Dates for the Diary

• Saturday Feb 11th noon-3pm Carpooling to backyard veggie garden at Eleebana. HOGS event.
•  Saturday Feb 11th 9am-2pm. Saturday Session on Weather at Landcare Resource Centre
•  Tuesday 7th Feb-Information to include in Community Bush Regeneration grant needed
•  Saturday Feb 18th 2012 4-7pm Community Garden Picnic at the Pony Club.
•  Saturday 3rd March 2012, 5-8pm at Progress Hall. The Songs of Henry Lawson & Tunes of Waltzing Matilda
•  Local Landcaring-Thursday Ring Robyn for details
 4959 1507 
•  Coal Point Progress AGM 2012 Monday 5th March, 7pm at Progress Hall. Annual General Meeting of the Coal Point Progress Association

The Progress Association provides a vehicle to contribute to our local community,  manages the maintenance and upkeep of Progress Hall and writes funding applications.

If you have a bushland block and need some help to remove the weeds talk to Suzanne ASAP. 
There is a grant getting written right now that could help. Read all about it inside.

Welcome to another Progress Year

The year is starting off at a pretty quick pace with a couple of community events, an AGM and a funding application on the go for $250,000 over 6 years to make the Coal Point peninsula weed free.
 
The Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group (TASNG) is also swinging into action with project planning underway for Community Gardens, Cycleways/Pathways, Computer & Mobile phone Recycling, Landcare, Foreshore protection and Children’s Parks & Gardens. 
 
The TASNG coordinators of the various project groups meet on the 1st  Wednesday of the month at 5pm in the Toronto Library meeting room.

A great Grant for Getting help on Bushland blocks

There is a funding opportunity to support bush regeneration on public and private land. The $250,000 grant runs over six years.

The closing date for the application is 14/2/12. The Progress Association is putting in an application and would like to include as many interested property owners as possible.

The Community Bush Regeneration Large Projects Stream of the NSW Environmental Trust is a new grant that recognises that it takes time and effort to get the upper hand on weeds. The aim of the grant is to facilitate projects run by local community groups to undertake large, long term bush regeneration projects.

The grant also aims to improve the capacity of communities to protect, restore and enhance the environment by strengthening local community organisations whose primary purpose is to undertake works in their local area.

This grant is perfect for the community the Progress Association supports and the objectives for which the Association was established. 

One of the features and assets of the Coal Point community is the large number of big bushland blocks that form a mosaic of public/private land along the length of the peninsula.

Patches of the bushland are almost perfect, in a weed free way, but then there are pockets of severe weed infestations that would be daunting to most mere mortals.

The bushland corridor that we call home is also home to a couple of threatened species, the ever-so-cute Squirrel Glider and the pretty in pink Tetratheca juncea.

There are not a lot of government grants that will fund work on private property, but this one does! This provides a very rare chance to get that helping hand or ten that many people have been waiting for.

Lake Macquarie City Council’s Landcare Officers have agreed the project has merit and at the bare minimum a successful application would result in the public land receiving the benefits of professional bush regeneration teams.

However the long term legacy of the project would be greater if private land holders were also included in the bush regeneration activities.

Do you want your bushland block included in the grant?
Part of the application requires the details of the parties that own or have legal responsibility for the proposed project site. If you own the land, this means you. 

If the application is successful formal permission will be required, for the time being it will be enough to include the location of your block so it can be put on a map and a statement that you’re interested.

Please contact Suzanne Pritchard, the person who is writing the funding application with your details or enquiries by Tues 7/2/12 either by email to coalpointprogress@gmail.com or 
by phone  4969 1500 during the day, ask for Suzanne, or in the evening 4959 6741.

Some initial ideas that will be incorporated into the project are:

• Lots of Bush Regeneration, including weed removal and planting for and slope and foreshore stabilisation
• a series of field days along the peninsula to provide weed identification training and removal techniques
• installing habitat features to enhance the Squirrel Glider corridor so that it can extend its range.
• providing a plant swap of local plants for natives to replace fruiting weeds such as Asparagus fern, Privet, African Olive with local natives
• A community event or two in the hall to share pictures of the amazing local flora & fauna
• Community celebrations of major outcomes
• A changeable weed of the month sign to help with targeting weeds
• Other ideas are most welcome.

Catch up with your Friends...and they all sang Waltzing Matilda

Are you getting withdrawals from the festive season? Are you missing you mates already?Did you promise to keep in touch more regularly this year?
 
The 1st Progress social event for the year is all planned for Saturday March 3rd, 5-8pm at Progress Hall, 197 Skye Point Rd, Coal Point.
 
The event is an audio visual spectacular by a passionate presenter Roger Walter. An evening exploring the highlights of Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson’s works is set to open ears and eyes to lesser known aspects of the dynamic duos masterpieces.
 
Tables can be pre-booked for $10/person, tickets on the night are $12/person.
 
The night  will have plenty of opportunity for chatting and you are encouraged to pack a picnic, nibbles and BYO to stave off the hunger.
 
Tea and coffee will be available, donations for  supper will be graciously shared with all.
If you need to park a car, Gurranba Reserve has plenty of space, the area in front of the Hall will be for dropping off only.
 
It would help enormously with setting up the hall if we knew how many people to expect. Table bookings are essential. RSVP to Barbara 4959 1259 or Jean 4959 4019

Community Gardening

Growing fresh local veggies is on the rise. There’s more to it than compost and sunshine though. Meeting people who have the grow-know is a great way to learn, make friends and get some great ideas. 

