The Coal Point Chronicle: Locals doing local things very locally and CPPA AGM

Monday, 12 June 2023

Locals doing local things very locally and CPPA AGM

The Coal Point Progress Association (CPPA) has been around since 1946 and built our community-owned hall in 1951 as a community space. Throughout these 77 years, local volunteer members of the community have been moving and shaking to ensure services are delivered and that our area receives an equitable share of of expenditure on Council rates.

Volunteers have hosted events to create social connection such as Art & Flower Shows, Trash & Treasure Sales, and a Science Week event. Landcarers have been contributing efforts every week to protect the integrity of our unique local environment, home to several threatened species. Members have been maintaining our hall with regular working bees and undertaking sustainability-inspired renovations. All of this to support the cohesion of and maintain character of our bushland community.

On Monday 19th June, 7-8pm, the Annual General Meeting of the CPPA is being held online. The time and format have been chosen to better enable any community members who would like to be involved in the organisation but who have been prevented from participating previously, to attend. If there is interest in the later meeting time the new committee can discuss a suitable time to meet. The AGM Agenda was publicised in the May Chronicle and can be viewed here and below.

The nature of volunteering has changed over the years of the CPPA’s existence. As gender no longer defines work options, and work becomes more flexible people’s interest in volunteering has also changed. The CPPA is keen to enhance opportunities for community members to volunteer.

Whilst the majority of the current committee have expressed interest in renominating, new faces and new ideas would be very welcome. On our committee wish list are people to assist in organising social events that utilise the hall and a hall maintenance coordinator. The latter role has been carried out by Ian Dennison who is standing down from the committee. We’re also on the lookout for a volunteer auditor to review our annual accounts.

To attend the AGM please register via zoom

Agenda of Annual General Meeting of the CPPA

Monday 19th June , 7pm via Zoom

Acknowledgement of Country
Attendance & Apologies
Confirmation of minutes of Annual General Meeting held 26/6/22
Review of actions from previous AGM
Motion: To amend the Constitution Part 2- Membership, Section 8 to read:
A member of the association must pay to the association an annual membership fee. The amount of the fee will be determined by the committee from time to time.
For existing members, the fee for each financial year is due by 31 March of that year. For new applicants the fee is due on application to join the association, but where an application is approved after 1 October the fee paid will cover the balance of the current year plus the full following year.
President’s Report
Treasurer’s Report
Questions to the Committee/Motions
Appointment of Auditor
Nomination of Returning Officer
Election of Office Bearers and up to 6 other Committee members
Confirmation of Public Officer
Close of meeting

A nomination form is available for financial members to join the Committee

So what does the Coal Point Progress Association do?

Here are some excerpts from the annual report which will be formally presented at the AGM.

Thank you to our Members and Volunteers

The Progress Association is indebted to all the volunteers who give their time and skills to undertake community projects and to the members, whose support is vital for the organisation to be able to represent community views.

To all the volunteers who are the backbone of the CPPA thank you for managing hall bookings, undertaking hall maintenance, distributing newsletters, supporting social events, sharing photographs, massaging data, providing local insights, proffering professional expertise and landcaring our biodiverse bushland.

Thank you to the members of the community who have donated dollars to support our various activities; the Toronto Lions for their support of our kitchen repairs, the donors who give regularly to ensure the Chronicle can continue to be more widely distributed, and those that add a few extra dollars with their membership, it is very much appreciated.

Progress Hall

The Hall bookings are coordinated by Cath Fairs who has made the job her own and added promotional flair to the position.

We have had a number of new one-off hires, including a wedding. We have also had some success with the hall being used for workshop-based activities such as Yoga/mindfulness, whole day sessions and a TAFE group.

We have lost two long-term hirers for a variety of reasons. One was due to an increase in business, requiring them to access a larger hall. The positive feedback from the hirer was that the hall is a great location to trial or set up an emerging based group or activity. The other was because the hall did not meet their needs. The hirer felt that a regular cleaning service for the hall is needed, which does not fit within our current budget and is likely to be more expensive than the revenue-generated from hiring.

