Music to Re-member

The festive season is all about getting together, caring & sharing and making memorable moments.

On Saturday December 14 the CPPA is hosting an afternoon of community camaraderie and musical merriment at Progress Hall from 1:30-5:30ish. A full program of community choirs and local musicians will provide a friendly backdrop for socialising with friends and neighbours in our community owned hall.

The One Voice Mob Choir, Coal Point Public School Choir, Toronto Chorale and the ClydeStreet Band will all be strutting their musical stuff, along with moments interspersed with community carol-oke (sing-a-longs).

This community social of seasonal singing is a way to showcase music at the Hall, the acoustics are wonderful, and it provides an occasion for local musicians to perform.

The festive season is also about caring and supporting others within the community, there’ll be donation buckets to receive dollars and baskets to receive gifts from the community to donate to local charities and the groups that the performers support.

The community-spirited event will also furnish an opportunity for locals to join up or renew their CPPA/TASNG membership for the year…and beyond. Afternoon tea will be bring-a-plate to share of festive fare.

With many musicians committing to this community event the CPPA is seeking a commitment from those interested in coming by an RSVP for a free ticket. You can book a whole table or single seats, you can come along for a single choir, the whole chorus, or pop in to renew your membership or donate.

RSVP by 11/12/19   online through the eventbrite page

A bit about some of the performers

The Toronto Chorale is offering a programme of five light-hearted and fairly short seasonal songs, followed by six or seven well known Christmas songs and carols with interesting arrangements .The Chorale is keen to expand its numbers and connection within the community in 2020 with the possibility of a regular event happening at the Hall in 2020. If you’re interested in finding out more about the group contact Roger alcornau@optusnet.com.au, m 0432 799 297

One Voice Mob is a community choir based out of Windale and set up by Centre for Hope (C4H) to support young disadvantaged people who like to sing to come together. C4H helped start the group and is closely involved with the choir, booking performances, providing rehearsal space, as well as the CEO, Geraldine, and her daughter being members. Geraldine is a huge supporter of local communities and it's with this in mind she was able to keep the local Carey Bay Hair Art open. Centre for Hope is exploring running some wellbeing programs out of the salon and providing the kind of support that they do on a daily basis. 

The ClydeStreet Band formed in 2016 to perform at open mic venues in the Newcastle and

the Hunter. They’ve been making music together ever since. Typically, they can be found rehearsing and jamming in an old manufacturing shed with grimy décor and great acoustics.

Hard work, tea, beer and laughter combine to produce their ensemble style that resonates with audiences at community events, festivals and private functions.

A collective of harmonica, guitar, keyboard, ukulele, banjo, bass, percussion and drums, ClydeStreet play creative interpretations of jazz, country and contemporary numbers.

Music for the ears and the feet, they’ll be a highlight of the Music to Re-member on 14/12/19.

Have Your Say - Naturespace and Community Hub

The Coal Point School Naturespace and Community Hub needs your input by November 25th! 

Do you want to hop across rocks, or, watch your grandchildren play and have a picnic? Would you like to do a few chin-ups? Will you walk the educational bush track? We are asking for community feedback on design aspects of the project, so please complete our online survey.

The link to the survey can be found from the Coal Point Primary School Naturespace & Community Hub Facebook page, the Coal Point Public school website, or here on the Coal Point Progress Association blog. Go ahead and help to shape the future.

Thanks for helping us make a great space for the whole community to enjoy.

Become a Member

Since 1946 the CPPA has been a part of the community, and since 1951 Progress Hall has provided a space for the community to come together.

The aims of the organisation have always been to support the weaving of the social fabric. This has been achieved by encouraging and promoting sustainability efforts throughout the local community, doing what we can as an organisation to ensure the hall operations are sustainable and safeguarding the bushland that connects us all so it remains vital, vibrant and biodiverse.

The CPPA endeavours to reflect community concerns and address them through the appropriate channels whilst supporting members of the community to have their concerns heard. Joining the CPPA supports these endeavours.

Membership to the Progress Association aligns with the calendar year which means now’s a great time to join in, rejoin or renew.

Membership renewals will be delivered to current members over the coming months via email or post and a new member’s application form is linked  here.

