The Beast's Monthly Mailbag

Words The Good People of the Eastern Beaches

"Unpublic" Community Building

A community-owned building at Bronte Beach houses public amenities, Council lifeguards, the surf club, Council facilities and a kiosk. As the building is to be replaced, the surf club submitted a building design which, despite being excessive in size, received grudging community acceptance as history suggested it was the best we could expect from the club/Council officials.

As required of the Council, that design was considered by the Waverley Design Excellence Advisory Panel, which was so critical of the club’s grandiose proposal that I expect it is back to the drawing board.

The panel’s criticism adds significant weight to public concern, which has long been directed at the excessive nature of the club’s proposals. It provides our elected councillors with compelling reasons to rethink the scale and cost of the project.

The greatest extravagance sought by the club is a function centre-sized area with commercial quality food preparation facilities, which are clearly not necessary for beach patrols. As far as I know, the club has never explained the need for such a grand facility. The reality is that the existing and smaller function room is mostly closed and not accessible to members or the public except for a commercial fee.

The club has, I suspect, only about 400 active participants. During weekends and public holidays during the limited patrol season about 12 at a time perform patrol duty on the beach. They don’t need much building space for that. It is quite difficult to justify the club’s existing share of the building, let alone expanding it.

The advisory panel findings as to the club’s plans include that; “justification for the scale of the building needs to be given ... the new building ... doesn’t justify the scale of build ... the extent of ‘publicly available area’ offered by the proposal is negligible ... The bulk of the building is for the SLSC only.”

The panel added, “For a public building in a public space, this proposal is distinctly ‘unpublic’.”

The panel also critically observed that, “Toilets and change rooms are duplicated, with club members getting their own facilities ... The panel questions this outcome,” and, “A public building on public land should be publicly accessible and provide a clearly understood ‘public benefit’.”

Club officials need to accept that it is not their building - it belongs to the public. Hence the advisory panel criticism of the duplication by way of two sets of toilets and change rooms in the same Council building. The Boardriders Club also deserves a look-in.

The latest available surf club figures assert about 1,900 members. The reality is that 755 of those are nippers and 462 are “general members”. Nippers are required to have a parent enrolled as a “general member”, and neither they nor their parents are provided with a club entry fob, nor are they afforded voting rights. Obviously, they are not even expected to use the club toilets and change rooms, so it is a bit fictional to assert that they have club membership. Of the misleading 1,900 ‘members’, another 57 are associate members with no voting rights. Moreover, of the rest, a substantial number rarely, if ever, actually attend the club.

In addition to all that, a ‘Club & Community Room’ proposed for the new building is described by the advisory panel as being “inappropriate” and “creating a privatised space within public land”.

Waverley Council should ensure that instructions to whichever architects are now being engaged require a design of premises which are neither “unpublic” nor excessive and ensure that the club prove both to them and to the public the necessity of the space it asserts it requires.

Greg Maidment Bronte

The Rat 'Problem' is a Human Problem

As the article mentions, the ‘rat’ problem in Coogee is really a ‘human’ problem (Rats! Are Coogee’s Resident Rodents Here to Stay?

The Beast, July 2023). The issue that needs to be addressed is why so much food is being thrown away in the first place, and also why so many disposable single use items are being utilised in the first place?

Another attraction for these intelligent beings is dog waste. We should also address the issue of the amount of dogs being bred, especially when there are so many dogs being surrendered.

Lastly, poison is definitely not the answer. Not only do these poisons cause a horrible, painful death, but whoever ingests the poisoned rat - like a kookaburra or someone’s companion animalalso dies an excruciating death.

Marina DeBris Coogee

Agendas at Play

Dear Beast - I appreciate that the proposal for Burrows Park redevelopment has been getting a bit of airtime in your publication and others. We need to keep people informed. It is really important that the community of varied and passionate users of this park are given the respect they deserve, to not see this ground monopolised as a pure ‘rugby only’ field. I use this gorgeous and unique space each morning or evening for exercise, as do many other visitors of various ages and physical capability.

Your recent article (Clubs Agree on Burrows Upgrade While Residents Fear Foul Play, The Beast, July 2023) citing the fact that the Clovelly Crocs years ago may have built the original amenities facilities is irrelevant to the current discussions, as is the red herring about dogs on or near the periphery of the field.

