CPPA Members and Volunteers End of year Lunch & thank you

CPPA Members and Volunteers End of year Lunch

A final opportunity to get together this year will be a lunch at Progress Hall at noon on Thursday 15th December.

It will be a mix of catered and bring a plate to share. There’ll be some very light entertainment to brighten the mood, locals to mingle with and much joyousness to share.

If you’ve been meaning to join the CPPA you can drop in and fill in a form.

If you’d like to attend please RSVP by 13/12/22 to cppasecretary@gmail.com to assist in catering.

Thank you One and All- Lois Simpson

A heartfelt, huge, end-of -year thank you from your Landcare team to so many of our community . It has been a very challenging year with all the rain but we’ve been working hard to keep our bushland reserves weed-free and healthy.

Your support has been part of the successes achieved. Perhaps you have been part of the "one weed each walk" action, or the "no garden or lawn rubbish over our back fence" brigade. You may even be a "let's pull out those garden escapees just outside our fence" helper. If you are a "let's choose our plants wisely" gardener, you are having an enormous and positive impact on the war against weeds.

It's heartening to know that, in our neighbourhood, there are so many who understand and value healthy native bushland. If we were to lose it, Australia would not be Australia anymore.

It's so heartening, too, to see a growing understanding in our next generation. Our patch is in good hands.

Our very best wishes to all, over the festive season and in the new year, from your local Landcarers.

Progress Hall working bee 22/1/23

Progress Hall is owned by the CPPA, it is truly a community hall. As such the CPPA works very hard to cover the costs of owning property and the tasks associated with maintaining a community space for community use.

We are starting off the new year with a working bee to get the hall in tip top shape to host events, functions, groups and get togethers.

Many hands make light work so if you’d like to lend a hand there’ll be something for everyone. Lots of cleaning of walls inside and out, gutters, spaces, also sorting storage options, de-cluttering, repairing termite damage… and more.

If you’d like more details contact cppasecretary@gmail.com or one of the committee members on the back page.

Want an Electric Vehicle(EV) for Christmas?

The Good Car Company are hosting an online presentation Monday 12 December 2022, 7.00 - 8.00pm covering EV Charging, Integrating home solar with your EV, EV servicing & maintenance, EV batteries, road trips, the good Nissan Leaf cars & vans and the December EV offer. You can register to attend here

Want to help those in need over the festive season?

The Pamper Care Project has been busy! With the increase in rents and mortgages, increase in domestic violence, illness and issues in the food supply chain, more and more people are struggling.

Pamper Care is putting out a call out for donations of food items such as 1kg rice, long life milk, baked beans and tinned spaghetti, breakfast cereals, dog and cat food (dry and wet).

Donations can be dropped off at Woodrising Neighbourhood Centre.

The Soul Café is also collecting and creating “Hampers of Hope’ and Hunter Back Care at the Carey Bay Shopping Village will be accepting donations till COB Monday 12th December.  

The items wanted to make the hampers are ring pull tins of baked beans, spaghetti, soups, chunky stew, tinned fruit. Other items include instant noodle cups, bottled water, cans of soft drink, packets of chips, soap, deodorant, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste or a Christmas bauble.

The Rathmines Catalina is on the Move - Rod Mellor RCMPA Volunteer

Rathmines Catalina PBY-5A is on the move to new premises at Beresfield, just off the end of the M1. After eight years on private land in Ridge Road it was time to move to a suitable site where restoration work can continue whilst providing facilities for public tours & memorabilia displays. The fuselage is planned to be moved on the 15th December with the centre wing and other major components currently stored at Centennials’ Awaba mine head site shortly after. Smaller components, tools and other equipment will be moved by volunteers as time permits. It is planned to recommence restoration work at the new premises after the Christmas break.

We are hoping for extensive media coverage so expect to see it in the Newcastle Herald and on NBN News.

The Rathmines Catalina Association volunteers normally meet on Mondays and Wednesdays for restoration efforts. There are several retired aircraft trades people, both civil & RAAF, but most volunteers are locals just interested in doing something worthwhile to represent the history of our area. It is hoped that the fully restored aircraft and the associated Rathmines RAAF base memorabilia will become a permanent static display at Williamtown in conjunction with Fighter World.

