Volume 6 Issue 1
Autumn 2012
A Rock Pool is Reborn The long awaited works to the Balmoral children's rock pool, also known as the Clem Morath pool, were recently completed. The pool, which has degraded over recent years and sustained storm damage, was the subject of considerable debate by Council. In addition there were differing views within the community about the future of the pool, with some residents wanting to see it returned to its natural state, while others sought its reconstruction. The $50K project included excavation of the broken wall and removal of the large boulder in the pool, placement of 2.5 tonne sandstone blocks on the existing rock bed to form a new wall and the use of the recycled, broken seawall as a wave barrier on the harbour side. Council's Manager Assets and Services, Craig Covich, pointed out that “it was not as simple as some would think, and to just pour fast-setting concrete was never an option.” “This work could only be undertaken by a small number of specialist tradesmen, and only at very low tide. We also needed to obtain a number of approvals from State Government environmental agencies. It has been a long wait but I'm very confident that users of the pool will be satisfied with the outcome which is both aesthetically pleasing and environmentally responsible.”
vs
NEW
Election 2012
Saturday 8 September
Election of popularly elected mayor plus 6 councillors When Mosman residents elect their new council on 8 September, all residents will vote for the Mayor and 6 councillors who will represent the area. Visit www.mosman.nsw.gov.au which will include regularly updated election information.
OLD
www.mosman.nsw.gov.au
See page 4
Page 2
Special Notice – Gallery Closure There is some disruption to regular services at Mosman Art Gallery and Community Centre between January & June 2012. The Galleries on Levels 1 & 2 will be temporarily closed for essential gallery maintenance works from 1st January–30 March 2012. Venue hire and community programs and activities on the Ground Floor will continue during this period. From April – June 2012 additional refurbishment works will impact services on the Ground Floor. We look forward to welcoming visitors in late June to the refurbished Mosman Art Gallery and Community Centre, featuring renovated meeting/workshop spaces, a new permanent Gallery to house the Balnaves Collection and a refurbished foyer area. Enquiries, 9978 4178.
Festival of Mosman Update A decision has been made to hold the Festival of Mosman and In Situ: Mosman Festival of Sculpture and Installation exhibition biennially, with the next event occurring in 2013. Council has decided that in the years the Festival is not held, a series of outdoor concerts will take place at Balmoral on Friday evenings during October/November. A few popular community events will continue annually, including; Pet's Day Out, Children's Fair, Mosman's Big Lunch and Hunter Valley Uncorked at Balmoral. Stay tuned for more on our exciting Springtime event program!
Wall of Fame Nominations
Did you know?
The Sporting Wall of Fame comprises several glass panels, designed by artists Roger Apte and Warren Langley, combining imagery of selected sports – cricket, rugby, swimming, sailing, athletics and rowing, along with the shoreline and major roads of the municipality.
Council is seeking nominations of persons to be inducted into the Mosman Sporting Wall of Fame. Etched on the wall are names of athletes who have been selected and/or represented Australia in international sporting competition at junior or senior level and have lived or are presently living in Mosman. Nominations will close 30 April 2012. Nomination forms are available from Council’s website www.mosman.nsw.gov.au or by calling 9978 4257.
Men’s Shed taking shape
Progress in the construction of the Mosman Men's Shed is encouraging. The walls are up and the roof nearly completed. Behind the scenes work is also progressing – the Men’s Shed organisation has been incorporated and generous donations of tools are being inventoried so planning for the internal layout can be finalised. A new logo has MOSMAN been approved sending the message that the ’ new facility will be a ‘whale of a shed’. Forty members have registered to date. For inquiries, contact Ryan Mouthaan on 9978 4216.
Mens
SHED
Planning Demystified Mosman's new Local Environmental Plan (LEP) came into force on 1 February and after much hard work reflects broad community support for protection of bushland areas and truly local controls that reflect the area's unique characteristics. Council was able to withstand pressure to acquiesce to the former Government's one-size-fits-all approach and the LEP instead has local provisions that relate to important items such as scenic protection and foreshore building lines. Recent publicity about development application processing times criticising the Council was, in effect, last year's news. Since the introduction of the highly successful independent Mosman Development Assessment Panel (MDAP) processing times have been reduced by 23% and at present average 87 days. Importantly, Council will never sacrifice quality for quantity when dealing with applications but remains committed to continuous improvement in this area. Building on the new LEP and the MDAP, Council is striving to improve processes and make lodging or responding to an application easier for residents to understand. With this in mind, a new web-based planning inquiry tool is being developed to allow the community ready access to planning information about individual properties. An information evening for interested residents is scheduled to occur on 19 April. RSVP to Devika Pont on 9978 4107.
