must protect our green canopy.”

However, state government MP Tim James confirmed: “I’d have come, listened and engaged if I’d known about this event. I’m advocating for a range of reforms, reviews and refinements to the projects. And will continue to do so on behalf of the community.” James also attended an earlier protest in Cammeray Park which attracted over 150 people but told the North Sydney Sun he was not allowed by organisers to speak or take questions.

Below: Cr MaryAnn Beregi proposed the motion calling for a halt to tunnel development. Right: Over 50 residents at the October 8 Alfred St North rally

CommsDay is launching a new Sydney forum speci ically addressing Australian telecommunications wholesale markets and opportunities.

The CommsDay Wholesale Forum is a two day event designed to maximise the knowledge base of the Australian telecommunications reseller and retailer market about their wholesale options, through a combination of conference, exhibition and networking opportunities.

To be held in a series of interlinked halls at the Fullerton Hotel in Sydney, the CommsDay Wholesale Forum will also feature not one but two cocktail parties, open to all registered delegates to attend. The Wholesale Forum is targeted at wholesalers and retailers of the following products and services: • Superfast ixed broadband (both NBN and non NBN) • Enterprise ibre services • Mobile telecommunications (MVNOs) • Dark ibre and wavelengths, both terrestrial and subsea • Transit and interconnection • Datacentres • TowerCos

If you have been to another CommsDay event you will know what to expect, with the difference that this event will place more emphasis on creating time for one on one interaction through morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and drinks.

The Wholesale Forum will include speakers from all the major telcos as well as provisioning time for lightning talks, enabling smaller wholesalers to get their 7 minutes or so on stage.

All up, the CommsDay Wholesale Forum represents the first and only conference and exhibition to specifically address the interconnectedness of Australia’s telecom industry and the reality that very few telecommunications retail services are completely in-sourced, and, instead, are constructed from a diverse supply chain.

Artists impression of the Victoria Cross development

Proposed development at 88 Walker St

JACARANDA SEASON BEGINS

The origin of the jacarandas and how they came to North Sydney

By Hannah Wilcox

It may have an iconic status in the Sydney springtime, but the jacaranda tree is surprisingly not native to Australia. With the upcoming season running from mid-October to peaking in mid-November, the purple haze never fails to draw a crowd.

The species of jacaranda that lines the streets is the jacaranda mimosifolia, a small native variety indigenous to the north-west region of Argentina and Bolivia. The arid climate there means it thrives in the Aussie environment.

So, how did jacarandas get here? There is a popular myth that tells of a midwife in North Sydney who would give jacaranda saplings to new mothers, encouraging them to plant the seeds in public places to watch them grow up alongside their children.

Although heartfelt, there is unfortunately little evidence to support this myth. The real tale behind the jacaranda's arrival in Sydney starts with British botanist Allan Cunningham, who was fascinated by them in bloom on a trip to Rio de Janeiro sometime in 1818. He originally took a specimen back to London to plant in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, but the icy winters meant they could only survive in controlled environments, such as hothouses.

Cunningham, following his appointment as the colonial botanist of NSW in 1837, is believed to have been the first person to successfully plant a jacaranda in Sydney.

Dr Russell Barrett, a systemic botanist from the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, told Australian Geographic that the first seeds were most likely brought in from Argentina to Brisbane.

“Shipping captains brought seeds

to trade that they thought would be of interest, likely to make some cash on the side.

“It’s understood that a former director of the Brisbane City Botanical Garden, Walter Hill, brought some seeds off a shipping captain and planted them in 1864. And if you look at the current records on the Australasian Virtual Herbarium as to where they were recorded naturalised, you do get these span of dots centring out from Brisbane and they probably came to Sydney rapidly after,” said Barrett.

Following their introduction to Australia, gardeners were on a mission to make jacarandas flourish. Landscape designer Michael Guilfoyle in 1886 devised one of the most trusted methods, utilising bell jars, ‘cold pits’ and baths of warm water. Those trees that did survive to maturity were considered rare.

Where can I see them?

In the North Sydney area there are plenty of places where you can see these historic trees.

The most popular is McDougall Street’s 30 mature jacarandas, which were a gift from the town of Grafton. They were planted in the 1930s as part of a beautification program started by Her Excellency Lady Gowrie, who wanted to ensure Admiralty House at Kirribilli was satisfactory to visiting royals.

Lavender Bay in North Sydney not only has a beautiful collection of jacarandas, but also boasts a great lookout of the Harbour Bridge, Luna Park and harbour views.

Also, Montpelier Street in Neutral Bay offers a charming avenue of mature trees all the way down to Forsyth Park.

Panel opposes proposed Woolies Rangers Rd development North Sydney’s Local Planning Panel has voted to block Woolworths’ proposed Rangers Rd development from proceeding to a “gateway determination.” Requiring a relaxation of the existing height limit, the proposal called for a part 2 ,7 and 10 storey mixed-use development comprising a supermarket at a subterranean level, retail and commercial floor space within the podium and approximately 91 apartments located above.

The rejected design

A basement car park containing 350 car parking spaces was also proposed. But the panel said: it “considers the planning proposal does not demonstrate either site specific or strategic merit to justify a spot rezoning for this site in isolation, given its location within the Neutral Bay Town Centre.” It added: “The Panel understands that the Council is seeking to incentivise site amalgamation and uplift to facilitate the provision of community facilities including open space, a through-site link, public domain improvements, a meeting place and the like in an overall strategy.”

