Is it on your fridge?

Is your CPPA membership renewal hiding under the To-Do list on the fridge door? Renewing your membership to the CPPA is as easy as making a deposit into the CPPA’s bank account or dropping the dollars into the Treasurer’s locked letterbox at 235 Coal Point Road on your leisurely stroll around the area. Going into Toronto? We have a PO Box 329.

Membership of the CPPA is a sign of support for the local projects that are undertaken and endorsement of the issues we support within the community such as sensible and sustainable development, footpathing options and landcare projects.

If you would like to join a membership form is available online or by contacting the Treasurer, John Gill.

It’s not too late to celebrate.

With the east coast low filling the water tank, the garden finally getting a good soaking after prolonged warm weather and the release of the Climate Council’s seasonal update ‘Abnormal Autumn 2016’, World Environment Day (WED) 2016 is more than a passing thought it’s a reminder to take action. The United Nations summed it up pretty succinctly…

When we see or experience the negative effects of climate change, environmental degradation or resource depletion it is easy to blame others - governments for not prioritising environmental policy; industry for raising greenhouse gas emissions; NGOs for not lobbying strongly enough; and individuals for not taking action. WED however is a day we put aside our differences and instead celebrate the achievements we’ve made towards protecting the environment.

By celebrating WED, we remind ourselves and others of the importance of caring for our environment. Remember that every action counts, so join us: every year, everywhere, everyone!

This year’s theme for WED – Go Wild for Life – encourages us to celebrate all those species under threat and take our own actions to help safeguard them for future generations. This can be about animals or plants that are threatened within your local area as well as at the national or global level - many local extinctions will eventually add up to a global extinction!

Habitat enhancement with Fire & Steel

Here along the Coal Point Peninsula we have got quite a lot to celebrate. We live alongside three Endangered Ecological Communities, two endangered populations and five at risk species whose survival depends upon what we do.

Local animals such as Squirrel Gliders and Powerful Owls need hollow bearing trees for homes, plants such as Tetratheca juncea (Black-eyed Susan) and Macrozamia flexuosa, a local cycad, need weed-free areas to flourish.

On Saturday 18th June, 9:30am-2:30pm at Progress Hall there’ll be a fantastic field day, Habitat Enhancement with Fire & Steel , a one-stop shop full of ideas, answers and actions on what you can do in your own backyard to make a difference for our local wildlife and threatened species.

There will be

• an expert arborist, Jarrah Hume-Cook, creating habitat with a chainsaw, demonstrating a variety of techniques for insitu hollow log homes and discussing options for tree retention that improve tree safety whilst retaining habitat potential. 
• A guided walk through the recently burnt Stansfield Reserve will highlight the impact of garden escapes and the resilience of the Australian bushland and how we can look after it. 
• Local native plants and nest boxes will be for sale so you can enhance your own backyard habitat along with expert advice from Ann Loughran, author of Native Plant or Weed Pick the difference, courtesy of Trees In Newcastle. 
• Displays from Lake Macquarie Landcare, Backyard Habitat for Wildlife, Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group and the Progress Association will give you the opportunity to join in or catch up and find out a little bit more about what actions are being taken locally. 

Bookings can be made online through Eventbrite. https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/habitat-enhancement-with-fire-and-steel-tickets-25415795328 or by calling/sms Suzanne on 0438596741. Please RSVP for catering purposes.

There is a program and more information on last month's post 

This workshop has been made possible through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program and is supported by Hunter Region Landcare Network and Hunter Local Land Services.

What will your World Environment Day awesome action be?

Leave a log alone?

With winter almost feeling like winter it would be tempting to trundle out into the local reserve and pick up some logs for the fire, but what about the animals whose home depends upon these logs? Lizards, snakes, the bugs that feed birds and threatened species further up the food chain, the bacteria and fungus that breakdown the wood and return valuable nutrients to the soil…all of this goes up in smoke when you lose a log. 

Could your WED action be to fuel your fire sustainably and leave the logs on the public land for the wild life that needs them?

What will your World Environment Day awesome action be?

Plant a tree?

Climate change is a big issue but can planting one tree help? It depends where you plant it! A strategically planted tree or shrub can provide shade from the sun and protection from the wind, significantly reducing the energy needed to heat and cool your home which reduces the use of fossil fuels which lowers green house gas emissions. Trees also store carbon and add to the variety of life as we know it. One tree can make a difference.