The recent Have Your Say survey by Randwick Council in May 2023 was an appallingly biased and offensive attempt to pit residents against kids’ sporting groups. It was only interested in knowing if you were a resident or a ratepayer and if you were in favour of kids playing sport! They are not mutually exclusive, and residents have supported - and will continue to support - kids sport of all codes in Burrows Park. What we wanted in the survey was an opportunity to comment on the refurbishment of the amenties block (which everyone is in favour of) and questions that moved the discussion forward, rather than delaying the process.

In November and December last year, in an attempt to help Randwick Council get across all of the Community’s views, over 60 people chose to attend two town hall-style meetings to express their views and provide ideas so that when the official Have Your Say consultation was sent out it would be meaningful. The survey made a mockery of their time and contribution.

There appears to be an agenda at play here where the plans for the park are already determined, and they are to widen and lengthen the ground to allow for senior rugby to benefit, which will then lead to requests for new lighting, longer periods of play (which excludes other park users) and club activities spaces in the new block which will widen the footprint further. It is worth noting that the Clovelly Bowling Club has already kindly offered their facilities free of charge to any of the rugby groups to hold events or meetings, so we do not need an alternative larger space built at Burrows Park.

Parking, built-in seating... what next? Randwick Council is budgeting $3 million-plus on this upgrade and is intent on listening to only one stakeholder group.

Leanne Clovelly

Burrows Park Upgrade

As a resident of the area, I am appalled at what is going on regarding Burrows Park. Last year, the decision was made not to expand the size of the footy field, and now it seems that has changed. I have lived in this area for 40 years and the field has always been substantial for kids to play football. We all use the area - we walk our dogs, we sit on the benches, we use the outdoor sport facility, we do yoga. Upgrading the amenities is fine, but extending the field is not necessary.

I bring to your attention now that this week we can see some trees have been poisoned to the north of the football field.

As a resident, I have watched the build-up of traffic to our little corner. It will only get worse as more kids and parents use an upgraded field and there is nowhere to park. I have had people parking across my garage so I cannot get out. They park in the bus stops and anywhere they can find. If more traffic comes our way, where will they park? The 360 bus terminal is in Ocean Street and the buses often have problems because of the build-up of cars.

My main reason for writing is because of the trees being poisoned. That is the final straw in nastiness.

Lyn M Clovelly

A Different Perspective

Dear Beast - I’m writing to put another perspective to that given by two of your correspondents in last month’s edition of The Beast regarding the proposed extension of Burrows rugby field. I think they have both distorted the intent of the proposal so they can express “outrage” at such a “ridiculous” use of ratepayer’s funds.

The correspondents claimed that the proposal was to turn Burrows Park into an “international sized rugby league field” to allow for “senior NRL games” and “first grade rugby league matches”, with the suggestion that Council might be thinking of using Clovelly headland as a car park. They are concerned about the resulting traffic congestion and parking problems.

If you took their claims at face value it would seem they’re suggesting the Roosters will be re-locating their games to Burrows, and probably the occasional international test match would be played there as well. Of course, that would be outrageous.

But the facts are less spectacularly objectionable. Burrows is currently ten metres shorter than the regulation size rugby league field. Once the kids move past under 12s they can’t play on it anymore.

The extension of the field is primarily so junior teams can use the field rather than needing to find another field in another area to use. Senior/adult teams will also probably use it, but this is going to be just the local community sport competitions.

My understanding of the proposed extension of the field at the southern end is that it will just take the space currently occupied by an earth slope down to the dog park and won’t take any substantial amount of “flat” space from the dog park.

I’m not sure the proposal would lead to any more congestion when games are on than is there already - after all, it’s just local people coming to watch their kids play, mostly. They might get traffic for a bit longer, because more age groups will be able to play (the games scheduled for Burrows this Sunday go from 8am until 2.15pm, so you might fit two more games in while it is light), so the correspondents do have a point there that they could make. But it’s a coastal region, near the beach, and always seems pretty busy no matter what the season; it’s part and parcel of what you get living by the beach or living by an existing sports ground. As for the suggestion the proposal is inappropriate to the existing nature and uses of Burrows Park - “…scenery, passive relaxation, picnics, the occasional wedding, kite-flying, off-leash dog walking...” - I don’t think the proposal would compromise those in any way since it’s really not taking any usable space. Oh, and they forgot one of the current uses of Burrows Park, one that possibly involves more people and enjoyment hours than all of the others combined - kids training for and playing sport.