Please review the website https://rathmines-catalina.com or the Rathmines Catalina Association | Facebook or email info@rathmines-catalina.com for any further information including by arrangement visits to the aircraft and a look at the on-line shop.

Finished

Prepped

au-naturel

On location at Kilaben bay

Landcare Legends

Congratulations to four of our local Landcare crew who were recognised for their landcaring prowess at the annual Lake Macquarie Landcare Environmental Excellence in Landcare Awards.

Local Legend Awards for a Landcarer who has made a regular and colossal contribution for more than two years were bestowed upon Rod Mellor and Nico Marcar.

Wendy Davidson was honoured with the Carl Fulton Memorial Community Education Award for spreading the Landcare ethic within the community.

Our local landcare leader, the amazing Lois Simpson, was awarded with the John Hughson ‘Soaring with the Eagles’ Award for a Landcarer who has made a regionally significant contribution but also is a local champion, educator and has been around for 20 years. Lois’s love of landcare is infectious and she spreads it around at all the Coal Point Progress Association Landcare reserves, Toronto Lions Park Landcare, Arbre Close Landcare and ‘Crocodile Point’ (opposite the Lions Park at Fennel Bay bridge).

Nico, Lois, Rod, Wendy

What would happen to your home if there was a bushfire in our community?

Now there’s a way to find out. The Hunter Joint Organisation has a Simtable and they are travelling around our region. The Simtable can model bushfire movement and outcomes based on what bushfire plan you implement to protect your home and it helps communities understand their bushfire risk and develop preparedness and response plans.

The CPPA will be bringing the Simtable to our hall in February for community members to test their response plans.

Recently members of local Sustainable Neighbourhood Groups were able to see the Simtable in action as it modelled the 2002 Killingworth fire. The Teralba Landcom development, currently under construction, would have been consumed and in a scenario where it kept burning, even the Coal Point peninsula, surrounded by water was impacted right out to the tip of Coal Point.

At the workshop Craig Holland, LMCC’s Bushfire Officer, commented that 87% of homes in bushfires are lost to ember attack, not the actual flames or heat from the fire front. He also emphasised that Lake Macquarie was largely untouched by the Black Summer fires of 2019-20 and how important it is to prepare your house now for summer as the wet weather has also resulted in a lot of growth and it isn’t taking long for the ground to dry out.

The RFS website, has a wealth of knowledge to assist us in preparing for this bushfire season and there are some must do actions for our bushland community.

1. Get your bush fire survival plan in place, it only takes 5 minutes to think through and discuss with your family what you’d do if a bushfire was threatening your home- 

2. Prepare your home and gardens now before the bushfire season kicks in. 

• Trim overhanging trees and shrubs,
• Mow grass,
• Remove material that can burn from around your home e.g wood piles, mulch, paint, straw door mats,
• Clean out your gutters,
• Make sure your hoses can reach around your house

3. Know the bushfire alert levels. They’ve been simplified to Moderate, High, Extreme and Catastrophic.

You can download the Fires Near Me App and set it up for a radius of 10km around your home which will keep you informed f

4. Keep Key information handy to stay up to date on local conditions. Keep your phone charged, have a battery powered radio available to access local radio 1233 ABC

If you need a hand to prepare your home the RFS runs the AIDER (Assist Infirm, Disabled and Elderly Residents) program , a free, one-off service which supports some of our most at-risk community members. They can assist people who have limited domestic support available from family, relatives, friends or other services to do the tasks outlined above to prepare your home.

If you would like to know more about the AIDER service, call 02 8741 4955 or email aider@rfs.nsw.gov.au or download our fact sheet. You can also fill out an online form. https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/plan-and-prepare/aider

Other handy information includes the Lake Macquarie Council’s Disaster Dashboard. It’s a glimpse into the future in a climate changing world. Information is provided on 14 disaster scenarios; bushfires, heatwaves, storms, floods, East Coast Lows, tsunamis, infrastructure failure, Human infectious diseases, biosecurity, coastal erosion, earthquakes and landslides.

