The Bugle 22 February 2020
A fortnightly celebration of people and places on the Upper South Coast of NSW Serving the communities of Kiama, Gerringong, Jamberoo, Kiama Downs, Minnamurra and Gerroa and now at www.thebugleonline.com
Local Regrow: planting the seed Elizabeth Burnett of Burnetts on Barney is hoping that an initiative of hers to help South Coast nurseries will spread to other fire and drought affected areas. “A whole lot of South Coast wholesale nurseries are doing it tough, and I’m hoping that identifying their plants with a Local Regrow sticker will encourage people to support these local growers,” she says. Burnetts typically buys a third of its plants from ten South Coast nurseries, including Jamberoo Native Nursery, so Elizabeth is very aware of the hardships they have suffered. “Three of them have been burnt out and the others have been dealing with water restrictions, heatwaves and now floods. “There was also a period when they just couldn’t get anything out because of road closures. “The fires stopped production, sales and access to markets.” Her Local Regrow initiative also has a multiplier effect, as $1 from each plant sold, regardless of its value, will be given to Landcare Illawarra and Shoalhaven specifically to buy native tubestock for replanting. “They are the experts who will make sure the right plants are put in the right places. “In turn, they will buy these plants from local
growers, so the circle is complete.” Elizabeth feels stongly that each of us has a role to play in the recovery period. “It is a time to restart, rebuild and reinvigorate the whole of the South Coast, beginning in our own gardens. “Our gardens have to become the temporary habitat for displaced animals, insects and particularly birds. “We’ve effectively missed a whole season of flowering.” The Independent Garden Centres Association has expressed interest in extending in the campaign which Burnetts has developed throughout its Australia-wide network.
Win tickets to the Kiama Sevens p 2
Emily brings some Ottolenghi magic to town p 3
End to kerbside clean-ups This March’s kerbside cleanup service will be the last, with Council deciding its risks, costs and inefficiency at diverting waste from landfill made a compelling case for change. Not only are staff are at high risk of injuries due to the repetitive and physical nature of the job, but the trucks currently used are not ideal for the work. Materials left on the footpath are also a source of danger for the public, as well as being an eyesore especially after scavengers have been.
Inside this issue
Another reason in favour of the demise of kerbside clean-ups is that it has been shown they have a significantly lower resource recovery rate than the more recently introduced household bulky waste drop-off events. The kerbside collection service has been limited to 1m2, and has not allowed for the collection of any large furniture, e-waste or mattresses. Council’s household bulky waste event allows for 2m2 of waste, in addition to
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e-waste and mattresses, and recently won a 2019 Local Government NSW Excellence in the Environment Award, in the community waste services category. “While the kerbside cleanup is a highly visable service, in reality just over 2,000 properties out of 13,000 actually used the last time it was done,” says Council’s General Manager Kerry McMurray. However councillors went against staff recommendation to just provide two household bulky waste
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events a year, by voting to also include one user pays on-call clean-up collection per year. The user pays system will allow urban households to call for a collection service, at a subsidised rate of $85. Larger bulkier items would not qualify for collection. Mr McMurray says the new system will not result in any change to the current commitment to link the domestic waste management charge to the level of rate pegging increases for this and the next two years.
Order of Australia recipients p4
Full lift-out program for the 2020 Kiama Jazz & Blues Festival p 7-10
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