 
On Saturday 18th February 4-7pm, locals will be gathering at the Pony Club to garner interest for a community garden on the site. There is a process for getting a Community Garden up and running and this is what will be discussed. There will also be plant & veggie swap and a worm farming demo. Contact Michelle 0402924819 or Tricia 49598811 for more details
If you’d like to garden but don’t know what to grow there’s a planting guide on the Hunter Organic Growers’s (HOGs) website
 
HOGs also run monthly field days from noon-4pm. On Saturday 11 February at Wendy Abel’s home, 14 Woodley St Eleebana, there will be the sort of field day everyone enjoys; a look at a  suburban backyard garden that makes the most of limited space very successfully. Wendy has raised garden beds for vegetables and chooks to show us.
 
We’ll be car pooling to the HOGs field day from the Carey Bay Shops. Contact Tricia for details on 4959 8811.

Annual General Meeting 5/3/12 Progress Hall 7pm

The Progress Association has been around since 1946, established to work for the betterment of the community.

The Progress Association has remained viable  and progressive due to the commitment of local volunteers who have a desire to give their time and talents for the greater good.
 
It is considered healthy for community groups to change office bearers reasonably regularly to keep ideas fresh, enthusiasm high and burnout low. The AGM is the time to do this.
 
The AGM on March 5th at Progress Hall is a chance to replenish the ranks, invigorate the entrenched and look to the future.
 
If you would like to know more or know someone who you think might be interested please contact one of the Committee for a chat.
 
The agenda for the AGM will be

• Confirm the minutes of the 2011 AGM
• Receive the Annual Report
• Election of Office Bearers
• Review of SubCommittees

Membership Renewals due

Progress membership runs to the calendar year with renewal notices delivered recently to current members. If you would like to get the full year’s warm & fuzzy feelings for joining up, the Treasurer-John Gill is the man to talk to about the membership application process.
Membership fees of $6/person or $10/family gives you access to hire the hall and be a part of your local community organisation. 
 
Our membership numbers reflect the community’s support for the projects that CPPA undertakes and add significant weight to funding applications.
If you are not a member please consider joining up to support the work we do, if you are a member, thank you and please renew.

Promoting and improving pedestrian ways and cycleways

The TASNG project group met and developed some goals to work towards. They were

1.  To identify and enhance safe and efficient connections for pedestrian and cycleway movements for recreational and commuting purposes within the Toronto Area
2. To reduce reliance on car use and promote health and well being

Some of the actions that are being worked on are

• Obtain street mapping
• Assess and survey problem areas and transpose onto maps
• Promote public interest in 'cycling 
• Promote  safe pedestrian options 
• Provide comment on the Draft Cycleway Strategy 
• Investigate connections of pedestrian pathways and cycleways to bus and train facilities 
• Promote child bike education and maintenance
• Seek relevant funding from Council and Roads and Traffic Authority.

Contact Tony Stephens for more info 49598811

Art & Craft Show 2012

Planning for the end of year Art & Craft show will begin in February.
If you would like to meet some amazing people, build bonds through a common goal and share your talent for the greater glory contact Barbara 4959 1259.

Feedback on Pedestrian options

Thank you for the feedback on the ‘accessways’ that were presented in the December Chronicle. Local knowledge and history is a great untapped resource in our a community, the information was all very useful.

The online version of the Chronicle included google maps to assist in locating the areas and will be updated to include the comments that were received.
The CPPA Committee meeting on Monday 6th February will be reviewing the feedback.

Landcaring - Robyn Gill, CPPA Landcare Coordinator

The local Landcare group has been busy planting in great conditions as the best way we know to “head off” the weed problems that usually plague us in summer. We have needed to be a little cautious with the numbers of plants going in as hot days can make watering necessary but have been lucky so far. We planted 650 plants in 2011. Since the last Chronicle we have been at Gurranba and Burnage Reserves and Carey Bay Wetlands.
 
On February 2nd we will be at the wetlands in Excelsior Pde with the Green Team of additional volunteers and a professional leader from the Lake Macquarie Landcare Office. This wetland contains– Puntei Creek – the catchment watercourse for a lot of Carey and Kilaben Bays. This landcare project has been replacing a large area of  Blackberry and other serious weeds with native plantings that have thrived. It has been a big project. We have one serious advancing weed to struggle with – one of the Trumpet Creepers , a garden escape.

A boat in the water is worth two in the bush.

Thank you to catamaran crusader who has succeeded where many have failed and taken responsibility for the abandoned watercraft. The regular reserve users are very appreciative.
If the owner/s of the 2 boat hulls (both more that 4 metres long and therefore illegally left) could please remove them from where they are currently resting in the planting at WIPPI Reserve it would make it possible to undertake some necessary landcaring to protect the beautiful Blueberry Ashes planted there in the garden bed. 
 
All are welcome to join us on a Thursday to make a satisfying contribution to the local environment.

What weed is that?

The Pick Up and Pull it out weed of the Month is Mother of Millions, Bryophyllum delagoense. This easily spread, raging red weed is a huge problem on many of our foreshore reserves and around the roadside. It can be viewed in all its glory at Gurranba and Ambrose Street reserves.
 
It likes full sun and infertile soils, almost rock, and it described as a succulent (fleshy leaves), erect herb up to 1m high. It has salmon/scarlet/orange tubular flowers at the end of the stem. It produces many seeds, some say millions, and can also grow from any bits of the plant that are broken off.
 
If you ever feel the urge to add some bending and stretching to your morning walk , bagging up some Mother of Millions is an easy and extremely satisfying endeavor. Any part of the plant can resprout so getting it all out is tricky, seed heads are always a good target to prevent more seeds spreading.