Toronto Foreshore, eternal vigilance?

Remember the battle over Toronto’s foreshore?

In 2018, Lake Macquarie City Council decided, with minimal public consultation, to pursue a four to six-storey mixed-use development on Council-owned foreshore land at Bath Street.

Community opposition followed, including a petition with more than 5,000 signatures and a well-attended public meeting. In September 2019, Council changed course, deferring the development and incorporating the site into the broader Toronto Foreshore Master Plan, adopted in 2021.

So where are we now? Local resident and long-time community watchdog Ron McSporran has been asking. Ron recently sought an update on the Wharf Road and Terraces precincts, including the much-criticised public amenities beside Toronto Baths.

Wharf Road Precinct. There is some good news.

Council says detailed design for a new amenities building is complete, including lockable change rooms with internal showers, accessible facilities, public toilets and an outdoor shower.

Remaining design and approvals for the Wharf Road precinct are expected to be finalised early this financial year.

Then comes the catch. There is no construction funding and no confirmed construction date.

Council says the project will be ready when construction dollars are allocated through a future Operational Plan.

And the Terraces?

Ron also raised the lack of visible progress in the northern precinct, including the Terraces and Bath Street ends, along with concerns about weeds, vegetation and the general condition of this important public waterfront. He made a pragmatic suggestion. If implementation of the Master Plan remained years away, why not undertake more immediate rehabilitation and landscaping?

Council says it will not abandon the Master Plan in favour of simply undertaking weeding and landscaping.

Funding has been allocated this financial year to complete detailed design of the northern precincts.

Council’s stated aim is that by the end of June 2027, all precincts of the Toronto Foreshore revitalisation will be designed, approved and construction-ready.

That’s progress. But construction-ready isn’t constructed.

Future work remains dependent on funding and must compete with other priorities across Lake Macquarie. Council cannot yet provide a construction timeframe.

For a community that fought hard to retain its foreshore as public space, that’s worth watching.

Back in the April 2020 Chronicle, while we waited for the draft Master Plan, we borrowed an old observation:“The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.”

Six years later, perhaps the price of a great public foreshore is eternal patience.

Sincere thanks to Ron for his determination and vigilance.

You can subscribe for updates at https://www.lakemac.com.au/Projects/Toronto-foreshore-revitalisation

Thirty years of quiet achievement

For 30 years, a group of local early risers has been quietly getting things done.

The Rotary Club of Toronto Sunrise celebrated its 30th anniversary on 10 September with a lunch at Petersons Champagne House.

The club began when a group of younger local men and women wanted a different kind of Rotary. Active, less formal, female inclusive and meeting first thing in the morning, with leadership shared by women and men.

Pictured are Founding charter members (L-R) John Norris, Peter Jamieson, Jeff Jansson, Geoff Hurt, Dollina Renton).

Thirty years later, those early risers have made quite an impact.

Toronto Sunrise has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars and contributed countless volunteer hours to projects at home and further afield.

Locally, members have supported people experiencing homelessness and food insecurity, youth mental health, the Cancer Council and women and children escaping domestic violence.

They’ve also created opportunities for young people through youth exchange, the National Youth Science Forum, Science and Engineering Challenge, leadership programs and driver training.

Further afield, projects have helped provide toilets so girls can remain at school, hygiene packs for remote Aboriginal communities to reduce Tricoma, medical assistance and support for communities affected by disasters..

Some projects are big. Others simply start by asking, “What can we do?”

Friendship with purpose

Two long-time community contributors were recognised at the anniversary lunch with Paul Harris Fellow honours.

For around 20 years, Colin Peterson and Robert Hertogs have worked together on a wine fundraiser that has raised approximately $270,000 for community service projects.

Petersons Wines supplies cleanskin wine at a generous price. Rotarians label and distribute the bottles, with the proceeds returning to community service.

Simple idea. Long-term commitment. Remarkable result.Perhaps that sums up Toronto Sunrise rather well.