It also offers some general tips

1. Know your risks
2. Plan now for what you’ll do
3. Get your home ready
4. Be aware
5. Look out for each other:

If you like your plants there’s a way to have a garden and still be bushfire safe. A demonstration Fire Retardant Garden is at the Toronto Fire Station.

There are fire retardant plant selections in Lake Macquarie Landcare's Fact Sheet, Native Fire Retardant Plants  and Trees In Newcastle’s TIN Topic 13 Fire Retardant Plants 

… and did you know The Toronto Workers Club is the local Emergency Evacuation Centre!

Car Boot Catch Up Wrap Up

It was a glorious sunny day, the 40 car-booters rolled onto Puntei Park and seamlessly set up their displays, the sausages sizzled and the coffee van brewed. There were bargains to be had, conversations a plenty and it was indeed a community catchup.

Thank you to all who participated and visited.

Feedback from the day was it would have been nice to have more people attend the event and the location was hard to find, but overall a great event worth doing again, and TASNG and CPPA are indeed thinking about that prospect.

 

TASNG Update – Steve Dewar - Chair

Outcomes of the Graffiti community meeting held on 9 November included an anti-graffiti campaign commencing 2023 possibly involving murals by High School students and by the Awabakal aboriginal group and the 1st graffiti removal success from the wall of the Toronthai restaurant. This is a great initiative by one of our members Joanna Rees.

The Awabakal aboriginal group is keen that more prominence is given to the historic, unique connection between Reverend Thelkeld, soon to be seen as an SBS Documentary, at the Toronto Foreshore redevelopment. We can support them in their efforts.

One of our biggest projects is the Landcare site opposite Lions Park at Fennell Bay bridge, nicknamed “Crocodile Point”, led by Lois Simpson. We have cleared many invasive weeds so far! The group meets on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday 8:30-10am

We have also held initial discussions with the franchisee and manager of Toronto McDonalds to run a campaign on recycling fast food material, particularly home delivery material by Menulog. Also, we have had discussions with Stanley Tang, head of sustainability for Costco, Australia and New Zealand, about similar issues of recycling and over-packaging. Hopefully, a campaign to educate the public about recycling at these 2 venues can occur next year!

DAs In Play 1/11/22 to 8/12/22

The CPPA endeavours to provide a summary of active applications in our area as outlined in the table.
Please consult LMCC’s website for a full listing:

• DA = Development Application
• BC = Building Information Certificate
• TA = Tree Assessment
• CC = Construction Certificate
• CDC = Complying
• Development Certificate
• REF = Review Environmental Factors
• SC = Subdivision Certificate.
• MU = Mixed use
• RFB = Residential flat Building

A Big Community Weekend

The last weekend in October is looking to be a wonderful celebration of community with two family friendly events happening, the Coal Point School Fete on Saturday 29 and the TASNG/CPPA Car Boot Catch-Up on Sunday 30 October.  

It may seem like ages since we’ve gathered as a community, out and about, and it may even feel a bit strange, but both activities are outdoors, there’ll be lots of room to spread out, (but if anyone is unwell it’s best practice to stay at home, living with COVID is everyone’s responsibility).  

Whilst the event organisers have their fingers, toes and everything in between crossed for wonderful weather it appears that climatic uncertainty is also the new norm. The Coal Point P & C will be making their call on Wednesday as to whether the weather will impact their plans, the Car Boot Catch-Up will make the call on Saturday. Social media and websites are where you’ll find out if the events are going ahead. 

Facebook pages to check include Coal Point Fete, Coal Point P&C, Toronto & Westlakes community notice board, Toronto NSW and community notice board, Coal Point Progress Association and Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group.

Many thanks to Altitude Real Estate for supporting the Car Boot Catch-Up.

The Car Boot Catch-Up has more than 30 car boots and..

Registrations close noon  28/10/22   more information is here

There are lots of parking options around Puntei park perimeter,  and the grounds are dry enough and big enough to accommodate the car-booter's vehicles. Council has mown the grass and cleaned the toilets too. The landcare crew have weeded the Excelsior Parade entrance...all set for a super Sunday.