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And just to declare my interests, my son plays in the Clovelly Crocs in the under 12s and he’d still like to play at Burrows as he gets older, and I’d like to watch him there.

Roger Harris

Maroubra

Thank You

On Saturday morning, July 1, near Charing Cross I slipped and badly cut my head. To all the anonymous angels who came to my assistance, may I extend a huge thank you. I am particularly grateful to the nurse who was passing by and gave expert attention. Thanks also to the kind person who called for an ambulance. I am also indebted to the young lady who drove my car home for me. If my faith in human nature needed restoring it is now restored!

Robert Sharpe

Bronte

Listening to Indigenous People

I don’t get it when non-Indigenous people say they are voting No to The Voice. What does this mean? No, I don’t want Indigenous people to be heard? No, I don’t want to listen to First Nations people? No, I don’t want the original inhabitants of Australia recognised in the Constitution? No, justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people doesn’t matter to me?

You hear all sorts of BS, like The Voice will give First Nations people too much power - really? Read the words of the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart, where Indigenous leaders and elders talk about the “torment of our powerlessness”.

The Voice is a modest overdue reform providing a pathway for Indigenous Australians to have more control over their lives. Vote Yes in the referendum and help change Australia’s history for the better.

Robyn Edwards Bronte

Cats in Waverley

There used to be an extended family of beautiful Australian magpies in Macpherson Park, Bronte (located at the crazy corner of Arden Street and Macpherson Street where pedestrians and cars struggle to cross each day).

One by one these magpies vanished. My slightly older (she’s 73 and I’m 45) and lovely friend on Baglin Street, which borders the poorly maintained park, told me two cats decimated the local population. She witnessed their demise - she sits in a sunroom facing the park each and everyday.

I’ve also seen these cats, owned by a vet, as I live around the corner. They chase cheeky magpie larks (who outsmart them), they try to pounce on the kookaburras who perch on my fence, and not a lizard is left in my garden. The fairy wrens come no more.

Sydney University published a paper in 2020 that stated roaming domestic cats kill on average 186 reptiles, mammals and birds each year, and my friendly neighbour and I have seen this killing first-hand. There are five million domestic cats in Australia and fifteen million feral cats across our vast land. Do the maths on how many native animals are killed each year by cats.

We need to do something. I’ve approached the cats’ owner (who lives in a nearby street) and politely requested a collar and bell be attached to his pets. He refused, even after I explained what had happened with our beloved magpies. We miss their beautiful calls, we miss their swooping in the spring.

Many councils in Australia, like Fremantle in Western Australia, Bass Coast Council in Victoria and dozens of other sensible councils, have placed fair restrictions on cats such as just keeping them inside at night.

When will Waverley Council start caring about the limited native fauna we have in this community? Is it always people (and cats) first? I love all animals, but cats should just stay inside.

Charles Hunter Bronte

To the Grunting Tennis Champ

From all residents on Dolphin Street, Coogee - we can appreciate your enthusiasm for late night tennis, however, hearing an ear splitting “YAAAH” and “GRUGGH” every Tuesday to Thursday night makes it hard to get to sleep. Please tone it down after 9pm fellas.

Sleepless Dolphin Street

Residents

Coogee

Society Dos and Don'ts Councils - the arm of the State Government that covers the local level. It’s not just rates, roads (most), rubbish and rangers, but the many services and business units that are there for the community and other stakeholders to deal with. But those in the community are still blithely unaware of what councils are there for. The State Government may be taking over some of the planning with DAs and complying developments, but councils are still in the driver’s seat with the other issues and services.

But sometimes people do need an education when dealing with councils in 2023. So, here are some things that can help you in dealing with the council...

1. Please do not say, “I am a ratepayer.” There is nothing special about being a ratepayer. You do not have any magical powers to behold. It does not give you prestige. It may get you an eye roll when you say it over the phone.

2. When there is clear running water, or a sewage smell along the street from an assumed leaking pipe, please call Sydney Water.

3. Please do not ever block someone’s driveway. We have a word for that, and it is often heard in a kennel. We are baffled by why people do that in the first place.

ANSWERS