Friendship. Practical ideas. People willing to lend a hand. And 30 years of quietly making things happen.

Happy 30th birthday, Rotary Club of Toronto Sunrise

From hollow words to hollow deeds

There’s a housing shortage in our community. And this one has feathers, fur and wings caught up in it.

The loss of large, old trees across our neighbourhood, especially in the past 12 months, also means the loss of tree hollows, important breeding and shelter sites for birds, gliders, microbats and other wildlife.

Protecting the hollow-bearing trees we still have must always come first. But once an old tree and its hollows are gone, replacing that habitat naturally can take more than a century.

So we need to think long term. And act now.

Planning for the hollows of tomorrow

CPPA and Rotary Club of Toronto Sunrise are collaborating on a grant application to the Eraring Community Investment Fund for Hollows for Habitat: A Community-Led Habitat Restoration Pilot.

If successful, the project will begin in 2027, bringing together Rotary, CPPA Landcare, TreeHouse Ecology and local landholders.

The idea is to build local skills as well as hollows.

Volunteers would learn to create habitat hollows and entrance pieces at Progress Hall. An ecologist would assess suitable trees and sites, with qualified climbing contractors installing around 20 hollows on private bushland properties.

Already, 24 local landholders have volunteered to become potential hollow hosts.

Importantly, the skills, tools and workshop space would remain in our community, allowing us to keep creating supplementary habitat well beyond the life of the grant.

But wildlife can’t wait for 2027

While we plan for next year and beyond, another breeding season is already upon us. So CPPA wants to turn plans into practical action.

Our immediate goal is to purchase and install 11 supplementary nest hollows within the next month.

We need funds to purchase the hollows and, ideally, engage an arborist to install them safely at appropriate heights and locations.

Professional installation matters. Different wildlife species need their hollows at different heights in the surrounding habitat. Putting up a hollow is one thing. Putting it where wildlife has a good chance of using it is another.

Habitat loss is already putting pressure on our wildlife. The emerging threat of avian influenza adds another worry for our fine feathered neighbours.

Imagine Coal Point without the morning chorus. Without kookaburras cackling across the peninsula, the parrots parrotting on while perusing potential nest sites or the owls’ haunting hoots while hunting quietly after dark. They all need hollows for homes.

We can’t grow an old hollow-bearing tree in a month.

But we can protect the ones we still have.

And where hollows have already been lost, we can provide supplementary habitat while the next generation of trees grows old.

The grant is about building our capacity to help in the years ahead.

The next 11 hollows are about helping now.

Let’s turn hollow words into hollow deeds. Help us install 11 hollows this breeding season.

DONATE https://events.humanitix.com/hollow-words-hollow-deeds

Learning at Landcare - Burnage Reserve

Surrounded by Amelia Street, Excelsior Parade and Whitelocke Street, Burnage Reserve is a small patch of bush with a big Landcare story.

The reserve is named after Colonel Granville John Burnage, born in Dungog in 1858. Burnage had a long military career, serving in the Boer War and at Gallipoli before commanding troopships between Australia and England.

In 1916 he bought waterfront land at Carey Bay and built ‘Worilla’ at 1 Excelsior Parade. A prominent figure in the Toronto district, he retired from the Australian Military Forces in 1921 and died at Carey Bay in 1945.

You can read more about Col Burnage ‘The Gamest Old Man” 

From weeds to wildlife refuge

CPPA Landcare has cared for Burnage Reserve since a Clean Up Australia Day event in 2000.

Early farming, escaped garden plants and nutrient-rich stormwater had taken their toll. Rapid runoff from The Quarterdeck, Amelia and Whitelocke Streets had also created an eroded creek line flowing towards the Lake.

In 2001, State funding helped stabilise the gully. Rocks were installed to slow and guide water, weeds controlled and local native species planted to border the reserve and reduce exposure to the roads.