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The Sun Says…

North Sydney Council has voted to conduct an urgent, independent review into its management of the North Sydney Olympic Pool project.

As the Sun reported last month, the pool’s re-opening has already slid back by half a year.

A major cause of the delay is COVID-19 labour stoppages and La Nina rain events.

But that doesn’t appear to tell the whole story, as there have also been concerns about the scale of recently sought cost variations from the project contractor.

The review was prompted by mayor Zoe Baker, who is a long-standing critic of the project. This prompted scepticism from former mayor Jilly Gibson about the intentions behind the move.

Something of great concern to the Sun is that while councillors say they are worried by the cost implications of the delays, ratepayers remain in the dark about exactly how much extra they are up for.

The pool revamp is pricey but, amortised across decades, is nominally a worthwhile and much-needed initiative.

No doubt current councillors think they could have done a better job than previous councillors.

This review should ideally generate constructive outputs that improve outcomes and leads to a speedy re-opening of the pool.

New deputy mayor likely has the numbers for top job

Cr Godfrey Santer has been unanimously elected deputy mayor of North Sydney in a widely anticipated changing of the guard from Cr William Bourke.

The Labor councillor for St Leonard Ward got the nod as part of a wellflagged power sharing agreement between the dominant “bloc of six” on council which provides the numbers for Mayor Zoe Baker.

Santer will remain in the position for a year until next September when both the mayor and deputy mayor positions will be voted on by all ten councillors.

The unanimous support for Santer from across the political dial has council insiders speculating whether he should offer himself for mayor at that time.

The reasoning goes as follows: the four councillors who didn’t support Baker for mayor earlier this year would almost certainly support a Santer candidacy.

Add in the votes of Santer himself and Labor colleague Shannon Welch and there would be six votes, a majority. With Santer largely on the same page on many issues with the remaining four: two Sustainable Australia Party and two Real Independents, his candidacy would effectively represent a genuine consensus choice.

This would allow the council to get past the historical impasse between the centre-left and centre-right independent factions, which some believe has cast a pall over council for many years.

Any push for Santer to replace Baker as mayor would not be without rancour, especially from the Real Independents whose leading members would likely react badly to such a move. But it’s not certain that such rancour would be strong in the wider community. Santer, who is retired, would be able to dedicate himself

of

town

Energy and Beach Energy, which she said she originally bought to drive ‘change from within.”

In a statement she said, “When I bought the shares last year, I chose shares in fossil fuel companies with the intention of using my investment to drive this transition. I wanted to drive change from within.”

“I recognise that shareholder activism takes a lot of work, and once I was selected to run for North Sydney, I couldn't put in the time I wanted to.”

fulltime to the position. However, we should emphasise, there is no indication from either Santer or Labor that they actually want the position.

FELICITY WILSON GAINS ENDORSEMENT

State MP for North Shore Felicity Wilson has been endorsed to run again as the Liberal candidate for the seat at the March 2023 state election.

Wilson was endorsed unopposed, although the vote was 46-25 for her endorsement.

She is technically the first Liberal endorsed to run at the next election. The result was considerably more clear-cut than the 2018 equivalent, in which she won 101-100 against Tim James, a result he unsuccessfully challenged.

James subsequently went on to gain preselection and then election to replace Gladys Berejiklian in Willoughby earlier this year.

The minority vote against Wilson’s endorsement is believed to reflect a “protest” at her criticisms of the federal candidate for Warringah, Katherine Deves, who attracted controversy for her campaign against transgender participation in womens sports.

TINK SELLS SHARES

Kylea Tink has sold her shares in Viva

She added: “I wish I'd taken action with the shares earlier and now that I’m an MP and have even less time to do the kind of shareholder activism I wanted, I’ve divested the shares and made a donation to Market Forces which focus on shareholder advocacy to drive climate action faster.”

“I am going to focus on using my power as a parliamentarian to deliver climate action. To this end, I have an exposure draft of my private members bill to clean up exhaust pipe pollution from petrol and diesel cars. Cars make up for about 16% of Australia’s carbon emissions so we urgently need to tackle cutting emissions from this sector.”

NEW NSC GM COMING

North Sydney Council was believed to be on the brink of announcing a new general manager as we went to press.

The Council held an extraordinary general meeting early in October where it is understood that councillors had an opportunity to speak with a number of short listed candidates.

The Council needs a new general manager following the resignation of incumbent Ken Gouldthorp earlier this year.

Gouldthorp resigned in May effective July.

Well-regarded Rob Emerson has been acting in the position and is understood to be nearing retirement from Council.

New

Prohibiting blocks of flats will harm amenity

I read with interest your article "What can North Sydney learn from New York City?" (September 2022) and Cr Mutton's comments about emphasising "community benefit" of developments, referring to public amenity and utility rather than just broad prohibition of projects.

I would suggest North Sydney is not even Chatswood, let alone New York. There is no amenity, despite it being in a very central location in Sydney and being so well-served with all public transport options. There is not much- not much retail, dining, activities, drawcards. These businesses surely need population density to propagate.

So it is interesting North Sydney Council has a current proposal to prohibit residential flat buildings in R3 zone. Planning Proposal 4/22 - Prohibition of residential flat buildings in the R3 Medium Density Residential zone | Your Say North Sydney (nsw.gov.au)

These incremental planning changes are pernicious and no one notices until it is too far gone.

This proposal is confusing to me and the logic spurious. It seems they want to discourage residential flat buildings in favour of villas and townhouses. They suggest existing use rights may be already void. This would mean any significant change to a unit block would face reduced height and floor space conditions. And owners would lose property value and development would be discouraged.