TASNG with the support of funding from LMCC are providing entertainment from Party Chameleon who’ll have their brushes and paints at the ready from 9-12 to transform anyone who is prepared to sit down long enough. Earthen Rhythms who love Drum, Dance & Rhythm will be offering a fully interactive hands-on Djembe event from 10:30 to 11:30.

The Toronto Men’s Shed have been wonderful supporters of the CPPA. They’ve built us some very large cutlery and many a nest box for our local threatened population of Squirrel Gliders, they’ve also repurposed a cupboard for our community library at the hall. The Men’s Shed is open on Tuesday and Thursday 8:30am- 2:30pm and is safe place where men of all ages are able to meet for fellowship, social interaction and manual pursuits.

 

The Lions have been serving Australians for 75 years and this milestone was recently celebrated with a wonderful planting day at Gurranba Reserve, which is looking very spiffy after a month of attention preparing for the planting. Lions are ordinary people doing extraordinary things - supporting people with a disability, community greening, fundraising for worthwhile causes. The celebratory planting event was capped off with a BBQ that has become synonymous with the Lions. You can acquaint yourself with the Lions crew at the Car Boot Catch-Up. 

The Toronto Community Centenary Hub, 97 The Boulevade, is supported by Lions and offers a range of community activities that includes computer, phone and tablet tutoring, Tai Chi, Seniors Social Group, a thriving Community Garden as well as CatholicCare Community kitchen, where a free hot meal and refreshments are provided each Thursday to those in need. Community Garden members will be growing interest at the Car Boot Catch-up. 

The Classic Boatworks Crew (aka Lake Macquarie Classic Boat Association) are interested in building and restoring small boats, particularly those made of timber. They undertake their craftsmanship at their boatshed in Rathmines on a site on the historic Catalina base. They will be very happy to share their restorative enthusiasm at the car Boot Catch-up. 

Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie are a team of highly trained volunteers, whose time is spent manning the radio base at Swansea Heads on a 24 hour schedule, every day of the year. Their rescue vessels, berthed at Pelican, are manned during daylight hours with night-time rescues arranged by the radio crews on a call-out basis. Two rescue boats and one jetski are currently in their fleet to help our Lake users, and the boat will be on display. You can have a chat and thank them for keeping us all safe on the Lake at the Car Boot Catch-Up. 

What’s a tiny forest and where is it? Who are ReLeaf Lake Mac and what do they do? Answers to all these questions will be shared by the Five Bays Sustainable Neighbourhood Group (SNG), the group’s area encompasses the suburbs surrounding Cockle Bay, Awaba Bay, Kooroora Bay, Fennell Bay and Edmunds Bay. The Five Bay SNG are also the driving force behind the PamperCare project that accepts donations of personal care and pantry products for locals who are doing it tough or sleeping rough. You can donate toiletries or canned food at the Car Boot Catch-Up

The Car Boot Catch-Up Crew will also be supporting Survivor’s R Us, a not-for-profit charity and benevolent institution that supports the fight against domestic violence, homelessness and unemployment. They are based at Cardif. You can make a donation towards Christmas hampers for those in need at the Car Boot Catch-Up.

At the Car Boot Catch-up you’ll get the chance to discuss what climate change resilience in our area might look like. LMCC’s Climate Crusaders Neale Farmer and John Gilbert are currently conducting community conversations from Toronto to Teralba.

Do you think sea level rise will be a local issue? What will happen on the Carey Bay floodplain when it floods? What about bushfire management in our reserves? Will threatened species survive in our diminishing increasingly fragmented bushland? Will it be important to grow food locally? So many questions and still time to nut out some solutions.

As the impacts of our changing climate are becoming ever present planning for our local future starts with local conversations.

St Joseph’s Primary School, Kilaben Bay have booked a space to share their school’s unique character and charm. You can catch up with members of the St Joseph’s community and find out what makes their school tick. 

The Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group will be collecting fabric at the Car Boot Catch-Up to support the Make & Mend Space at the Toronto Library. This sewing initiative is about reducing the amount of fabric going to landfill and will kick off in a dedicated space at the library on Saturday mornings in 2023. 