More than 25 years of bush regeneration has transformed a very weedy site into valuable habitat, with mature gums, rainforest plants and plenty of birdlife.

The reserve is part of the Hunter Coast Lowland Spotted Gum Moist Forest Plant Community Type (PCT), found across much of Coal Point. Knowing the PCT helps Landcarers choose appropriate species when restoring bushland.

Look up in the canopy for Spotted Gum (Corymbia maculata), Grey Gum (Eucalyptus punctata), Lilly Pilly (Acmena smithii) and the threatened Magenta Lilly Pilly (Syzygium paniculatum).

Below them grow Coffee Bush (Breynia oblongifolia), Hairy Clerodendrum (Clerodendrum tomentosum), Cheese Tree (Glochidion ferdinandi) and Poison Peach (Trema tomentosa), with a ground cover of Bracken Fern (Pteridium esculentum), Sword Sedge (Lepidosperma laterale) and Blady Grass (Imperata cylindrica).

The weed watch never ends either. Many weeds, such as Creeping Ruellia (Ruellia squarrosa) and Crofton Weed (Ageratina adenophora), are coming from stormwater runoff and are choking the ‘creek’ and drainage lines leading to the Lake. Other weeds, such as Ground Asparagus (Asparagus aethiopicus), Lantana (Lantana camara) and Mickey Mouse Plant (Ochna serrulata), are brought by birds eating nearby seeds/berries in gardens and on roadsides. Others, such as Madeira Vine (Anredera cordifolia), Turkey Rhubarb (Acetosa sagittata), Fishbone Fern (Nephrolepis cordifolia) and Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) are likely to have arrived via dumped garden waste and have crept a long way into the reserve. Most are hard to get rid of and require constant monitoring and treatment and follow up each time we visit.

The reserve is quite small and doesn’t have any paths through it. However, there is a picnic shelter, with shade in the grassed area, with a lake view and access to the Lake. You will be guaranteed to hear birds calling in the reserve, you may even hear the call of a Whip Bird, one of the 14 species of birds found in the reserve in a survey some years ago.

Want to lend a hand? Contact Ros Cornish on 0408 252 810.

Pig Day Out, racing for a good cause

Little legs. Big personalities. And absolutely no guarantee they’ll head in the direction expected.

Pig Day Out is back at Toronto Hotel on Sunday 4 October, with pig racing, pig auctions, family fun and fundraising for a very good local cause, NourishEd.

Co-hosted by the Rotary Club of Toronto Sunrise and Toronto Hotel, the long weekend event runs from 11am–4pm and entry is free.

There’ll be five pig races, plus a jumping castle, face painting, superheroes, food and drinks.

You can even have a flutter on your favourite little porker. Race tickets are $5 each or three for $10, with prizes for lucky ticket holders. Or bid at the auction to become the backer of a racing pig and share in the spoils if yours crosses the line first.

Behind the fun is a serious purpose.

This year’s beneficiary is NourishEd Australia, a Toronto-based charity providing food, education and practical support to local people experiencing hardship.

NourishEd is working towards creating a ‘Hub of Help’, using its food pantry as a starting point to connect people with further support. Its plans include ready-to-eat meals, cooking and technology classes, financial literacy and recovery programs.

Every race ticket, auction bid and donation helps NourishEd continue that work.

Come for the piglets. Stay for the fun. Help NourishEd help our locals doing it tough.

Pig Day Out
Sunday 4 October, 11am–4pm
Toronto Hotel
Free entry, family friendly

DAs In Play 16/7/26 to 12/9/26

Keeping an eye on local development

The CPPA continues to monitor Development Applications that may affect Coal Point and surrounding suburbs.

A summary of current applications is provided Full details and supporting documents can be viewed on the Lake Macquarie City Council Development Application Tracker.

If you're aware of developments that may impact our community or local environment, we'd be pleased to hear from you.

Please consult LMCC’s website for a full listing: https://www.lakemac.com.au/Development/Planning-and-development-services/Application-Enquiry.