Most of the unit blocks are already very old and outdated with small, energy inefficient rooms and no parking. They are not affordable even in this state. If we consider the example of McMahons Point, it is majority affected by this proposal. McMahons Point is mostly R3, except all the tall blocks on the waters edge, some of which have waterfront multistorey carparks.

Does Council imagine McMahons Point to become a low-rise village ringed by a forest of old tall units? It hardly seems realistic. And how many generations would that take?

Meanwhile, we ratepayers should live in and among depressed buildings? Only the biggest and boldest developers will be able to submit large unit towers through the NSW State Significant pathway, and they will be approved to meet Greater Sydney future housing needs.

Who does this proposal benefit? Evolution and renewal of North Sydney is inevitable. Commercial developers have already decried oversupply of planned commercial development in North Sydney (Quality trumps quantity in North Sydney’s office ‘bloodbath' at commercialrealestate.com.au’ . More restrictions to further empower

Letters to the editor may be edited for length, context or legal reasons. Send to grahamelynch@northsydneysun. com.au and include a phone no if possible

unelected Council staff is ruining North Sydney.

Thank you for your attention. I hope your paper can elucidate these planning issues for the public, who might otherwise find out when it’s too late.

Will Ox

My long ancestry lies in North Sydney. In fact my great-uncle’s name is embossed on the North Sydney cenotaph in St Leonards Park. I lived on the north shore and North Sydney area for most of my 70+ years, however, I moved to Melbourne 11 years ago. Friends every now and then post me snippets from your North Sydney Sun paper which I always find very interesting. I congratulate you on your paper which has obviously taken over from the old North Shore Times and Mosman Daily.

Adrienne Buttner

I just want to say how welcome the North Sydney Sun is. Excellent coverage of local news and no real estate. I have found it very informative. We don’t get this sort of local news in the metropolitan newspapers or from councils and it is good to know what is happening and what is planned locally. Keep it up.

John Duff

Not again! Like a Bradfield Park pooch preparing to poop, one or two linear cycle ramp naysayers are making a classic last-ditch attempt to scratch the logical, creative and effective solution to a long-time congestion issue affecting pedestrian, vehicular and cyclist safety at Milsons Point.

Not-In-My-Front-Yard thinking denies the value of the sincere, community-minded, professional and knowledgeable work that has produced the Transport for NSW’s brilliant solution to a decades-old problem.

A century ago residents cried NIMFY to the proposed Sydney Harbour Bridge—“say NO to the bridge; ferries are all that’s needed to get across the Harbour”.

Well, the Bridge won and is now a heritage-protected icon we all love. Our new linear cycle ramp will enjoy the same status.

Let’s get on with it. Don’t try to derail it with spurious assertions to camouflage NIMFY motivation

Fergus Maclagan

R3

Where to find a copy of the Sun

Neutral Bay Community Centre 190-192 Military Road, Neutral Bay Kirribilli Neighbourhood Centre 16-18 Fitzroy St Nimba Bakery 4 Ennis Rd, Milsons Point James Milson Village 4 Clark Rd, North Sydney Kirribilli Hotel 35-37 Broughton St, Milsons Point

The Flying Bear 76 McDougall St, Kirribilli

Altitude Cafe Shop 3/48 Alfred St S, Milsons Point Rustic Charm Cafe 2/102 Alfred St S, Milsons Point Latitude Cafe 55 Lavender St, Milsons Point

Kirribilli Club 11 Harbourview Cres, Lavender Bay Blues Point Hotel 116 Blues Point Rd, McMahons Point

Coal Loader Centre Waverton 2 Balls Head Dr, Waverton Waverton Community Bookshelf 94A Bay Rd, Waverton 1st Sipzz Cafe 157 Walker St, North Sydney North Sydney Council Chambers 200 Miller St Stanton Library 234 Miller St, North Sydney North Sydney Community Centre 220 Miller St

Crows Nest Community Centre 2 Ernest Pl, Crows Nest North Sydney Indoor Sport Centre 36 Hume St, Crows Nest Bean Drinking Shop 1/13 Ernest Pl, Crows Nest

Fresh Crows Nest Cafe 13 Ernest St, Crows Nest Woolworths Crows Nest 10 Falcon St, Crows Nest Galleria Cafe 66 Pacific Hwy, St Leonards

Norths Cammeray 12 Abbott St, Cammeray Greenwich Post Office 91a Greenwich Rd, Greenwich Greenwich Library 48 Greenwich Rd, Greenwich Incinerator Cafe 2a Small St, Willoughby

Suggest a new site, email james@northsydneysun.com.au

CROWS NEST SPOTLIGHT

Crows Nest Festival returns Oct 16

By Hannah Wilcox

On October 16th, the shopping precinct of Crows Nest - Willoughby Road, Albany Street and spanning out into the cross streets - will be transformed into a hub of community spirit between 10am-5pm. The Crows Nest Festival is returning after a two year hiatus for COVID.

This year’s theme is Connection, Culture and Creativity, and the time has allowed the organisers the opportunity to develop and introduce some exciting new elements to the day.

The festival will remain focused on enhancing the community and revitalising the retail and commercial centre of Crows Nest.

The festival is expected to provide a boost for local businesses, attracting local tourism and provide community building benefits.