The Music to Re-member event on 14/12/19 is an opportunity to connect with other members of the community and you can also drop in with your membership form.

DA’s in play as at 1/11/19

Here is an abridged list of local DA’s currently under assessment between 1/9/19 to 1/11/19. The list is compiled to support community understanding of DAs in our area that may impact on the community character.

Please consult LMCC’s new look Application Tracking website for details and a complete listing. 

• DA/925/2018/A - 24 Robey Road: Water Recreation Structure (Jetty) – Extension
• DA/1339/2019 - 394 Skye Point Road: Water Recreation Structure (Slipway) and Demolition
• DA/1375/2019 - 231 Skye Point Road: Dwelling Additions, Swimming Pool and Demolish Existing Garage/Carport
• DA/1473/2019 - 9 Alkira Street: Dwelling Additions, Swimming Pool and Retaining Wall
• DA/1298/2019 -  97 Kilaben Road: Dwelling Alterations and Construct Garage
• DA/1405/2019 -  82 Kilaben Road: Studio
• DA/755/2019/A -  6 South Street: Alterations and additions and swimming pool and associated safety barriers.
• DA/1328/2019 -  104 Brighton Avenue: Shop Top Housing and 1 into 3 Lot Strata Subdivision
• DA/1444/2019 -  58 Victory Parade: Alterations and Additions to Mixed Use Development - Proposed Shade Cover x 3
• DA/1497/2019 67 -  The Boulevarde: Place of Worship (Living Word Lakeside Church)
• DA/1557/2019 - 12 Bay Street: Food And Drink Premises (extension of hours)

DA UpDAte

The 20 Laycock Street (DA/1865/2017) slow burn has reignited with new documents lodged on 17/10/19 for the 22 Units.

More information on the latest developments on the development will be in the December Chronicle.

TASNG Talk - 29/11/19 Picnic and AGM outcomes

Toronto Picnic in the Park

FRIDAY 29 NOVEMBER 

5.30 - 7:30PM

TORONTO FORESHORE

Pack a picnic dinner and enjoy and evening of music and games by the Lake with family and friends.

There will also be free African drumming workshop, free meditation session, Chinese dancing, performance from Connor Wink, face painting, big games and kids planting activities. 

Sustainable Neighbourhoods Celebration

Saturday 9 November, 2-4pm

Lake Room, The Swansea Centre, 228 Pacific Highway, Swansea

Catch up with Sustainable Neighbourhood volunteers from around Lake Macquarie for an end of year celebration.

• Learn about Council’s Tree Replacement Program
• Enjoy a yummy afternoon tea
• Share the year’s highlights and challenges with other Sustainable Neighbourhood volunteers
• Check out the Sustainable Neighbourhoods Waste to Art exhibition, 1.30-2pm, upstairs in the Swansea Centre at SEEN@Swansea and Launchpad exhibition spaces.

All welcome. RSVPs essential to 4921 0117 or admin@sustainableneighbourhoods.org.auby Wednesday 6 November.

For more information visit the Facebook event or sustainableneighbourhoods.org.au.

TASNG AGM Outcomes- Nico Marcar

It’s been another fruitful TASNG year. Thanks to committee members and regular supporters for your efforts. Our broad focus remains with Recycling & Waste Management, Cycling & Pedestrian needs and Landcare. Our strong association with the Coal Point Progress Association (CPPA) continues and thanks again to CPPA for boosting TASNG membership again as part of its subscription process. Special thanks to the management of the HUB for allowing us to meet monthly at no cost.

We maintain association with Five Bays SNG through Robyn Charlton’s projects: appreciating the value of street/urban trees and pamper care (assisting the homeless/people in need).

With support from Rathmines SNG, we continue to promote a shared path concept between Kilaben Bay and Rathmines. Tom Boyle, Council’s senior transport strategist, provided an overview of cycling issues that Council was seeking to address at our April meeting. My involvement in Active Transport Advisory Group (ATAG) will now allow me to pursue opportunities for improved cycling & walking connections for our area and beyond.

With our project collaborators (the Toronto District Garden, Toronto Lions, Toronto Lionesses and Rotary Sunrise Toronto clubs) we have now almost completed the Awaba Road garden project which aims to beautify the entry into western Toronto. This entailed establishing about 400 native plants, installation of edging, regular watering and signage to be installed soon. Special thanks to Lois Simpson (project leader) and John Sharples.