• DA = Development Application
• BC = Building Information Certificate
• TA = Tree Assessment
• CC = Construction Certificate
• CDC = Complying Development Certificate
• REF = Review Environmental Factors
• SC = Subdivision Certificate.
• MU = Mixed use
• RFB = Residential flat Building
• OC =Occupation Certificate

What's on at the Hall July-August 2026

 

Piece Together Coal Point - A Community Speed Puzzling Night

Celebrate 80 years of community with a night of friendly competition

To celebrate the Coal Point Progress Association's 80th birthday, we're inviting the community to enjoy something a little different, a Speed Puzzling Night at Progress Hall.

If you haven't discovered speed puzzling yet, you're in for a treat. Teams race against the clock to complete the same jigsaw puzzle, testing observation, teamwork and a little bit of luck. It's fast, surprisingly competitive, and guaranteed to produce plenty of laughs.

Saturday 17 October
5.00 pm for a 5.30 pm start
Progress Hall, 197 Skye Point Road, Coal Point

Teams of two, three or four will tackle a bespoke, high-quality jigsaw created especially for the CPPA's 80th anniversary. Better still, every team takes their puzzle home at the end of the evening.

Will a larger team finish first, or will too many puzzle solvers create delightful chaos? There's only one way to find out.

Not feeling competitive? That's perfectly fine. Enter a social team, enjoy the challenge at your own pace, and discover some of the fascinating flora, fauna and history of the Coal Point peninsula as the picture comes together.

Non-puzzlers are welcome too. Bring along your favourite board game, catch up with friends, or simply watch the friendly mayhem unfold.

Soup and damper will be served from 7.00 pm.

What to bring

Your favourite nibbles and drinks, a little patience and your laughing gear.

Cost

$50 per team, including your commemorative puzzle, soup and damper.

All proceeds will support the next stage of improvements to Progress Hall, making it more accessible for everyone in our community.

If you'd simply like the puzzle, commemorative copies can be pre-ordered for $40. They make wonderful Christmas gifts or keepsakes celebrating our beautiful peninsula.

Bookings via Humantix. Numbers are limited to 20 teams. 

Because the real prize isn't just winning... it's being able to say you're the best puzzlers east of Toronto and north of Wangi.

AGM reflects a year of growth and a future full of possibilities

Although our AGM and Open Day were held back in March, the enthusiasm from the day is still carrying us forward.

A big thank you to everyone who joined us. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces, along with plenty of newcomers discovering what the Coal Point Progress Association is all about.

The annual reports highlighted what has been a very positive year for the Association. Hall hire continues to grow following the recent renovations, The Chronicle sponsorship remains fully subscribed with a waiting list, and our community events and workshops continue to bring people together. Landcare has also gone from strength to strength, with our new "guardianship" approach helping volunteers build a stronger connection with individual reserves.

Financially, the Association is now in a much stronger position. A Lake Macquarie City Council (LMCC) rate rebate, printing sponsorship from First National Toronto and increasing hall hire have all helped place the CPPA on a solid footing for the future.

More importantly, this gives us confidence to keep investing in projects that strengthen our community and care for our local environment.
Something happening every day

One message came through loud and clear during our Open Day conversations, people want to know what's happening at Progress Hall.

Since March, the Hall has become busier than ever. There is now something happening almost every day of the week, making the Hall a welcoming place for learning, creativity, movement and connection.

Current regular activities include:

• Life Drawing – Mondays, 10.00 am
• Healing Moves Yoga & Therapy – Mondays and Thursdays, 5.15 pm, Saturdays, 9.00 am
• A Soulful Way Sound Bath – Tuesdays, 6.30 pm
• U3a Wine Appreciation - Tuesday 11:30am-1pm
• U3A Fibre & Textiles - Wednesday 9:30am-12pm
• Knocking Boots Dance Classes – Thursdays, 6.00 pm
• Pilates – Fridays, 7.45 am

Whether you're looking to improve your fitness, meet new people or simply try something different, there's likely to be an activity for you.