JoEllen Henderson, a member of Crows Nest’s Mainstreet committee and the head organiser for this year’s festival believes it has something for everyone. “We all need something to look forward to, and I think it’s something all year business know is happening and looks forward to,” she told the Sun. “It’s a lovely day where Crows Nest is at its finest and looking best. It’s an event that people will come from far away, people have heard about the festival and it creates great awareness for the area. They might come every year and come back throughout the year. It’s great for the businesses.”

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

The Crows Nest Hotel is taking over the festival licensed area in the top section of Willoughby Road with the ‘Crowie Cantina’, featuring Mexicaninspired tacos, cocktails and entertainment. “This year we are having a pretty exciting licensed area with comfortable couches, drinks and music” JoEllen says.

There will be entertainment all throughout the day with music stages set up on both Holtermann Street with school and community performances and Big Music’s Ernest Place stage; displaying a range of talented local artists, bands and performances.

Also, there will be a new addition to the festival in the kids zone, the Circus Playground. This will entail juggling toys, stilts, unicycles and more –fun for the whole family! Alongside the new addition, there will be a return of the popular petting zoo and pony rides.

There will be over 150 market stalls on offer, including local businesses such as Bravo Trattoria, Lola Cuccina, Johnny Bird as well as Vision Personal Training Crows Nest, Studio Pilates Crows Nest, CycleBar Crows Nest, Pacific Swim School and City Cave.

FOOD ALLEY RETURNS

Food Alley will be making a return on Burlington Street. JoEllen says that because Crows Nest is known for its food, Food Alley is going to be a focal point of the day. The Sun sat down with a few of the eatery stall holders and local businesses to see what they will be doing for the Crows Nest Fest.

Bean Drinking

Back when most cafes were only good for a simple flat white and sandwich, this Crows Nest institution was serving up specialty coffees from cold to batch brews and single origin. Bean Drinking opened its doors 18 years ago and has been run by local icon Fashard Kharam for 5 years. Fashard told the Sun it’s been nothing but up since, “It has moved on from a local cafe that was kind of known around the area, now everybody knows us!”

The cafe fuses modern flavours with cafe classics. Fashard gave us two hot tips on their specialty dishes “One of the best things we have is the creamy smoked salmon pasta and the superfood salad with salmon fillet, it’s delicious.” For anyone with a sweet tooth, Bean Drinking’s cakes are sourced from an international award winning Australian bakery.

Located off Ernest Place, Fashard couldn’t be happier in Crows Nest “Where we are with the green space in front of us, the community centre, it’s a perfect place to sit and have coffee any day. The way we are, the vibe here attracts the right kind of people,” adding “It’s a village atmosphere, everyone seems to know each other very well.”

For the Crows Nest Festival, Bean Drinking is offering a free coffee with either their signature French toast for breakfast or with savoury and corn fritters at lunch.

Johnny Bird

Hawaiian special BBQ sauce, pineapple, bacon cheese and of course, a crispy fried chicken patty. Ladies and gentlemen! Johnny Bird’s Hella Hawaiian Burger, the winner of last years’ Crows Nest Burger Fest is back again!

Johnny’s wasn’t always known for its incredible fried chicken. In fact 7 years ago when three local mates Jason, Lauren and Tom got together to open an American style grub spot - the friends opened Johnny Lobster.

“Myself and one of my business partners, travelled the East Coast a lot, so when we originally opened we loved that East Coast seafood,” said Tom.

Fried chicken was a small menu item with classic lobster rolls and chowder being their specialty. Yet 3 years in, business was booming but lobster prices were through the roof. The lo-

cals loved the fried chicken from day one so it was a natural change to Johnny Bird.

Johnny Bird will be running a stall selling their Mission BBQ brand goodies. Everything from ribs to sausages and American smoked meats treats.

Johnny Bird will be offering $1 wings all day and $15 jugs of beer!

Bravo Trattoria

When it comes to classic Italian cuisine, nobody does it better than Bravo Trattoria and they’ve been doing it for 32 years! The restaurant was originally located next to the Woolies on Falcon St before moving into the corner of Ernest Place and Willoughby Road 9 years ago.

Owner Robert Gugliotta wouldn’t

have it any other way.

“Crows Nest has a lovely village vibe, the people are great and beautiful Ernest Place, what more could you ask for.”

Luckily for Crows Nest festival goers, Bravo will be hosting two stalls. Outside the restaurant they will be serving up their classic woodfire pizzas. When asked what his personal favourite topping was, Robert immediately answered “Margarita is my favourite, it’s classic. There’s only one pizza and that’s the Margarita.”

Further up Willoughby Road, stop by their Gelato stand offering all the classics from chocolate to hazelnut, vanilla, lemon and mango.

For Robert, the festival is a significant boost: “It’s always been the most

important day for Crows Nest. The streets are closed, people are out and about, families and friends. It’s a great day to get together and a good celebration after we haven’t had the festival.”

Big Day for Big Music

For 15 years Big Music has seen thousands of people come through its doors. From the Angels, the Screaming Jets, the Choirboys, the Church and INXS to the hundreds of students

CROWS NEST SPOTLIGHT

who have learned to love music in the classrooms upstairs.

For Crows Nest Festival Big Music will be spilling out into Ernest Place, hosting a packed day of music that will reverberate throughout Willoughby Road and beyond.

We sat down with Damon Lesnie who is the Senior Music Director and Events Coordinator at Big Music to get a preview of what to expect: “This year we have our elite under 18s headlining

most of the day. They’ll be doing half hour sets all throughout the day. And in between those, we’ll be bringing up some of our over 18 band programs that do their own songwriting and covers.” Recently, Big Music has been hosting “like a version” performances in house where students have a chance to cover their favourite songs, with their own personal flair and twist.