TASNG volunteers will assist with the set up and pack up and the sewing people will be making up bags, and anything else that reuses fabric. If you can’t wait till next year to get sewing, every Tuesday morning there is a Sew Together group that meets socially 9:30-11:30 at the Library; contact Keiran at the library to find out more.

The local Landcare crew will be lolling about at the Car Boot Catch-up with a Treasure Hunt handout for the young and interested to encourage exploration of the Endangered Ecological Community – Swamp Oak forest Flood plain Forest. The team are very happy to talk about any of the local reserves, and assist in identifying any plants you’d like to bring along. 

TASNG has successfully applied to establish a new Landcare site in Toronto, called Crocodile Point (at Fennel Bay bridge, on the western side of Cary St, opposite the Lions' Park). 

This new project is based on the need for us all to play a part in keeping our beautiful lake healthy. Caring for the shoreline of our lake is an integral part of that exercise, and to that end we will be working every first and third Wednesday of the month between 8:30 and 10:00. 

We will be getting rid of rubbish and weeds, encouraging native vegetation and generally maintaining ‘The Point’ so that birdlife thrives (especially our shore birds), fish nurseries flourish, and a living wetland can be sustained. 

If you would like to do some Landcare, regularly or just casually; or visit Crocodile Point and have a quick tour, you will be most welcome - call Lois on 49595863.
And finally, "why Crocodile Point?", I hear you ask. Well, I don't know - why not?

The Great Southern Bioblitz is happening over the weekend of the Car Boot Catch-Up 28-31 October and we’ll be trying to capture as much of the local biodiversity across Puntei Creek Reserve and our other bushland reserves as we can. This information provides a snapshot of spring across three continents.

The Lake Mac BioBlitz coordinators have a couple of additional suggestions to assist in finding more species.

• 5 on Friday -document five species on Friday 28 October
• moth night- set up a white sheet one evening and record moth species
• shake a tree -put a sheet under a tree and give it a shake and record what insects fall off
• listen and see - upload an audio, something you have never seen before and something you have

The iNaturalist website and phone app connect you to expert scientists and other naturalists from around the world, and lets you collect observations that contribute to biodiversity science. You can explore observations from Lake Macquarie and the world and get help to identify plants and animals.To participate sign up to iNaturalist and join the Great Southern Bioblitz 2022 Lake Mac City project.

Coal Point School Fete 29/10/22

It will be fun and festivities at Coal Point Public School on Saturday 29th October with the much-missed-next-generation School Fete returning after the COVID hiatus. 

There’ll be amusement rides, games & prizes, markets, food and a much more.

There’s been an amazing response from the local professional and hobby artists with about 80 pieces of art on display, all for sale and 20% of the sale going towards the school. A great way to procure that special piece as well as support local artists and the school. 

All the information about what’s on and where the activities and events will be is  on the Fete website .

Graffiti in Toronto

TASNG have organised a guest speaker to facilitate a community discussion on Graffiti in Toronto for their November monthly meeting.

Constable Sharmala Whitehead of NSW Police will give a talk on the measures available to address unwanted graffiti and following on will be a Q & A session to discuss solutions and options.

Anyone who has been impacted by unwanted graffiti and community groups interested in helping to address the issue are encouraged to attend.

Wednesday 9 November, 5:30-6:30pm, The Hub 97 The Boulevarde. All Welcome.

The Great Cycle Challenge

This month, Nico Marcar is again combining his passions riding in the Great Cycle Challenge to fight kids' cancer!He has a target of 700 km and has already ridden 502.8 km while the weather is kind!

Right now, cancer is the largest killer of children from disease in Australia... but kids should be living life, not fighting for it.

There’s been amazing community support towards Nico’s $1500 goal. He’s not quite there yet. You can support his 700km challenge by making a donation through his fundraising page.

All funds raised will support the Children's Medical Research Institute to develop treatments and find cures for childhood cancers.

Is Your House Sustainable?

Housing is changing rapidly. The cost is prompting many to renovate instead of relocate and new owners are looking to make their mark on their new home.

Both of these options provide an opportunity to build for a more resilient future to adapt and mitigate the effects of our rapidly changing climate on our living space and the broader community.