Visit our online calendar for the latest activities and events:
coalpointprogress.blogspot.com/p/calendar.html

Meet your Committee

We're delighted to have a full committee bringing together experience in community governance, accounting, environmental education, communications and project management.

Our committee members are:

• Suzanne Pritchard - President/Secretary 
• Pamela Sharp - Vice President 
• Nico Marcar - Treasurer
• Cath Fairs - Hall Bookings
• Ros Cornish - Landcare coordinator
• Nicole Haigh - Newsletter distribution
• Helen English  
• Selma Barry
• Denise Rickman
• Kathy Gall

While we each bring different skills and experiences, we all share the same goal, protecting our natural environment, strengthening community connections and ensuring Progress Hall continues to thrive for future generations.

As always, none of this would be possible without our volunteers, Landcare crew, newsletter deliverers, hall users and supporters. Thank you for everything you do.

If you're not already a member, we'd love you to join us. Membership is one of the simplest ways to support the Association and the ongoing care of our community-owned hall and local bushland.

Membership forms are available from the noticeboard outside Progress Hall or online 

Looking Ahead

Making Progress Hall accessible for everyone

One of the strongest messages from our Open Day was that our community wants Progress Hall to be welcoming and accessible to everyone.

Improving access has been discussed for many years, and we recognise that both parking and accessibility remain challenges. Rather than looking for a quick fix, the Committee is developing a long-term plan that will allow us to seek grant funding and stage improvements over time.

An Inclusive Access Working Group has now been established to develop a practical roadmap for the future.

If you have experience in accessibility, planning, engineering, grant writing or simply have ideas you'd like to share, we'd love to hear from you. Community knowledge will be essential in shaping a solution that works for everyone.

This is an investment in the future of Progress Hall and in making sure every member of our community can enjoy everything it has to offer.

Can We Lose the Lawn?

Local native groundcovers that work hard for wildlife

As we learn to garden more sustainably, many people are asking the same question.

Do we really need lawn everywhere?

There's certainly a place for open grassed areas, but many parts of our gardens can be transformed with hardy local native groundcovers that suppress weeds, reduce mowing and provide valuable habitat.

The secret is recognising the wonderful native species already growing naturally around us.

Earlier this year we featured Scurvy Weed (Commelina cyanea), a tough local groundcover with striking blue flowers that is often mistaken for the introduced weed Tradescantia.

Another local favourite is Basket Grass (Oplismenus aemulus). Although often overlooked, it forms an attractive green carpet beneath trees, spreading gently by rooting at each node. It thrives in shaded areas where traditional lawn struggles.

Kidney Weed (Dichondra repens) is another excellent choice. Its bright green kidney-shaped leaves spread to form a dense mat, making it ideal beneath trees or in sunny positions where only light foot traffic is expected.

For those wanting a genuine lawn alternative, Weeping Grass (Microlaena stipoides) is one of Australia's best native grasses. Soft underfoot and naturally elegant, it can be mown occasionally to create the appearance of a traditional lawn while providing far greater habitat value.

Native Violets (Viola species) are another versatile option. Their attractive mauve and white flowers are edible, they tolerate light foot traffic and gradually spread to form a dense living carpet in shaded gardens.

White Root (Lobelia purpurascens) is less well known but equally deserving of a place in the garden. This delicate local groundcover has small white flowers and attractive purple undersides to its leaves, thriving in moist, sheltered locations.

Once established, these species require very little maintenance. While they won't eliminate weeds entirely, they greatly reduce weed growth, making ongoing garden care much easier.

Looking for local plants?

The Lake Macquarie Landcare Sustainable Living Centre, umali bara-ku, 80 Toronto Road, Booragul regularly offers locally native plants for sale and can help you choose the right species for your garden.

Because every garden can become part of our bigger backyard.