“We’re going to have our junior rockers get up as well, which is our

entry level performers and they can belt out some cool little AC/DC tunes.”

The rockers have had the privilege of meeting AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd who is a regular at Big Music.

Finally the 18s new program will headline the day, as the Big Music All Stars hit the stage. The group will be touring the Parkes Elvis festival in the summer but Crows Nest Festival goers will get a chance to see them free before they hit the big time.

New Hume St park opens up Crows Nest connection

By James Mullan

After almost a decade of planning and construction, Hume St is now connected to Willoughby Rd, linking the future Metro station site with the main commercial hub of Crows Nest.

Crows Nest is in a period of great flux. Four new skyscrapers now tower over St Leonards South to join several recent residential developments between the Crows Nest to St Leonards corridor. Most of these developments can be linked to the Metro station which is due to open next year.

Not only does the Metro increase the surrounding land value but also makes these areas more attractive for big development.

North Sydney Council identified

these challenges as long ago as 2009. Mayor of North Sydney Zoe Baker, who was on council at that time, explained the germination of the Hume St Park expansion project in an interview with the Sun.

“In 2009, Council held a public open space study which found that Crows Nest was in urgent need of public open space to address the needs of the community back then and for the future population that comes with increased density. In 2010, Council then decided to do a precinct planning study with the specific purpose of delivering public open space, connection between Willoughby Road and Pacific Highway and a better public domain.”

Expanding Hume St Park was one

of the projects designed to address the low amount of open public space. The council would go on to purchase two properties at 43-49 Hume Street followed by two adjacent properties at 90 and 92 Willoughby Road. The existing Penfolds façade was hollowed out to create a throughway park from Hume St to Willoughby Rd.

“It’s been ten years between conception and delivery. At the end the state government came in, the council spent more than $15 million on design and doing its part in stage 1. The State Government has given us $3.5 million under their precinct support program,” Baker explained.

Part of that funding came from allowing height limits to be extended on nearby buildings in return for contributions towards the park.

“It was one of the most extensive community consultations ever and it was a hard conversation with the community because it was about additional height that would pay for the purpose of new open space.”

Along the new pedestrian link the space features a lawn area, landscaped gardens including along the walls, lighting and seating. “It’s designed to be a place of reflection, activities, a place to sit but equally I can see it being a place for community events,” Baker said.

Local businesses are also optimistic about what the space provides for the area. Sean St Clair, a director on Crows Nest’s Mainstreet committee and local real estate agent, believes that addition of extra space will help to boost local businesses.

“A big part of it is more green space. Ernest Place was the only green space in the local area for business. This area now allows people to come to Crows Nest and stay, spend some time, not just go shopping and leave but spend more time here,” he told the Sun.

With the plaza opened, stage 1 of the Hume St Park expansion project is complete.

Jason Marriot, project director from Ignite Architects said of the project: “As part of a bigger vision to expand the existing Hume Park, the plaza is an important first step towards creating safe, welcoming public amenity in Crows Nest.”

Mayor Zoe Baker

As for the next step, stage 2 will see the conversion of Kelly’s Place childcare centre into additional green space with the centre due to be relocated.

Stage 3 involves the redevelopment of the North Sydney Indoor Sports centre, whole-of-block re-development including rebuilding a new sports centre, car park and other facilities under the new park.

Mayor Baker suggests this stage is still a way off.

“Stage 3 is the wish list stage. It is if a future council spends $70 million to knock down the existing Hume St car park to put it underground and provide new sporting facilities over the top. But you have to have a vision and an aspiration or you won’t deliver anything. Funding is not within this or the next council view, unless there’s some manna from heaven from the state government,” said Baker.

Mindfulness, stress reduction for better mental health

By Living To Thrive’s Chuck Anderson

This month is special to me (and many others) as it is National Mental Health Month. National Mental Health Month is a Mental Health Foundation Australia (MHFA) initiative celebrated across Australia to support and raise awareness of mental health.

I put a fair bit of thought into what I wanted to write about and share with you. I figured I could give you the standard statistics on mental health disorders in Australia which is what many organisations and newspapers often do. That said, I do not believe that sharing such stats will create actual meaningful change, inspire others to share their stories or allow me to take full advantage of this powerful platform that I am incredibly fortunate to have. In my experience, the most effective way to create a meaningful and authentic narrative and inspire change is through sharing lived experiences.

As some of you already know, I am speaking as someone with a background in psychology as well as decades of lived experience with what it means to struggle and thrive with several clinically diagnosed and treated psychological disorders (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder and General Anxiety Disorder).

I wake up every day feeling the symptoms of all three of my disorders with some days being more intense than others. My anxiety is the one that is ever-present often without rhyme or reason. Within a few minutes of waking up, I start to feel this immediate surge of anxiety that resurfaces without a conscious trigger in sight.

I take prescribed medication for all three of my disorders first thing in the morning and each brings significant positive changes in how I think, feel and function every day.

I very clearly remember the first time that I realised that my feelings of anxiousness were no longer the normal acute experiences that we all have. At the time, I was working full-time, working on my psychology degree while having ADHD and trying to balance the day-to-day family and general life challenges that we all face.