The Sustainable House Day organisation is offering a series of online courses, Sustainable Design 101, which provides an introduction to the fundamentals of sustainable design, perfect for those who are in the planning stages of a build, curious about improving their existing home, or even just dreaming of a future sustainable home.

Retrofitting for Resilience is the November theme. The sessions are held online from 6:30-8:30pm and are either $10 or free for members of Renew. All the details are at https://sustainablehouseday.com/

• Getting Started - ONLINE, 9th Nov
• Protection from embers and radiant heat ONLINE, 16th Nov
• Water and landscaping ONLINE, 23rd Nov
• Energy setups ONLINE, 30th Nov

DA's In Play 23/09/22 to 20/10/22

The CPPA endeavours to provide a summary of active applications in our area as outlined in the table. Please consult LMCC’s website for a full listing:

• DA = Development Application
• BC = Building Information Certificate
• TA = Tree Assessment
• CC = Construction Certificate
• CDC = Complying
• Development Certificate
• REF = Review Environmental Factors
• SC = Subdivision Certificate.
• MU = Mixed use
• RFB = Residential flat Building

Give your spring clean out collection another life!

 

All the details of the Car Boot Catch-Up are here.

You can register to secure your spot here.

A cuppa for a Chronicle?

“A big thank you for The Chronicle each month, we moved from Fishing Point to Toronto last year have really enjoyed reading The Chronicle each month keeping us informed of what is happening in our area. Like knowing the DAs that have been submitted and all the other news.” - Carol

The first edition of the ‘Coal Point Chronicle’ was published in January 1980 as a means of keeping the community in touch with the issues of the day. Back then the headlines were ‘Lake Pollution’ resulting from sewage effluent, ‘Preserving the Coal Point Ridge Green Belt’ to prevent it being developed and denuded of trees, a ‘Family Fun day at Gurranba Reserve’ and the ‘Future of the Laycock Street Quarry’ which Council said at the time “will ultimately be developed as a park. The rumoured sporting area (to be) sited on the present day pony club”

Forty-two years later: (i) the Lake is a lot cleaner without leaky septic systems, (ii) Council continues to acquire parcels of land along the ridge with part of 11 Skye Point Rd currently being assessed for acquisition, (iii) ‘the Laycock St park’ became the Anglican Aged Care facility and (iv) the pony club did become the ‘sporting area’, Puntei Park, the leash free dog area and site for the upcoming Car boot Catch-up, our version of a family fun day with face painting, drumming, car boots full of tempting recyclable-useable items, a Lions BBQ and community groups showcasing their projects.

Since its inception The Chronicle has been produced and delivered by volunteers as a service to our members in the area, and over the years whilst the distribution has expanded beyond the initial Laycock/Ambrose Streets boundary to now include Coal Point, Carey Bay, Kilaben Bay and Toronto households east of Cary Street. Alas the financial membership does not reflect the distribution of the local newsletter.

For almost a year now the Chronicle has been letterboxed to Kilaben Bay, but only one new member from Kilaben Bay has joined, similarly the number of new members west of Laycock street towards Toronto are few.

The Chronicle expansion came about as there were community issues which needed to be shared: development applications, Council’s plans and strategies, protecting and caring for our unique bushland setting and the trees and Lake that frame our community, and the Toronto Foreshore we all enjoy.

Justifying the cost of extended Chronicle distribution is becoming a hot topic at local community meetings with an additional $133.67 having to be found each month.

Whilst one-off donations are appreciated, an annual or regular monthly donation from a group of dedicated supporters would result in tangible benefits from the donations. https://www.givenow.com.au/toronto-foreshore-protection

Of course having more members from Toronto and Kilaben Bay allows us to keep servicing those members with the distribution of the Chronicle.

All the membership information for CPPA and TASNG can be found on this website.

Williamtown (Newcastle Airport) Airspace and Civil Flight Path Review

The outcomes of the community consultation over the proposed flight path design changes at Newcastle Airport have been released. The following is summarised from the Official Fact sheet

COMMUNITY SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENT 

• Move the arrival flight paths and holding pattern to the west (over Crown land) 

• Increase the minimum altitude of the holding pattern 

The township of Toronto relies heavily upon tourism to support its economy. Feedback from the community has focused on reducing the noise impacts from aircraft, as much as possible. Specifically, residents are concerned about aircraft noise reflecting off the lake. As uninhabited Crown land is located directly to the west, it has been suggested that the arrival flight paths to the west be moved to reduce impacts on populated areas.

