State Election Polling places & Candidates

You can do your civic duty on the day at 

• Coal Point Public School
• Kilaben Bay Hall
• Toronto Multipurpose Centre- Thorne Street

or 

You can vote early 18 Mar 2023 - 24 Mar

Toronto Early Voting Centre - 3A/66 The Boulevarde -
Accessibility: Assisted access, No designated accessible toilet

The NSW Election commission is the font of all election knowledge

Here is the list of candidates for The Legislative Assembly, the lower house of the NSW Parliament. A Member is elected from each electoral district to represent at the state general election, for a period of four years.

Local Bits & Pieces

Coal Point Public School is seeking a Canteen Manager 

Shhhh…. it’s a library

For the next 20 weeks there’s going to be a fair bit of activity around the concourse that surrounds Toronto’s library, including replacing floor tiles, waterproofing, upgrading the balustrading and the existing accessible ramp.

To accommodate the workers and the work being undertaken a work site has been set up on Brighton Avenue with three dedicated carparks for the contractor’s site facilities.

The project will also be noisy until the end of April whilst demolition of tiles and grinding occurs.

The library is endeavouring to remain open.

Sustainable House Day (SHD)- Sunday March 19

Did you know that you can take part in Sustainable House Day for free, from the comfort of your own home?

Eight free online sessions on March 19th, bring together SHD homeowners and experts to give you insights from lived experience as well as leading industry knowledge. 

It’s all part of the process to transform Australian homes for climate and energy resilience.

All the details are here.

You only need to register once to give you access to all sessions across the entire day. 

10AM Do it yourself: Owner-building

11AM Design for life: Accessibility and ageing in place

12PM Creating sustainable housing: Eco communities and co-housing

1PM Quick and easy? Exploring prefab and modular homes

2PM Running on sun: Using solar energy at home

3PM EVs and the grid: Understanding sustainable transport

4PM Maximum efficiency: Lowering your energy bills

5PM On the cheap: Sustainable design on a budget

TASNG events a plenty

The TASNG team has started the year full steam ahead taking up the challenge with McDonalds to get recycle bins on site, (as most of their wrappings are recyclable), securing resources to tackle graffiti in the town centre, liaising with Council and Biriban LALC to have local hero Biriban more significantly recognised in the Foreshore Masterplan, supporting the very enthusiastic sewers of Boomerang Bags sessions at Toronto library (next session is 13/5/23) and hosting a Repair-It café at the Hub.

Happening at The Hub (97 The Boulevarde)

Repair-It Café at The HUB- Saturday 18 March 10am-1pm

Is it TOO GOOD TO WASTE? Do you have any clothing, textiles, toys, small electrical items, carpentry or small furniture in need of repair? Bring it along and see what it takes to whip it back into tip top condition. Free Tea/coffee and light refreshments too.

You can keep up to date with where the Repair -it crew are by connecting with the Repair-It Facebook page. More info about Repair-it is on the Sustainable Alliance's website

Plant and Garage Sale- Saturday 25th March 8am-noon

Textile Tasters- Learn a textile craft - Wednesday 12 April 

Wet Felting and Sashiko textile crafts $18/session and all materials provided. More info at https://www.amandadonohue.org/workshops

Pamper Care

February was a HUGE month for Woodrising Neighbourhood Centre (WNC) and Pamper Care. While the Centre was operational for 20 days in February, Pamper Care had 25 people in need of pantry food assistance. This is up from last February by 35%.

Your continuing support is greatly appreciated. Pantry items can be dropped at WNC, 80 Hayden Brook Road, Woodrising. Open Monday - Friday

Financial donations are also welcome directly deposited to: Lake Macquarie Sustainable Neighbourhood Alliance | BSB 637 000 | Account number 724181724 | Description - “Pamper Care”.

Sustainable Neighbourhoods Gathering -
Saturday 1 April, 2-4pm

Landcare & Sustainable Living Centre, umali barai-ku, 80 Toronto Rd, Booragul

Get together with Sustainable Neighbourhood volunteers from around Lake Macquarie for an afternoon to catch up and plan for a productive 2023.

Hear about what other Sustainable groups are planning, identify and develop our projects and priorities for 2023.Get together face to face for some cake and conversation.

All welcome. RSVP essential by 29 March. https://events.humanitix.com/sustainable-neighbourhood-gathering-april2023

Are you missing connection?- Neighbour Day- 26 March

Everyday is neighbour day

Whilst living with COVID in the community is the new normal, hopefully the fear of the unknown has subsided. There was a plus side to the pandemic as well. We did get to experience a sense of community caring and connectedness and had a bit more time to spend with our friends, especially outdoors.

If you’d like to get back in touch with your neighbours, or meet some new ones Neighbour Day on the last Sunday in March, the 26th, might be just the excuse you’ve been looking for.

“Create Belonging” is the theme, and as we’ve experienced over the past few years well-connected neighbourhoods are better equipped to face and recover from emergencies and natural disasters.

The benefits of belonging extend beyond those who feel newly included. Having diverse relationships improves everyone’s relationship satisfaction, mental health and wellbeing.