With the Alliance through Steve Dewar’s efforts, we continue to be a strong voice for the abolition of single-use plastic bags locally, engaging with businesses and supermarket chains in Toronto and other Lake Macquarie towns. In addition, a survey of Lake Macquarie cafes was undertaken by Steve to assess options for more sustainable use of coffee cups.

This year we have continued our strong involvement with the Toronto Foreshore Protection Group (TFPG), which aims to galvanise community opposition to Council’s plans for a multi-storey residential/tourist/commercial development on Toronto’s foreshore at the Bath Street site, next to the RMYC. This has been a frustrating and time consuming exercise. John O’Callaghan from JOC consulting provided an update on the foreshore upgrade and the Bath Street at our August meeting. Thankfully, after almost 17 months Council has admitted their errors in judgement. In September Council passed a resolution to defer any work on this development and consider all options for the Bath Street site within the foreshore master planning process. This was a huge win for the community.

With Five Bays SNG and others in the Community Harmony Initiative we again organised two, well attended community picnics on the Toronto Foreshore (Nov ‘18 and Feb ‘19) and a conversation cafe at the Toronto Library.

This will be my final year as Chair of TASNG, a position I have held since October 2012. I have been grateful for the opportunity to serve, for your wonderful support and to have overseen several exciting projects and increased involvement within the community. The challenge is now to keep promoting the TASNG in the local area. I wish the new Chair every success. 

The TASNG committee was elected as follows:

• Chair: Tricia Eldridge
• Assistant Chair: Robyn Charlton
• Secretary: Wendy Davidson
• Assistant Sec: Lois Simpson
• Treasurer: Steve Dewar
• Committee members: Nico Marcar, Chris Murphy, Ian Armstrong

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Bath Street Breakthrough - TFPG update November 2019

Attachment 1

At the 23 September 2019 Council meeting the motion from the 26/8/19 was massaged and modified and unanimously accepted. That Council: 
A. Defers any further work on:

• a planning proposal for land outlined in Attachment 1, and
• preparation for a mixed-use development on the Council-owned land at 4 Bath Street and 1B Victory Row, Toronto until a comprehensive review of Council’s property portfolio is undertaken; 

B. Commences the process to reclassify the land identified in Attachment 2 from Operational to Community Land; 

Attachment 2

C. Commences the process of investigating the reclassification of all or part of the Bath Street and Victory Row site to community land and consult with the community on future planning for that site. 
D. Extends the boundary of the Toronto Foreshore Master Plan to include land at 4 Bath Street and 1B Victory Row, Toronto; 
E. Continues to develop the Toronto Foreshore Master Plan (noting extended scope, including further community engagement, conceptual design and detailed design for master planned work on Council’s land at Toronto Foreshore; 
F. As part of the Foreshore Master planning process with current consultant, or as required, undertake assessment of the best future use and design elements for land at 4 Bath Street and 1B Victory Row, Toronto in accordance with Lake Macquarie City Council’s Sustainability Policy; 

So for the time being we sit and heave a sigh of relief hoping that a good community outcome will be delivered. We can now enjoy the excitement of the Foreshore Masterplanning process, awaiting the refined document for public comment, possibly by the end of the year.

 

There is little doubt that over the past 18 months Council failed to understand that its plans were not in the best interest of the Toronto area community nor would it provide the best opportunity to encourage more visitors to the area. 

Council resisted calls to halt progress towards the DA for the Bath Street site over this period, in contempt of community feeling. Such a situation was even more disappointing in that Council was already aware that there had been no community consultation prior to the April 2018 decision and that its plans would likely meet with opposition. 

To add weight to the community’s concerns the consultants’ report on its community engagement on the Toronto Foreshore Masterplan has been released. There were 337 responses.



JOC consultants’s key insight on Mixed-Use Development was “The majority of face to face participants are against the proposed Mixed-Use Development at Bath Street. Many online survey respondents also included their concerns in the comments section of the survey despite there being no Mixed-Use Development question. Across all engagement activities, participants raised concerns relating to the planning, design and use of the proposed Mixed-Use Development. “ 

The feedback on the Mixed-use development was “Overall, participants do not support the Mixed-Use Development (Bath Street). The participants reference the proposed height, massing and anticipated ‘exclusive, private spaces’ of the development as being inconsistent with heritage and character of Toronto and the draft Masterplan principles and design ideas. 

