A fantastic Art & Craft Show

The last painting has been packed away, the craft collected, the prize winners awarded, the raffle drawn and the evaluation completed for the 2018 Art & Craft Show.

Over 200 people attended the Art & Craft Show on the last weekend in June. The happy

and social affair saw local artists celebrated with the majority of the works coming from the Westlake area.

It was a tribute to the talent that exists within our community, to celebrate this and the completion of the Threatened Species project at our local hall was really special.

Sixty people who enjoyed socializing, culinary treats and wine supplied by Carey Bay Cellars attended opening night.

Greg Piper MP officially opened the Art & Craft show and recognised the efforts of

the Coal Point Progress Association in completing the six-year Threatened Species Last Stand on the Coal Point Peninsula project and compiling a collection of high quality art works for the show. 

Mark Kempton, Hunter Wetlands artistic director and artist Liz Crane judged the 16 entries for the Threatened Species Award and awarded the $700 Winner to ‘Here We Come’ by Gail Dawkins a watercolour painting. The judges also recognised two Highly Commended artworks ‘Squirrel Glider’ by Chris Marcar a needle-felted craftwork, and ‘Black-eyed susan’ by Kerrie Marshall a watercolour/pencil artwork. 

The lucky door prize, Hugh Cross’ watercolour, On the lookout- King Edward Park, was won by Ms Elton. 

Over the weekend 15 of the 97 artworks were sold along with over $1000 of craft items, a really great outcome for local artists.

The event wrapped up with the awarding of the $300 People’s Choice Award, by popular vote, to Sue Gilbert for her oil painting ‘Nature’s Light’ and the drawing of the raffle. 

The 1st prize, sponsored by Toronto First National, a night at Bronte House and dinner in Morpeth, was won by Mrs Lawrenson .

The 2nd prize, a donated Nova Cruise was won by Mr Robinson.

The 3rd prize donated by Hughzies Lakeside Brasserie & Bunnings was won by Mr Gretch.

It was a great community event made possible by the dedication of wonderful volunteers and the support of local businesses. 

To make the event happen 24 volunteers contributed 550 hours to set up, maintain and pack up the show and another 500 hours went into planning the event. Over $5000 of sponsorship was received. The goal of the show was to have a social event to mark the completion of a major project whilst providing an opportunity to celebrate local artists…we definitely achieved this.

The social benefits of the show have renewed enthusiasm for more community activities to be held at Progress Hall, the next Art & Craft show is in the wind for 2021.

A project completed…almost

The Threatened Species Project is all but done and dusted with only the final number-

crunching-activities achieved report to be compiled and submitted on 31/7/18.

It’s been amazing project that’s contributed to a greater understanding and protection of

the threatened species in our area. Formally recording Squirrel Gliders, Powerful Owls and Tetratheca juncea have been real highlights. Knowing they are here on the Coal Point peninsula helps us to protect the bushland that they need to survive.

The community gave 15,454 hours landcaring in our local reserves, 5017 people attended a variety of 117 events that shared the joy and knowledge of caring for our land and local critters far and wide, 268 educational items were created, 51 local organisations were involved, 11,500 plants planted and over 55,000 people were reached by the project directly or indirectly via the media.

To finish off the project The Bonza Bushland Gardening Guide has been compiled to maintain the gains of the project. 

Congratulations One & All for being a part of the Threatened Species Last Stand on the Coal Point peninsula project.

One off volunteers needed for a Bunnings BBQ fundraiser

The CPPA has been given a date to do a Bunnings BBQ and we are looking for volunteers who wouldn’t mind lending a hand on Sunday August 26th for a few hours. We have to sell snags & drinks from 9am to 4pm and are anticipating 2-3hr shifts depending on the volunteers available. It should be heaps of fun. Contact one of the committee or email to offer your support.

Native Plants-a-Plenty too plentiful and now 4 plants for $10

An unfortunate oversight has meant that the CPPA has hundreds of plants that are in need of a home. If the thought of never having to mow again appeals there is a selection of native grasses and ground covers that are just perfect for transitioning an awkward slope into a no-mow meadow or a garden bed of feature plants. The move ‘em along rate is four plants for $10.