Backyard Habitat for Wildlife members can now purchase local native plants from Council’s Landcare Resource Centre, 80 Toronto Road, Booragul

Available Mondays only 8am - 1pm. Cost $3.80 / tubestock with discount for quantities over 40 plants. Cash only.

Please wear enclosed footwear and bring your Backyard Habitat for Wildlife member card.

The Backyard Habitat for Wildlife program encourages households to set aside a small area of their garden to assist local wildlife survival though wildlife- friendly plantings. Register for this free program now or at the field day.

What will your World Environment Day awesome action be?

Lend your voice to helping protect some bushland at Awaba?

The Proposed Awaba Conservation Area provides a vital wildlife corridor from the Watagan Mountains through Awaba State Forest and Sugarloaf Conservation Area to the shores of Lake Macquarie and the Lake Macquarie Conservation Area. There are many threatened species living in the area including Squirrel Gliders, Spotted -tailed Quolls, Swift Parrot, Grey-headed Flying foxes, Sooty Owl, Powerful Owl, Masked Owl and Tetratheca juncea.

In 2009 the NSW State Government acknowledged the importance of the land with its high conservation and biodiversity values stating “Additional conservation areas in West Lake Macquarie are clearly the next highest priority for the future. DECC will be actively working to improve conservation of priority lands in the West Lake Macquarie area by improved conservation practices on other crown tenures, through private land partnerships or as the sites for conservation offsets” ( DECC 2009 LHCP p32).

You can sign a petition or learn about the aims of the group trying to get it protected by visiting www.conservewestlakes.wordpress.com

What will your World Environment Day Awesome Action be?

Reducing our dependency on single-use plastic bags

Lake Macquarie Sustainable Neighbourhood groups have identified reducing waste and littering as major issues that they would like to address. Reducing the handing out of free single use plastic bags by retailers is seen as a particularly important issue, because of the huge damage that is done to the environment.

The Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group is bringing these messages to Toronto. A number of retailers in Toronto have already been approached. Some are already ‘plastic bag free’, others use compostable plastic bags or recycle plastic bags, many ‘encourage’ shoppers to bring their own bags and some have a purchase non-plastic bag option.

Are you a local retailer, business or event organisers who is willing to demonstrate and go plastic bag free and be a local champion? Businesses which have already stopped, or agree to stop supplying free single use plastic bags to their customers will be promoted on the Sustainable Neighbourhood Alliance website and at public displays as community leaders. In addition, a certificate will be produced and can be displayed at the business. For more information please call 4959 5863 or use the contact form at www.sustainableneighbourhoods.org.au/toronto-area.

What will your World Environment Day Awesome Action be?

Get primed for plastic Free July

Start getting prepared to take on the challenge. Attempt to refuse single-use plastic during July. "Single-use" includes plastic shopping bags, plastic cups, straws, plastic packaging...basically anything that's intended only to be used once and then discarded. 

If refusing ALL single-use plastic sounds too daunting this time, try the TOP 4 challenge (plastic bags, bottles, takeaway coffee cups & straws).

Sign-up today at plasticfreejuly.org and be part of the solution to the growing problem of plastic pollution in our environment.

What will your World Environment Day awesome action be?

Join the SunCrowd

Australia’s first energy storage Bulk-buy campaign.

SunCrowd and Climate Action Newcastle are partnering in launching a local bulk-buy campaign to make rooftop solar and storage easy and affordable. The bulk-buy removes the decision-making complexity and confusion associated with solar and energy storage, whilst using the collective purchasing power to lower prices.

An important focus of the regional campaign is to assist solar households whose 60c/20c feed-in-tariff is coming to an end. They provide an easy changeover by offering multiple energy solutions in one place.

Make sure you RSVP for the Newcastle launch event on Thursday 23rd June.

During the event they will:

•Reveal the solar and storage bulk-buy offers.

•Present the selected technologies.

•Provide expert guidance to match your personal energy needs.

•Assist NSW solar bonus scheme customers with choosing the right energy solution that makes your changeover easy.

For more information visit the website
http://newcastle.suncrowd.com.au

What do you want in The Chronicle?

If you have news to share please get in touch. Are you planning a garage sale, want to sell something, want to celebrate a special occasion, the newsletter is hand delivered to 1500 homes and feedback is always appreciated to coalpointprogress@gmail.com.

What else can you do at the Library?