Extended service for Rider After two years of service and close to 100,000 passengers, the Mosman Rider service is set to expand its reach to even more Mosman residents. At its first meeting for 2012, Mosman Council endorsed a new, extended route for the Mosman Rider which is due to take effect by July this year. After considering a comprehensive review of the Rider since its inception, Councillors agreed to support a revised route that will service both the northern and southern areas of Mosman, making the Rider more accessible to more people every day. Council is also seeking tenders for future operation of the service. The Rider's distinctive 'branding' is to be retained and new signage and seating will be rolled out in conjunction with the new route. “The revised route, which we are providing to prospective tenderers as an indicative proposal, will ensure better access for passengers to Spit Junction, Mosman Junction, and Spofforth Street shops, more pick-up and drop-off points in the south-west of the municipality, the continuation of half-hour pick-ups and drop-offs at Balmoral and better servicing of Headland Park, where the Mosman Men's Shed is under construction”, said Mayor Connon. Residents can expect the current route to continue for the next few months while operational matters are finalised. The Mosman Rider tracking system will continue to operate in both the short term and following changes to the Rider route. “I think Council can feel very pleased with the way that the Mosman Rider service has progressively established itself and has continued to increase passenger numbers over the last two years. Now we are making sure it remains relevant, operationally sustainable and readily accessible to more residents.”
Mosman Rider North Loop Departs cnr Raglan and Esplanade 30 minutes past the hour. Hail bus anywhere safe and legal to stop, but preferably a bus stop
Stay on board for South Loop
Mosman Rider South Loop Departs cnr Raglan and Esplanade on the hour. Hail bus anywhere safe and legal to stop, but preferably a bus stop
Stay on board for North Loop
New lease on life Local heritage building Boronia is currently being refurbished in time for the new lease which commences in April 2012.
The building originally constructed in 1885 was acquired by Mosman Council in 1952 and became the Mosman Municipal Library. Since that time it has been used for offices, a restaurant and a function centre. Boronia is an excellent example of a Victorian Filigree style building and the site retains a formal Victorian garden setting. The $800K project includes repainting the building to match the original colour scheme, improving access, landscaping, security cameras, strengthening the first floor and balcony, refurbishment of the roof, windows and doors and other minor works. The project required a tick from the Heritage Council of NSW. The new lessee is Toast Food Pty Limited – a highly experienced and recognised event and function catering company which will operate Boronia as a function centre. In addition it will be opened up further to the community with the provision of a High Tea service on weekends and other opportunities for public access to areas of the building.
Pedestrian Access Plan Council recently engaged consultants to prepare a Pedestrian Access and Mobility Plan (PAMP) for Mosman, specifically focusing on the area incorporating Spit and Mosman Junction business centres and high-use pedestrian areas along Military Road and Spit Road. The objective of the PAMP is to remove or ameliorate barriers along the primary access routes to the business centres to encourage walking. The types of proposed actions incorporated in the draft PAMP include: Pedestrian refuges at numerous locations including Almora
Street/Military Road and Gladstone Avenue/Belmont Road
Increasing phasing time for pedestrians, for example at Spit
Road/Ourimbah Road and Spit Road/Awaba Street
Upgrade pram ramps at a number of locations including Vista
Street/Art Gallery Way
A shared path along Military Road from Cowles Road to Cremorne
Junction
General improvements to pavement surfaces in numerous locations Future concepts for pedestrian movements including
circumferential laneway concept around Spit Junction which relies on private property development.
The PAMP is be used to guide future works and for funding applications.
Rat Run Revisted The preparation of a Traffic Management Plan for the closure of the right hand turn from Spit Road into Pearl Bay Road has commenced. Council has appointed a traffic consultant to assist in the preparation of the plan. The plan needs to assess the impact of the removal of the right hand turn in regards to residential traffic, public transport and emergency vehicles. The recent public consultation will also form part of the final report. The completed report needs to be submitted to the NSW Department of Roads and Maritime Services for their approval before the restriction can be put in place. It is expected the report will be completed in April and the matter will be subject to a Council report in May this year.