The engagement report further states “The workshops and online survey captures participant’s discomfort with the exclusion of the Bath Street site from the Foreshore Masterplan. Many participants felt it should be acknowledged as it is an essential part of the foreshore that’s currently under investigation.”

 

The face to face data…captured 42 separate objections to the Mixed Used Development (in comparison, the second highest area for comment was in reference to the Railway Station and its revitalisation with 13 comments). Further, objections to Bath Street made up the majority of comments across all questions of the online survey. Participants described the Bath Street development as the ‘10% missing from the Masterplan’” 

There are still more questions being asked, like what’s the timeframe on the actions identified in the 23/9/19 motion and why is council’s development arm driving this process not the recreational planners?

Thank you to all the supporters who voiced concerns, wrote letters , contacted

councillors and engaged with the process. It takes a town talking to make a noise, and it appears we were heard.

A vision for Bath Street

Lake Macquarie MP Greg Piper commissioned a landscape architect to produce some concept designs for what bath St could look like.

Care for the Carer - 13 & 20 November

A series of sessions are being held to provide an understanding of dementia for family carers and family members of people living with dementia.

The workshop explores strategies, resources and support services for maintaining positive carer wellbeing and effective communication.

Two options are on offer, over 1 or 2 days with the same information covered; 

Registrations can be completed online via the Eventbrite, click on the links below or contact the Dementia Australia office, 2 Percy St Hamilton on (02) 4962 7000.

• 13 & 20 November
• 10 December  

Citizen Science in November - Frogs & Pollinators

FrogID Week 8-17 November 2019 

FrogID is a national citizen science project that is helping us learn more about what is happening to Australia’s frogs. All around the country, people are recording frog calls with nothing more than a smartphone.

Taking part in FrogID Week will help provide scientists with valuable data for the protection and conservation of frogs. The data will help track the Cane Toad and identify where frogs are thriving and where they aren’t. And by matching calls to weather and habitat, we are learning more about how different frog species are responding to a changing environment.

frogid.net.au

Wild Pollinator Count 10–17 November 

The Wild Pollinator Count gives you an opportunity to contribute to wild pollinator insect conservation in Australia. We invite you to count wild pollinators in your local environment and help us build a database on wild pollinator activity.

You can join in by watching any flowering plant for just ten minutes sometime in our count week. 

Here's a quick guide to pollinator Id from the Wild Pollinator people.

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Old reserves New names

What’s the patch of green bounded by Hampton Street and Excelsior Parade called? The dog park, the wetland, the pony club, the old dairy… not any more. As of 23/9/19 it now is officially known as Puntei Park, puntei means a narrow place, any narrow point of land. 

What’s the green space at the southern end of Laycock St called? It never had a name, but’s it a beautiful grassy safe swimming spot now called Killibinbin Reserve, which means shining, bright and beautiful.

Council in our community

Water wise gardening

Tips on how to choose and plant your native garden to save water. Our native plants are unique and diverse: having adapted and flourished under the wide range of climate and soil conditions. This workshop will help you successfully establish and grow Australian plants, rewarding you with years of enjoyment - without the need for extra water bills!

Wednesday, 27 November 2019

1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

Toronto Library

RSVP 4921 0641  Register online

Imagine Lake Mac

View and comment on the draft Lake Macquarie Local Strategic Planning Statement (LSPS) by Friday Nov 29

Changes to the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 require Council to develop a LSPS. The LSPS describes how LMCC intends to achieve our City's vision and values by guiding the growth of the City over the next 20 years. To achieve this, the LSPS identifies:

• The vision for future land use in the City,
• Seven Planning Priorities that articulate the special characteristics of the City,
• Strategies and actions that summarise how we will deliver on the Planning Priorities, and
• Key change and growth areas.

The draft LSPS is informed by Imagine Lake Mac, the Community Strategic Plan, and other adopted plans and strategies of Council.

You can provide feedback on the draft LSPS by completing the survey or uploading a submission before consultation closes on Friday 29 November.

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