I recall walking to the gym first thing in the morning feeling heaviness in my chest. My heart rate was higher than normal with a feeling of worry that I could not shake. I tried to ignore it as I wanted to believe that it was the usual random stress at the beginning of a workday. However, when I was done training, I jumped in the shower and that is when it hit me. It was an overwhelming feeling of anxiety, my chest compressed under unbearable weight, I struggled to breathe, and I started to

get dizzy and felt nauseous. I had to sit down in the shower as I felt like I was going to pass out. It was at that very moment that I realised what I was feeling was not normal and I needed more than positive thinking and a self-help book to keep me mentally healthy.

To alleviate some of the heavy bouts of anxiety and panic attacks that were taking place at the time I made a list of everything on my plate.

I broke it down into “Work”, “Home” and “Life” and there was little I could do to change my work life or home life as it was already a place of comfort and peace. I looked at my “Life” list and the first thing I jotted down was “Uni”. It was that very moment that I realised that I had to take a break from Uni for a while until I was able to better manage the psychological turmoil that was twisting my mind in circles and my body into the ground.

As someone that meditates every day, I felt that the first step was for me to invest more effort into my practice. I decided to sign-up for the MindfulnessBased Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. It is an eight-week intensive course that was initially created in the late ’70s by the “godfather” of modernday meditation, Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts.

The course initially focused on treating chronic pain, but it has since expanded to treating anxiety, eating disorders, depression, addiction and much more.

The MBSR course did wonders for my anxiety, and it is a course that everyone could benefit from to varying degrees. I won’t bore you with the neuroscience behind the “how” and the “what” of meditation, but ultimately the intention of the program is to offer you an improved capacity to make more deliberate and productive choices. To learn more about MBSR you can do a simple Google search for a course in your area or online or simply do some research online to see if it is something that you could commit to.

Years had gone by and I found that the anxiety was beginning to creep back into my day-to-day thoughts, feelings and behaviours. I committed to daily meditation practice and maintained a ridged self-care routine, i.e., daily exercise, vegan diet, hot baths, maintaining a low-stress environment and ongoing education for growth. Even with all my healthy habits the anxiety persisted and was once again becoming more than I could handle on my own. I was tired of feeling tired and overwhelmed and I was ready for the next level of support.

I decided that it was time to explore a new talk therapy and prescribed medication options and treatment with a psychiatrist and psychologist for my anxiety. For context, a psychiatrist is traditionally used for the assessment and treatment of mental disorders. A psychologist is traditionally used to help you identify the underlying psychological challenges that may be triggering or exacerbating a disorder and provide tools to better manage it.

I found a great psychologist and fantastic psychiatrist who helped me work through and better manage my mental health. Ultimately, I was prescribed an antidepressant and started Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) which was fitting for my personality type. Along with my other selfcare habits, the medication and therapy have gotten me to a point where I am happier than ever, well-balanced and capable of living the life that I want and deserve. I still have off days, but I am in a much better place now than I have ever been.

I share all this very personal information to encourage those that are struggling with their own mental health challenges. I also want people to know that it is possible to be open about mental illness without being condemned or ridiculed.

Lastly, in recognition of mental health month, “Living to Thrive” (my company) is offering a FREE mental health and well-being training session to organisations and businesses across Australia.

This includes community-focused organisations. Contact me directly if you are interested: ChuckAnderson@LivingtoThrive.com.au

Winter sports wrap

win the NSW Cup and National Championship. In round two loss they had a second life facing Canterbury-Bankstown. It was penalty goals that essentially separated the teams. Bulldogs kicker Brandon Wakeham booted 10 points which tied the Bears total score. The full time score was 10-22 with the boys from Bankstown sending Norths into an early mad Monday. For the Bears faithful this isn’t a particularly new feeling, still chasing their first silverware since winning several reserve grade titles in the 90s.

With all things considered Norths had a great season on and off the field, managing to increase membership, a Minor Premiership and attracting sizable crowds to North Sydney Oval. The club is definitely on an upward trajectory.

Norths Basketball

In the clubs inaugural NBL1 East season both the mens and womens squads made it through to the finals. Despite a slow start to the year the men’s squad managed to turn it around mid season to put on a finals run led by veteran Pat Sanders, Sydney Kings player Iggy Mitchell and Brennan Rymer, who was selected in NBL1 East team of the year.

In the first round the Bears matched up with Illawarra but fell 94-82 despite Mitchell’s 21 points and 8 rebounds. For a season riddled with inconsistent squad availability due to injuries and sickness, Norths managed to keep it all together to overachieve.

Norths’ women were one of the top teams in their competition, constantly trading top spot with Albury-Wodonga and Sutherland. By the end of the regular season they had slipped into 4th mainly due to injuries. Finals round one also saw the women face Illawarra but with a far different result, dominating 88-41.

Through to the semi and 1 win away from the grand final the Bears would face Lauryn Jackson’s Albury-Wodonga. Renae Garlepp’s squad put forward a remarkable performance, out-scoring Albury-Wodonga in the 2nd and 3rd quarter. However the combined 60 points, 27 rebound performance from the Bandits’ star import Unique Thompson and Lauren Jackson was too much for the Bears falling 85-78. The Ban-

A baton passes in Kirribilli

By Jilly Gibson

With pleasure I introduce Tony Binning - new proprietor of The Kirribilli Cafe and long time local.

The much-loved village restaurant occupies a prime position on the corner of Broughton St and Bligh St. The North-facing outdoor dining bays are blissful on this sunny Spring morning and Martin and I are having breakfast when Tony arrives to start working his magic.