Service NSW has a digital store staffed from 9am-1pm Mon-Fri, thanks to the efforts of local MP Greg Piper.

The Service NSW staff can assist with all online government services including online motor vehicle and boat registrations, e-tags, applications for Seniors Card, Gold Opal Card and fishing licences. They only accept credit or debit cards i.e. no cash. 

If you haven’t picked up your Gold Opal card yet, better get one organised as the ticketing machine at Fassifern is overdue to be removed, that is you won’t be able to buy a concession ticket at Fassifern very soon, you’ll need a Gold Opal card.

Farewell Figs Welcome Waterhousea

The recent Toronto Streetscape presentation to the Toronto Chamber of Commerce shared the following.

• Due to significant wet weather, the five fig tree removals planned for 5/6/16 has been postponed until Sunday 10 July. There’s still time to take your memorial fig & family happy snaps. 
• Council crews are still anticipated to commence construction of new garden beds and footpaths 13th June, with work starting from the corner of Victory Parade and The Boulevarde. 
• Work will be undertaken in 50m sections with a projected timeline of 58 weeks of dry weather. 
• There will be 23 Weeping Lilly Pilly trees,(Waterhousea floribunda) that will replace the figs, they will be installed in Stratavaults, a system that allows for optimal root growth without impacting on infrastructure. 
• The Streetscape project is currently only funded for works on the southern side of The Boulevarde. The Toronto Chamber of Commerce (TCC) successfully applied for a Stronger Communities grant that will enable cleaning of the pavement and matching infrastructure to be installed on the northern side of the street, working with the Toronto Men’s Shed and local work skills projects. 
• Planned road works will follow on straight after the streetscaping project is completed. 
• The TCC will be requesting a community consultation process to discuss parking or traffic issues. 
• Local businesses will receive fortnightly updates and there will be a 1hr weekly drop in session at the library. 
• The 100 year old Hunter Water main in the middle of the road is still in good condition and won’t need replacing for another 20 years.

DAs In Play

A Foible or the future for the foreshore

There have been community comments passed on to the CPPA about a possible high density, multistorey development on the site of Hirecraft Marina and 151-153 Brighton Avenue. Whilst no details are yet known it is worth considering what level of development the community considers acceptable on the foreshore and also the implications for access, which have historically enabled the community to walk into Toronto via the waterfront.

Having enough time to share information about significant developments that impact on the community can be a challenge. But you can keep up to date with developments in the area through Council’s online DA tracking system.

The list below has been abridged from Lake Macquarie City Council’s Application Tracking system. It has been compiled to support community understanding of developments in our area. Please consult LMCC’s website for details and a complete listing. New listings were from the period 1/5/16 to 6/6/16

• 6 Ambrose Street: Dwelling House Alterations ; Addition: Under Assessment 
• 5/78 Brighton Avenue: Tree Removal (1) Under Assessment 
• 57 Brighton Avenue: Dwelling Additions, Alterations and Deck: Awaiting Information requested 
• 43 Coal Point Road: Dwelling House: Awaiting Information requested 
• 55 Coal Point Road: Swimming Pool Compliance: Awaiting Allocation 
• 103 Coal Point Road Demolition ; Swimming Pool: Under Assessment 
• 75 Excelsior Parade: Dwelling House, Swimming Pool, Workshop and Demolition of existing Dwelling: Awaiting DA Determination 
• 18 Grant Road: Garage: Awaiting Allocation 
• 20 Jarrett Street: Dwelling Additions ; Swimming Pool with Associated Safety Barriers. Awaiting Information requested 
• 6 Jonquil Close: Deck: Under Assessment 
• 18 Jonquil Close: Single new dwelling - Retaining Walls - Amendment to Consent: approved 
• 11 Killara Close: Slipway: approved 
• 18/37 Laycock Street. Patio Cover: Under Assessment 
• 37 Skye Point Road: Alterations/Additions ,Partial Demolition: On Notification/Advertising 
• 106 Skye Point Road: Dwelling Alterations and Additions and Pool with Associated Safety Barriers. Decision pending 
• 124 Skye Point Road: Water Recreation Structure (Proposed Slipway): Awaiting DA Determination 
• 176 Skye Point Road: Demolition of existing dwelling and associated structures: Approved 
• 202 Skye Point Road: Alterations/Additions to Boatshed: Awaiting Information Requested 
• 8 Wyera Crescent: Carport: Approved