The plants available include:

• Tussock grass (Grass) 1m tufted grass with green to purple spikes in summer & spring 
• Spiny Mat Rush (tufted herb) -1m tufted herb with cream flower spikes in Sept-Nov 
• Blue flax Lily (Erect herb) – 0.5m herb with bright blue star flowers and purple edible berries 
• Kidney Weed (Creeping herb) – a ground hugging herb that forms a carpet of green where turf-type grass doesn’t grow well 
• Weeping meadow grass (Grass) - a native grass that is drought and shade tolerant
  
  and mows well. 

There is also a selection of small shrubs. Contact Suzanne for details or send and email to coalpointprogress@gmail.com

The website has pictures and more information.

Happy 1st Anniversary Pamper Care

The Pamper Care Project has turned one. The program offers assistance and support for local homeless people in the West Ward area.

From July 2017 to June 2018 there have been many locals assisted through various agencies.

• Woodrising Neighbourhood Centre - 18 women, five teenage girls, 10 men, 
• OZ Harvest 4 clients 
• Lake Macquarie High School - 3 Students 
• Toronto High School - 9 Students. 
• Southlake Marketplace -9 clients 
• The Salvos -1 client 
• Nova Women's & Children's Refuge 
• Castle Personnel clients 
• Eastlake Youth Centre

DAs In Play

The following list of various development applications is compiled for community awareness as a snapshot of local activity. Please consult LMCC’s application tracking website for a complete listing and more details.

• 39 Grant Road: Water Recreation Structure - Jetty and Slipway and remove existing slipway: Under Assessment 
• 24 Robey Road: Water recreation structure - extension: Under Assessment 
• 244 Coal Point Road: Dwelling: Approved 
• 41 Skye Point Road: Remove one (1) tree & trim one (1) tree: Approved 
• 77 Coal Point Road: Dwelling House and detached Garage/Shed - Amendment: Approved 
• 91 Excelsior Parade: Remove five (5) Trees - Assessed by Beau from Beau's Tree Services (BTS): Refused 
• 40 The Quarterdeck: Retaining Wall (To replace Existing): Approved 
• 20 Jonquil Close: Single Storey Dwelling: Approved 
• 7 Kembla Close: Carport: Check New Application 

DA UpDAte

151-155 Brighton Ave

The Application Tracking website only has one new email between council officers confirming the proposal is for 37 units (2 x 1-bed, 8 x 2-bed and 27 x 3 bed apartments) and 232m2 commercial floor space.

20 Laycock Street

Council provided an extension for submission of an amended application to 27 July 2018.

Update from the Toronto Foreshore Protection Group (TFPG)

Community awareness of and concern over Council’s plans to commercially develop the northern end of the Toronto foreshore at Bath Street (adjacent to the RMYC) continues to grow strongly. To recap, Council voted on 23 April to proceed with planning for a 4-6 level residential/tourist complex on public land zoned ‘operational’ at 4 Bath Street and 1B Victory Row (refer Figure) as well as to consider extension of Arnott Street to the roundabout at Victory Parade. The only dissenting vote was from Cr Wendy Harrison. No architectural details are currently available because Council has deemed these to be ‘commercial-in-confidence’. However, the proposal contravenes Council’s own DCP/LEP (2014) guidelines for this site and will inevitably exacerbate traffic and parking problems. The zoning for this area (SP3 – tourist; B2 – retail, business, entertainment and community) allows for a wide range of development options.

The TFPG was formed as an alliance of concerned community groups (CPPA, TASNG, Toronto Sunrise and RMYC) and individuals to create community awareness of and challenge Council’s proposal. The TFPG has now launched its website (tfpg.org.au) which contains news updates, links to petitions, donations for the campaign and volunteering opportunities. To date, we have collected almost 2800 hard copy and on-line signatures through the efforts of the TFPG and other volunteers. These will be presented to Council in due course. Several meetings have been held with our mayor Cr Kay Fraser and other councillors. Many letters expressing deep concern from various viewpoints have been written to Councillors, newspapers and other media outlets by members of the public.