He has taken over from Peter and Monica - familiar faces in Kirribilli for the past 16 years. Tony worked front-of-house for Peter from 1998 - 2001 at Piemonte in Terry Hills.

He reckons he learnt the value of hard work and his passion for customer service during these years.

Fast forward to April 2015 and Tony opens Barrel Bar and Dining on Military Rd Cremorne…near The Orpheum. It’s one of my favourite post-movie dinner spots. Fun vibe, simple contemporary menu and outstanding wine list.

The menu in Kirribilli will take time to morph from Peter’s favourites to Tony’s specialities but I’ve already requested that my favourite Barrel Risotto - Spanner Crab and Sweetcorn with Pine nuts - make an appearance in Kirribilli ASAP.

Some staples such as Spaghetti di Mare or Garlic Prawns could, however, never be taken off the menu! The owner of the cafe might

be new but the hungry diners are still mostly regulars. I spot Denis and Beryl Cubis from Elamang Ave and they agreeably jump in to share a snap.

With lightning speed the wine list has been recharged. There is something for everyone. Lots of classic Italian offerings at moderate prices.

I’m instantly amused by Tony’s descriptions. Here’s one of my favourites: give it try! 2020 Campagnola ‘Soave’ Garganaga, Venito IT $59 - Delicate and intense ,raw, nutty finish, and fun to say (SWAHVEY). Let’s all practice by saying out loud …..SWAH-VEY. There’s also a super Rose from Provence…a bargain at $11 a glass or $49 per

bottle. Tony says even the blokes will drink this Rose as it is NOT sweet! If you reckon Italian food is best accompanied by a red don’t look past a great Tassie Pinot from Pipers River. The 2020 Russell & Suitor ‘Son of a Bull’ at $55 is a bargain. Cheers.

Bligh St, along with Burton St Plaza are soon to be upgraded as part of the Kirribilli Master Plan. The proposed designs will enhance the outdoor dining experience and works will commence next year. If you’d like to have input into the look and feel of our beloved village, now is the time. Community consultation will commence soon. Watch out on North Sydney Council’s ‘Your Say North Sydney’ website section.

WHAT TO DO IN NORTH SYDNEY

Friday 4 November, 5:30PM

Chill Sessions featuring Janet Levy and Sean Mackenzie

Venue: Lounge Bar, Milsons Point

Friday 21 October

Candlelight: A Tribute to Radiohead on Strings

Venue: Hayden Orpheum

Candlelight concerts combine the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience with UK altrock powerhouse Radiohead’s classics.

Thursday 27 October, 8:00PM

Doc Neeson Anniversary

Venue: Hayden Orpheum

The Doc Neeson band is back together to bring us back to 2012 as Steve Mulrey joins the line up for a night of all the classics to pay tribute to the late Doc Neeson.

Saturday 29 October, 4-7pm

Sunset Series

Venue’ Waverton Park

The Spicy Margaritas headline on the Saturday night with a fun mix of top hits from across the decades, as well as funk, soul, and party beats.

Sunday 30 October, 4-7pm

Sunset Series

Venue’ Waverton Park

ABBALANCHE the Australian ABBA Tribute Show will take the stage on Sunday evening and will get the crowd dancing with live renditions of all the ABBA hits.

Janet is a popular Jazz & Blues artist performing professionally for over twenty years. Seán’s explorations started with exploring jazz and journeyed into less conventional, indigenous sounds that have seen him specialise in piano, the exquisite thumb piano (Kalimba) of Africa, and the beautiful Brazilian instruments of berimbau and pandeiro.

Sunday 6 November, 3:30PM

Joe Avati: 25 Live Have Some Respect Tour Venue: Norths Cammeray

After surviving the world’s longest lockdown in Melbourne, Joe is bursting with new material, has gone slightly stir crazy, and will take his all new Live 25 show on a national tour to celebrate his quarter century of comedy.

Send your event to James Mullan at james@ northsydneysun.com.au for inclusion

Jilly Gibson and partner Martin

THE GROUNDS

Bears’ 129th season in full swing

By James Mullan

The bats are tapping for the 2022/23 Cricket season. For the first time in two seasons, the NSW Premier Cricket season will be free of restrictions, La Nina notwithstanding.

With the season underway, we caught up with Senior Club President Pat Lindsay to find out what to expect from this summer of UTS North Sydney Bears Cricket. After finishing 15th last year in the Club Championship, Lindsay is confident the team has what it takes to improve.

“Every season we put a team out hoping to make finals, that’s the aim this year. We’ve got a strong, mature group, with some high quality players.” Lindsay believes Norths have plenty of talent in their first grade line up. Tom Jagot will captain the squad as well as doubling as batting coach. Jagot has been with the club since 2015 and won the O’Reilly medal for best player of the competition just two seasons ago.

Also starring in the batting line up is Justin Avandano.

The batsman has played for the Sydney Sixers and, more recently, the Melbourne Stars in the T20 Big Bash League.

In NSW Premier Cricket he was simply dominant last season, tallying up 707 runs, third highest in Premier

Cricket, while averaging 78 runs per innings, landing him a spot in the team of the year. Already this season, he is off to an impressive start registering 152 runs in round 2 against Sydney.

In the bowling ranks, Lindsay highlighted the opening duo of James Campbell and Matt Alexander as two stars to keep an eye on.

Campbell is a local junior and has played for North Sydney his whole career. Last season, he bagged 19 wickets in only 11 matches.