On the Neighbour Day website there are ideas for simple gatherings, invitation cards, posters, calling cards, conversation cards and all sorts of information to make a simple event successful.

Four reasons to explore some local bushland

21 March - International Day of Forests

A forest by definition is “a large area covered chiefly with trees and undergrowth” and that describes the amazing bigger bushy backyard we all share. We have a couple of different kinds of forest throughout our community, Spotted Gum Forest, Sugarloaf Lowlands Bloodwood-Apple Forest and a Swamp Oak- Rushland Forest, which is also an Endangered Ecological community to name a few.

Forests play a central role in combating the biggest health threat facing humanity: climate change. Healthy forests help keep global warming in check: forests contain 662 billion tonnes of carbon, which is more than half the global carbon stock in soils and vegetation. Forests and trees also help buffer exposure to heat and extreme weather events caused by climate change, which pose a major global health challenge. For example, trees properly placed around buildings cool the air and can cut air conditioning needs by up to 30 percent, also saving energy.

Forests boost our mental and physical health. Spending time in forests increases positive emotions and decreases stress, blood pressure, depression, fatigue, anxiety and tension. Trees in cities also absorb pollutant gases from traffic and industry and filter fine particulates such as dust, dirt and smoke, which help shield urban populations from respiratory diseases.

23 March - National Eucalyptus Day - Gums, gums, glorious gums

If you’ve seen one gum tree have you seen them all? Definitely not and there is handy guide to Gum Trees of Coal Point on the CPPA website that will help you to work out the difference between your Smooth-barked Apple (Corymbia costata) and your Swamp Mahogany (Eucalyptus robusta) and everything in between that lives in our area.

There are detailed pictures of bark, fruit and tree …all the important bits you need to work out which gum you’re gazing at.

25 March Earth Hour 8:30-9:30pm

The Earth Hour theme for 2023 is taking #TimeOutForNature. One of the most inspiring places to Time Out in our area is the well-formed track from the Hunter Water access road at the crest of Whitelocke Street to Rofe Street via Coal Point School’s Naturespace. The walk has some beautiful vistas, amazing trees, and glorious Gahnia groves. It’s about 1km one way.

Trees are the lungs of our planet, and we need them to help reverse the impacts of climate change. Now is the time to press pause and work together to protect nature and restore what we have lost.

So make the time - whether it’s 60 seconds, 60 minutes or beyond the hour - to reflect on the incredible benefits nature provides us and create a better future for people and planet.

Progress Patter

Another event stymied

It was with excitement that the registrations for the Simtable session seem to fill in record time and then there was a flash of deja-vu.

The last time such enthusiasm for a CPPA event was seen was for the collaborative housing workshop in 2020. Alas both these events were sabotaged. All the tickets snapped up in under 24 hours so that those with an interest couldn’t express interest.

Both events ended with some disappointment from the organisers and special guests who had invested their time to prepare and attend.

The sessions went ahead with considerably reduced numbers. It is indeed disappointing that the ‘anti-progress avenger’ is undermining attempts to provide our community with opportunities to explore options for our future in a climate changing world.

The image is what accompanied the bogus bookings.

Progress Hall maintenance coordinator wanted

Are you a handy-person with an eye for what needs to be done to keep a building in tip top condition for community use? The CPPA is looking for a volunteer to guide the maintenance program for our Hall. The job involves working out what jobs need to be done and together we work out how they’ll get done. Get in touch with Suzanne for more info.

It’s all about the birds in our bushland suburb

You can’t help being aware of the abundance of birds that call the Coal Point peninsula home. From the early morning kak of the kookaburras, the daytime chattering of lorikeets to the soothing hoots of the nocturnal owls, there’s hardly a time throughout the day when our bird-buddies are absent from our ears.

This ever-present connection to nature is good for our mental health and the bushland that they need to survive offers another layer of ambient wellbeing.

Neighbours Noticing Nature

“Just wanted you to know we’ve been visited lately by a juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater but haven’t seen any adults as yet. The juvenile doesn’t have the blue area around the eyes.

Other locals may have seen this very striking bird, but we’ve never had the privilege of such a visit in the 39 years we’ve lived in Coal Point.

It’s such a treat to sit on our deck surrounded by beautiful big trees and greet our feathered friends every day”.

Want to know about the Birds in your Backyard?

The Autumn seasonal survey by BirdLife Australia is now on until the end of April. The citizen science survey tracks the health of our urban birds, and allows the urban bird team to monitor the impact of our gardens, outdoor spaces and even our own behaviours on bird populations. A lot can be learnt from Birds in Backyard surveys, such as how different types of gardens can attract different types of birds, and which features birds may be avoiding or are negatively affected by. The data were recently used in a study showing the decline of even some of our most common birds in major cities across Australia.

To participate in the survey spend 20 minutes somewhere you can view birds - your backyard, or other favourite space, record the bird species you see and count how many there are. A series of questions are also asked about your garden - like what sort of plants you have, if you have pets and if you feed birds.

If you are unsure where or how to start, then fear not! The Birdata web portal and app automatically gives you a list of 30 birds (including pictures!) from your region to choose from as a starting point.You can also win great prizes if you enter your surveys in Birdata.