CONCLUSION 

Airservices Australia acknowledges the community concern regarding the Toronto location. However, under the proposed flight path, the area will be subject to aircraft operation at the same height that it is currently experiencing. 

Whilst the community has requested that the proposed arrival flight path is moved further west, the designers have identified that the path is as far west as it can go because: 

• Williamtown arrivals must use the existing air routes from the south associated with Sydney Airport until they reach Williamtown airspace. 
• These air routes have already been moved as far west as possible, including with the minimum acceptable spacing in between each route. 

This area has significant airspace constraints. Specifically this airspace is used to facilitate the segregation of civilian and military traffic within Williamtown airspace, and to avoid the airspace, managing Sydney arrivals to the west. 

The community has also requested that consideration is given to increasing the minimum height of the proposed holding pattern. In considering this suggestion the designers note: 

• The minimum height does not mean that the aircraft will necessarily operate at that height. Rather, aircraft prefer to be as high as possible to minimise fuel consumption. 
• The ATC will therefore always use the highest available level (8,000 feet AMSL) first, then 7,000 feet AMSL, then 6,000 feet AMSL, and so on. 

ASSESSMENT OUTCOME 

The proposal to move the arrivals flight paths further west is not able to progress due to the requirement for aircraft to pass over Catherine Hill Bay to link with Sydney airspace and connect with the existing air route network. 

Whilst Airservices Australia is unable to alter the proposed design for Runway 12 operations, Airservices Australia and RAAF have re-considered the need for the holding pattern between 8,000 and 5,000 feet AMSL over Belmont, Caves Beach and Swansea for Runway 30 operations, and has decided not to proceed with the proposed holding pattern. Aircraft will instead hold over the ocean, if required. 

 

TORONTO FORESHORE UPDATE

Residents may be wondering what is going on with what Council has designated as our Town Green. After all the time and money spent on consultants and the Masterplan, the improvements so far consist mostly of shared paths, sandstone seating, landscaping and a strange spacecraft in the corner.

According to the Masterplan (2021) “The Town Green is subtly sculpted to create a shallow amphitheatre which addresses the water with a new stage (#8 on image) and shade canopy. This canopy is a keenly located upgrade to the existing rotunda, and makes for a dramatic stage for weddings, performances, and social gatherings right on the water’s edge....”.

Fast forward to September 2022 and Council now advises that the ‘new stage’ won't be built because of lack of funds. So the long rows of expensive cut sandstone (the 'amphitheatre') face outwards towards a stage that won't exist.

It is acknowledged that there are more tables and an abundance of seating options with smooth sandstone blocks and soft grass, all directed towards the wonderful Lake vista, and when the trees grow up there will be shade-a-plenty. Without a stage is Council planning to use the rotunda for entertainment purposes?

There is meant to be more open space for large events but it’s not clear how these will be organised with even less parking than previously. It’s also unclear how people are expected to use the space at other times. Will young people be allowed to set up informal volleyball courts or older people play bowls on the Town Green?

As it happens, consultants are proposing a very similar sandstone-lined amphitheatre for the river entrance park at Port Macquarie. Hopefully they will get a stage to go with it.

In Toronto there had been disquiet about removal of the old rotunda. The new spacecraft is located closer to the road, and has greatly improved disability access. The finished product will apparently be the frames plus a covering on top. . It’s a rotunda in style because it’s round. Is the proximity to the road and orientation to the seating conducive to performances?

Work is scheduled to begin on the Tinto cafe/playground end of the foreshore during 2023/24, followed by the terraces at the Bath Street end during 2024/25, then perhaps the café and amenities during 2025/26.

Council is to be commended for its willingness to spend money on the foreshore, but it would be good to have some community consultation to give more detail and a better understanding of how variations to community consulted plans are made.

If you feel strongly that our Town needs the proposed over-water stage you can contact our Councillors or Council directly

All the Councillor contact details are on the CPPA website.