Too Much Garbage Big changes are on the way for how we collect our domestic garbage and recycling – but time is on our side – they won't take effect until 2015. It's a major project, but with landfill approaching capacity at Belrose, together with our SHOROC partners, Manly, Pittwater and Warringah Councils, big things are planned for the Kimbriki Resource Recovery Centre at Terrey Hills. Our vision is to take responsibility for disposal of the waste we generate, and all four Councils have rejected the costly and unsustainable option of transporting it by truck and train over 200km to Goulburn. We have recently done a waste audit that shows the average Mosman garbage bin contains:
¡37.75% of food waste ¡37.75% of food waste ¡3.75% of garden organics/vegetation ¡3.75% of garden organics/vegetation ¡21.8% of recyclable materials (including plastic ¡21.8% of recyclable materials (including plastic bottles, paper, cardboard bottles, paper, cardboardand andaluminum aluminumcans) cans) ¡36.7% of of garbage ¡36.7% garbage
The challenge for the four Councils will be to reduce the percentage of food waste and recyclables in the garbage bin by educating and working with residents on how to use the new green waste collection system. Together with the private sector, we will be building the technology at Kimbriki to recycle and re-use our waste. Mosman News will contain regular updates on the progress of this exciting environmental initiative.
41.5%
Food + Garden Organics
21.8% Recyclables
36.7%
Garbage
Mosman News
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beat the
A free community concert raising awareness for youth mental health issues
blues YOUTH CONCERT TH RAI SING EAL AL H AWAREN ESS FOR MENT
Book Online
Sun 25 March
www.mosman.nsw .gov.au/events
LIVEACTS
Bridgepoint Pedestrian Bridge Council has authorised the General Manager to approve an upgrade to the bridge and clock tower including third party advertising subject to the community receiving income that could be used for public benefit purposes. The bridge is constructed in airspace leased by Council to the owners of Bridgepoint until 2038 and in agreeing to the signs being erected the (then) RTA authorised the work subject to Council entering into what is known as a Voluntary Planning Agreement (VPA). A draft VPA has now been negotiated which returns to the Council in its first year $426,218 which will be increased annually by the CPI returning to Council over $8 million over the 15 years life of the agreement. The agreement provides that the money is to be invested in public domain commercial infrastructure improvements, parking technology to ensure turnover and availability in our free commercial carparks, and road and footpath infrastructure. Advertising on the panels will be strictly controlled and for safety reasons will be static not digital. Council's professional advisors and the RTA have assessed the signage location and design as being suitable from a viewpoint of road safety, importantly with the RTA issuing concurrence for the application on a classified road. Residents are invited to make comment on the Draft VPA until Monday 16 April 2012 and further information may be obtained from Council's Manager Governance, Tony Fitzpatrick on 9978 4010.
Parking at Balmoral going well In the two weeks from Christmas Eve 2011, 6,900 free three-hour tickets were issued to Mosman foreshore permit holder residents to park along The Esplanade. This is up 22% on the same period just two years ago, and is evidence that the Council's policy of parking accessibility for Mosman residents is working. 36% of the spaces available were used by foreshore permit holders, and the average stay of visitors who pay for parking is now 1.5 hours. To further improve turnover and accessibility for
residents, Council is proposing to increase its minimum charges at Balmoral by $1 from July 2012, and in line with demand management principles, this fee will increase by $2 for Saturdays, Sunday and public holidays for the three-month 2012/13 summer period, as well as the full 14 days from Christmas Eve 2012. The above action will not only work to ensure that at least half the spaces available are used by Mosman residents, the income will also fund outstanding infrastructure works on roads, footpaths and marine structures. The Mosman Collection, which includes a range of Mosman-inspired silver brooches, stick pins and paper weights has now seen the introduction of fabulous new ties and scarves. The high-quality silk ties come in a range of three colours: navy, burgundy and graphite with design motifs that reference Mosman's historical past. The stylish silk scarves come in six colours: navy, burgundy, silver, pearl, black and latte with an elegant Mosman signature. The ties and scarves add an element of Mosman to your wardrobe and make a great gift idea. They are available from Mosman Art Gallery and the Civic Centre (reception) for a limited introductory price of $27.50. Our specially designed and crafted ties and scarves have proven very popular in the past and we expect these to be just as sought after. Be proud of the beautiful area in which you live and grab one today. COLLECTION
Mosman Council wants to revitalise Spit Junction as a vibrant hub of business, shopping and community activity.
Have your say on the project website
mosmanplanning.net
Mosman Municipal Council Civic Centre, Mosman Square Mosman NSW 2088
the
PEOPLES
Junction
tel 9978 4000 fax 9978 4132 email council@mosman.nsw.gov.au web www.mosman.nsw.gov.au
Š2012 Mosman Municipal Council. All information correct at time of printing.
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