A Paw Pledge

The Invasive Species Council (ISC) was formed in 2002 to seek stronger laws, policies and programs to keep Australian biodiversity safe from weeds, feral animals and other invaders. Their focus is on prevention and early action.

One of the key projects of the ISC is the Cats in Australia project. They are working to ensure that pet cats are kept safe at home, and that there is support through local, state and federal government for effective cat containment.

Whether you love them or not, cats are a catastrophe for our native animals.

An estimated 8 million animals die daily, killed by the 5 million feral and roaming pet cats in Australia – doing what comes naturally to them.

The ISC is advocating for a dramatic increase in government action to reduce this devastating death toll and prevent further extinctions caused by cats. And to win government action, governments need to see Australian cat owners, cat lovers or otherwise, publicly showing support for our wildlife. We need to show them that cat containment and effective action on feral cats is popular!

The ISC has done the research and knows the public choose our native animals – alive – over roaming cats. Australians support both cat containment and action on feral cats when they are shown the facts and understand what’s at stake. Cat owner or not, Aussies love nature and want to care for our Australian bush critters.

The ISC’s pledge asks if you are a cat owner (past or present) or if you simply support better protection for wildlife from cats. Many of us, love our furry feline friends, but we also know that they are purrfect indoors.

Please put up your paw to show your support for action on cats by taking the pledge today. https://invasives.org.au/how-to-help/take-action/extinction-emergency/

A fact sheet on the research findings on pet cats is an alarming read

The Coal Point CATaclysm.

Our local wildlife carer Catherine Wroe provided this insight into cats in our community.

“I’ve mainly only cared for birds and blue-tongued lizards attacked by cats, but I have rescued other species and passed them onto other carers. The birds include most species that are found around here, and young birds are particularly at risk because they aren’t able to fly so well and their fear response hasn’t fully developed.

Birds include eastern rosellas, king parrots, grey and pied butcher birds, magpies, kookaburras, tawny frogmouths, noisy miners, wattlebirds, sacred kingfishers, dollarbirds, quail, scarlet honeyeaters, owlet nightjars, crested pigeons, rainbow and scaly-breasted lorikeets, plovers, figbirds and satin bowerbirds. Other animals I’ve rescued/picked up after being attacked by cats are ringtail and young brushtailed possums, sugar gliders, and feather-tailed gliders. And of course, there’s lots of little skinks, antechinus, and snakes that are attacked or killed that aren’t reported.

Animals don’t have to be injured to die from cat attacks. The bacteria in cats’ saliva is fatal to wildlife, so just being held in a cat’s mouth can cause an infection that will kill them. Therefore, whenever any wildlife is suspected of being attacked by a cat, they require antibiotics. Also, cats often don’t bring wildlife home, so many animals die without their owner’s knowledge.”

Catherine is a wonderful community asset. She is calm and with her non-judgemental manner she provides us with a lifeline for injured wildlife. Birds have a much better chance of surviving if they come to Catherine rather than going straight to the vets unless they need euthanising - it’s very stressful for wildlife at vet clinics, and they often don’t get examined for quite a while. Catherine can generally treat them at her place or take them to the vets if necessary. If you have injured wildlife please let Catherine Wroe know-0412 093 030.

DAs In Play 28/1/23 to 15/3/23

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

Simulation summary

On Saturday morning 11th February, Council and Hunter Joint Councils staff demonstrated the Simtable 3D interactive tool that can simulate the impact of bushfire, storm and flooding events on a specific area.

We focussed on western Lake Macquarie and, in particular, on the wider Coal Point and Toronto areas, and considered flood and bushfire risk scenarios.

The main flood risk area is the low-lying land around Puntei Creek and wetland in Carey Bay bounded by Excelsior Parade. Further information is available at: https://shape.lakemac.com.au/lake-tributary-flood-studies

The scale and extent of bushfire risk, how far and how fast bushfires can travel, and why a plan is needed was clearly demonstrated, using the 2002 Killingworth fire as an example. Bushland and surrounds in the Coal Point area are only moderately at risk as there is not enough connectivity of bushland in our area for fires ’to run’. Major risk is for large bushland areas west of Fassifern.

Ember attack is likely to be the primary reason for spot fires developing in our area on severe and catastrophic fire days. The need for preparation plans to be in place were emphasized along with seasonal maintenance such as gutter cleaning and garden maintenance. (information available at https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/resources/bush-fire-survival-plan).

A take home message from the session was that a response to a catastrophic fire event in our community would likely require a significant community response addressing and containing controllable spot fires in our area of fragmented vegetation and small reserves. To prepare yourself and your property for the worst case scenario completing your bush fire survival plan is the best first step.

Some smartphone apps were recommended to inform what was happening locally and when travelling.

Red Cross Get Prepared : helps you access information and tools to complete an emergency plan, as well as their RediPlan template.

Hazards Near Me: keeps you updated on current/live bush fire and flood threats across the state.

More online resources to assist with the bush fire season:

RFS website: for information about your bush fire risk, creating a bush fire survival plan

1233 ABC Radio and news channel 24 ABC: are the designated emergency channels.