Our current dialogue with Council emphasises the following:

• We appreciate that the Toronto Foreshore Master Plan (TFMP) 2018/19 has been fast tracked by Council. However, Council needs to include the proposed ‘development site’ as part of the physical area to be covered by the TFMP and not just proceed in tandem (refer Figure) and ensure integration with other plans (e.g. traffic) in Toronto. 
• Any activities related to progressing a development application needs to be halted. This will ensure that a number of options for this site can be canvassed, rather than just a building. 
• We would like to know the terms of reference for the TFMP, approximate time to release of the draft and how soon community wide consultation will take place. 
• We believe that Council needs to consider rezoning any ‘operational’ public land on the foreshore to ‘community’. Toronto has the least amount of foreshore land of any lakeside township in Lake Macquarie. Community land can be enhanced in many different ways to boost tourist appeal and economic growth. 
• There is no need for the Council to profit from the proposed development site in order to fund improvements to the foreshore and other recreational land. Council had already allocated over $4.5 M from contributions for foreshore improvement from the Toronto Catchment Contributions Plan. Since this money was not used to purchase the Hirecraft marina site at Wharf Street, it could be used towards foreshore and other improvements in the Toronto area. 
• Several Council and state level plans and policies point to the importance of protecting and enhancing waterfront parkland areas, providing adequate community open spaces and access to foreshore land. 

PUBLIC MEETING

A public meeting is planned for 7 pm on Tuesday 4 September at the Toronto High School, Field Ave. The objective will be to provide the community with up-to-date information on foreshore plans and allow councillors to get further community feedback. Please put this date in your diaries and let your family, friends and colleagues know.

LETTER WRITING SESSION

On Monday 30 July at the Centenary HUB (97 The Boulevarde) between 6 and 9 pm, we have set aside time to assist residents to write letters to councillors and the media. Please consider coming along because writing letters is one of the most effective means of voicing concern.

Short Term Holiday Letting Update

The State Government has announced changes to Short Term Holiday Letting in a media release dated 5th June 2018, extracts of which are quoted below

The Minister for Planning and Housing, Anthony Roberts, said new state-wide planning rules would come into force, including:

• Allowing short-term holiday letting as exempt development 365 days per year when the host is present. 
• When the host is not present, a limit for hosts to rent out properties via short-term holiday letting of 180 days in Greater Sydney, with 365 days allowed in all other areas of New South Wales. 
• Councils outside Greater Sydney having the power to decrease the 365 day threshold to no lower than 180 days per year. 
• Certain planning rules will apply to properties on bushfire prone land. 
• Councils outside Greater Sydney can decide if permitting short-term holiday letting for the entire year is acceptable for their local communities. This recognises the importance of tourism in some regional communities. 
• The changes will include a mandatory Code of Conduct for online accommodation platforms, letting agents, hosts and guests which would address impacts like noise levels, disruptive guests and effects on shared neighbourhood amenities. 
• The Code will also include a new dispute resolution process to resolve complaints, and NSW Fair Trading will have powers to police online platforms and letting agents. 

The Minister for Better Regulation, Matt Kean, has stated that “Under our ‘two strikes and you’re out’ policy, hosts or guests who commit two serious breaches of the Code within two years will be banned for five, and be listed on an exclusion register.”

At this point in time the community should carefully consider implications of changes particularly the ability for Local Councils to limit the use 180 days in instances where the host is not present on site.

When more information and detail is given we will provide further advice.

Community Energy- Richard Turner

Isn't it timely that the ACCC report into electricity affordability is released soon after our meeting at Coal Point! The report follows a thorough investigation of the whole market from generation all the way to environmental costs.

With respect to the retail sector, the report states:

"These practices create significant confusion for consumers, causing some consumers to make decisions based on simple indicators (such as which headline discount is largest), to use third party comparator services (which add costs to the supply chain through the commissions they charge to retailers) or to disengage altogether.

The market has evolved in such a way that standing offers, which were originally intended as a default protection for consumers who were not engaged in the market, have been used by retailers as a high-priced benchmark from which their advertised market offers are derived.

Consumers facing particular hardship and socioeconomic barriers to effective engagement in the electricity market are unlikely to get all of the benefits that competition can offer in this market

The gap between the best and worst offers in the market has been widening, effectively acting as a tax on disengaged customers, whether a customer is disengaged by choice or because of the unnecessary complexity"

Anyone who has attempted to navigate an analysis of the electricity pricing will have found it is more difficult even than choosing a mobile phone plan.

Help is at hand. Coal Point Energy Community Inc is here to assist by offering to negotiate on your behalf a "group buy" of electricity.

All you need to do is send a copy of you electricity bill, especially the page with the different rates, by email to changecoalpointelectricity@gmail.com and we will collate the data into a bulk buy.

This opportunity is not limited to just residents of the Coal Point peninsula and the more participants we have the stronger is our bargaining position so recruit all you friends and neighbours to this offer.