Left arm quick Alexander has been with Norths for 5 seasons now and has cracked 100+ wickets in his grade career. Last season he totalled 23 wickets, highlighted by an impressive 5/39 performance. Off the pitch, he recently got engaged to his sweetheart, Holly.

Rob Aitkin, the heart and soul of Bears cricket, is back for another summer. The all rounder holds the record for most NSW premier cricket appearances ever and has been with the Bears since 2001.

In transfer news, 18 year old wicket keeper James Rew will join the Bears. He has been playing County Cricket in England where he has tallied 339 runs in only 8 test matches, a very impressive achievement for the youngster. Rew has also represented England at the ICC Under 19 World Cup.

From last year’s squad, Aiden Bariol and Jack James left the club for Tasmania and Gordon respectively, which will likely open up opportunities for Jimmy Greenslade and Adam Cavenor. In the grandstand, coach Gary Whitaker has moved into the Director of Men's Cricket role with John Saint taking over as Head Coach and Todd Harper returning as Head Assistant Coach.

Overall, Lindsay believes top level cricket in the district is in great shape.

“Cricket on the North Shore I think is very strong. It’s a very competitive landscape amongst clubs. There’s Mosman, Gordon, Northern Districts

that are all competing for the same players and honestly it spurs you on a bit. Plus you add in Manly and Sydney that aren’t that far away so it’s a pretty competitive area.”

Mosman took out last year's 1st grade premiership while North Sydney is still waiting for their first title since 1931/32.

However, the Bears did win the 1st grade limited over titles in 2012/13.

Lindsay is confident this year’s team has what it takes to go all the way and added the partnership with UTS has seen a massive improvement in club’s fortunes since they teamed up in 2018.

Successful seasons but no silverware for N Syd clubs this winter

Local sports fans had plenty to cheer about this year; the North Sydney Bears women and the Shoremen both won minor premierships, Norths basketball played in the inaugural NBL1 East season, the Bombers men made the grand final and Northbridge’s women were promoted to NPL NSW. Despite these success stories, no top flight squad won their competition. The Sun takes a look at how our local teams finished their seasons and fared in the finals.

Norths Rugby

For the past 5 Shute Shield seasons the Shoremen have made the finals. This year they went one better, securing the Minor Premiership, edging out favourites Sydney Uni thanks to a late season run of red hot form.

After taking care of Manly in the qualifying finals 34-27, Norths earned the week off and a spot in the preliminary finals. They ended up facing rivals Gordon, whom they had split the regular season match-ups with, one a piece. The Stags shocked the competition by triumphing 13-23, despite only just scraping into the finals.

It was a huge blow for Norths who had been tipped to face Sydney Uni, the eventual premiers, in the final. Although it’s not the result the club

WINTER SPORTS WRAP with James Mullan

wanted, the Shoremen remain in good shape for next season. Dave Henaway, half back Nick Duffy and inside centre Harry Burey were rewarded for their stellar seasons, all gaining selection to represent North Harbour.

If Zak Beer can continue the stability and success he has brought to the first grade side, Norths will again be favourites to go all the way in ‘23.

North Shore Bombers

After a win in round 1 of the finals, a narrow loss in round 2, then a timely victory in the preliminary final, the Bombers made it through to the AFL Sydney Men’s Championship Grand Final against UNSW.

Unfortunately, the Bombers fell short at the hands of a suffocating Bulldogs defense. The game blew out in the third period as UNSW pulled away to a 24 point lead. Despite a 14 point flurry from the Bombers in the final period, it proved to be too little, too late as UNSW claimed the 2022 Premiership.

Regardless, the boys in red and black had an excellent season. Captain Jack Veale was named best and fairest for the competition while the forward

line of Josh Rayner and Max Thomas proved to be the most potent in the league, booting a combined 62 goals.

Meanwhile, the women’s squad also made the finals and claimed a victory in the first round against a strong Inner West side. Yet, in round 2 they were outdone by Sydney Uni 330. Overall, the Bombers proved to be one of the strongest clubs in Sydney with both top teams making the finals plus the men’s division 1 and women’s division 3 winning titles.

Northbridge FC

Northbridge’s women had an incredible 2022 season. They went 13 games unbeaten in a huge run to the finals, claimed top goal scorer in the comp with Tamaris Souza netting an amazing 43 goals and gained promotion to the top flight in NSW football.

Yet, unfortunately the squad bowed out of the competition with a close 1-0 loss to Hills in the first round of the finals. In an absolute arm wrestle of a match, it took an 88 minute brace by Hills’ Isabella Sciberras to crush the hopes of Bulls fans.

Despite the finals disappointment the team did secure eligibility for pro-

motion to the top flight of NSW football; the NPL.

North Sydney Bears

Since their debut in the 2018 season of the NSW women’s premiership, the Bears have been one of the top sides, with this season feeling like the year they would go all the way.

The signs were there with the side only dropping one of their eight games. This impressive form bagged Norths’ women their first silverware since entering the comp in 2018 as they claimed the Minor Premiership. Waiting for the minor premiers in round one of the finals was the only team that had beaten the Bears all season; Wests Tigers.

At a wet Kogarah Oval the sides slogged it out with Wests just edging ahead late to win 24-10. The Tigers would go on to win the premiership.

Star five eighth, Jillaroo, NSW Blues and NRLW star Kirra Dibb was named the competition’s player of the year.

The Bears men finished 3rd in the NSW Cup and had been one of the favourites to go all the way. Week 1 of the finals saw a loss to table topping Penrith, who would eventually go onto