Sustainable Neighbourhood Update

The local Sustainable Neighbourhood group have been gathering the local goals and putting them together in a document called the SNAP, Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan.

The document provides the pathway to local projects and facilitates securing support from LMCC.

Locals John Gill and Nico Marcar have done a tremendous job in compiling this community document.

The following information is contained in the the background section of the SNAP.

The Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group

The Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group (TASNG) comprises community members who live in and identify closely with the neighbourhood through work, volunteering, friends, family or other means of connection. The Group is committed to implementing this plan and to monitoring and reviewing it annually. The TASN Coordinating Group, formed by local residents, with the support of Council, has utilised a participatory democratic process to coordinate the implementation, evaluation and review of the Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group Action Plan (TASNAP) and associated community projects.

Our aim is to support activities associated with the TASNG by:

• Establishing decision-making mechanisms that are inclusive and democratic
• Encouraging neighbourhood representation and participation
• Promoting and supporting Sustainable Neighbourhood projects
• Developing a regular review process of the Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan
• Increasing communication within the community and the different community groups
• Encouraging residents to join Council sponsored programs

If you are interested in becoming involved in any of the actions in this Plan or have ideas on how to improve our neighbourhood the Group would love to hear from you. Find out about our current projects and activities, and how you can join with us to be part of this community-based initiative.  The TASNG meets monthly at the Toronto Library or a local venue.

The Lake Macquarie Sustainable Neighbourhoods Program

Reducing our ecological footprint neighbourhood by neighbourhood
Through the Sustainable Neighbourhoods Program Lake Macquarie City Council partners with its residents to plan and promote local action, enhance and protect their natural environment, reduce their ecological footprint and increase community connectivity and resilience. The program enables residents to develop a vision for their neighbourhood, articulate local values, uncover neighbourhood assets and develop a local action plan to address neighbourhood challenges.  The Sustainable Neighbourhoods Program is about individuals and groups collectively taking responsibility to ensure that their unique environment remains sustainable for future generations.

The Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Initiative

The Toronto Area is a vibrant community with a history of community action and environmental protection.  In September 2010, a group of dedicated residents embraced the Sustainable Neighbourhoods Program proposal and worked with Council to conduct a series of community engagement activities within the Toronto community.  Further interest from the peninsula communities sparked the expansion of the Sustainable Neighbourhood Area to include Carey Bay, Coal Point, Kilaben Bay and Toronto.  Engagement activities were designed to elicit content for the development of the Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan. This Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan is a living document that will be reviewed and adapted on an annual basis by the Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group (TASNG).

About Our Area

The Toronto Area including Carey Bay, Coal Point, Kilaben Bay and Toronto is the traditional land of the Awabakal people.  The aborigines called the Toronto foreshore 'Derah-bambah' meaning 'rising ground', Toronto was 'Pondee' meaning 'overlooking view' and Kilaben Bay was 'Killibinbin' meaning 'unspotted bright shining'.

Our area is situated on the north-western side of Lake Macquarie, the largest coastal saltwater lake in Australia – seven times the size of Sydney Harbour.  The name Toronto was chosen by the Excelsior Land, Investment & Building Co. and Bank Pty Ltd. when it purchased a portion of the original land grant to Reverend Threlkeld that had been used for an aboriginal mission in 1887.  By 1906 Toronto was still mainly limited to the triangle formed by Cary Street, The Boulevard and the railway line. In the 1830s and 1840s the current centre of Toronto was the site of a prosperous farm with a variety of crops and many fruit trees including mulberry.  Coal was first mined at Coal Point in 1841 by the Rev Threlkeld.  By the late 19th century, ferries were running from Speers Point to Toronto. When the railway was extended to Toronto, a regular ferry service operated to Coal Point and Carey Bay. A steam tramway service linking Toronto to the Fassifern railway station was started in 1891.  The subsequent railway service was replaced in 1993 by a connecting bus service. Toronto is considered to be the hub for public transport on the western side of Lake Macquarie.

Known for its natural geographic features, the Toronto area contains five of the City’s nine ecosystem types including forest, woodland, waterways, wetlands and lake. As is the case with most urban bushland areas, the natural assets of this area are deeply treasured by neighbours but are unfortunately under considerable pressure.  These pressures are brought about for example by urbanisation, over-development, coal mining in neighbouring communities and lack of awareness of property owners in conservation zones ( i.e. garden escapees, logging and clearing of dead and sometimes living trees), thereby destroying valuable habitat.

Our area is characterised by its relaxed and outdoor loving, water-based lifestyle.  The lake foreshore with historic buildings, wetlands, reserves and bushwalking tracks as well as events like the Lake Macquarie Classic Boatfest, Carols by Candlelight and local markets attract a broad range of local, national and international visitors.