Minimal advertising for hall hire has occurred during the second half of the financial year, due to repairs being undertaken in the hall, which runs the risk of impacting on the usability of the hall for some hirers. An advertising campaign to promote hall usage will be undertaken once hall renovations have been finalised or plans formalised.

Though our application for a Community Building Partnerships grant to improve storage, renovate the bathrooms to improve accessibility and address the discovery of a rather significant termite infestation was unsuccessful, we were successful in applying for a smaller $8000 donation from the Eraring Site Community Support program using the fully-scoped proposal we had prepared.

Ian Dennison and a trusty band of volunteers, identified the scope of the termite damage in the kitchen and have prepared the area for the professionals to perform their magic.

The landcare team have recently planted the roadside bank in front of the hall with natives -Lomandra, pigface and a prostrate Banksia - to reduce the need for maintenance mowing on steep slopes, next to Skye Point Road.

The CPPA changed energy providers from Powershop (which had been taken over by Shell) to Diamond Energy which has the best ‘green credentials’ and aligns with the CPPA’s sustainability objectives.

Communication & Advocacy

Development Applications

Updates for current development applications were listed on the back page of each edition of the Chronicle. Submissions by the CPPA were lodged for

DA 2075/2021 44-46 Brighton Avenue
and DA1651/2022 114-120 Cary St Toronto

Submissions lodged by the CPPA:

Follow up naming of two unnamed public reserves to ‘Tiirabeynba’ and ‘Nikinba’
LMCC Dogs in Open Space Strategy
Gurranba Reserve - ongoing erosion due to informal car movements, seeking a solution and an update on the plans for the reserve
Nominations for Blue Plaques NSW- submitted and successful.

Advocacy

Signatory to Open letter to Hon Dr Jim Chalmers on the sale of Vales Point Power station

The Chronicle

There were nine editions (322-330) of The Chronicle produced in the past year. These were hand delivered to 2370 households in Coal Point, Carey Bay, Kilaben Bay and sections of Toronto by21 volunteers. A donation drive has been running to support the expanded distribution with the $1000 raised covering much of the printing costs for the Kilaben Bay -Toronto areas.

Suzanne Pritchard produces the newsletter from articles sourced from members of TASNG, TAG, local groups, and members of the community. It is formatted for print and web along with an e-newsletter version emailed to the CPPA members and network. The social media outlets are the CPPA, TAG and TASNG Facebook pages.

The topics which attracted the most interest according to the website analytics included the new Flight paths over Toronto (23/7/22), the DA at 114-120 Cary Street (23/7/22) and The Toronto Foreshore Town Green update (24/9/23). Regular updates were provided on the activities of TAG, TASNG, Landcare, Neighbours Noticing Nature, Council’s Plans, and their strategies that were open for community comment and DAs In Play.

The website had 4134 users, 4070 of whom were new and 7692 views, providing an opportunity to share local information beyond the reach of the printed newsletter.

The Progress Association’s Facebook page has 604 followers (up from 562 last year) and 538 likes (up from 495 last year). Facebook users are 73% women and 27% men. Most of the posts are articles posted from the Chronicle website, it is another avenue to connect with the community when immediacy and reach is required.

A sample of posts from the past three months saw the early morning ANZAC day post reach 912 people, the ‘hall all dressed up for a wedding’ reaching 384 people, Landcare posts proving popular and reaching 150+ people, and posts with links to the bushland gardening resources (184) along our local wildlife carer’s details (247) also demonstrated interest among the community for our local environmental pursuits.

The sponsorship spaces were well subscribed throughout the year with only one space in the eight additions not being sponsored and complimentarily filled by Catherine Wroe, our local wildlife carer.

Sincere thanks to our enduring and regular Chronicle sponsors: Matthew Cook Plumbing, Ross McGrath Electrical, Westlakes Trophies & Engraving, Carey Bay Cellars, RA Mackay Yacht Brokerage, The Jetty Man, Triggs Motors, Shields Auto Repairs, Burrell’s Landscape Supplies, Altitude Real Estate, Toronto Electrical Contractors, Ozone Sails & Rails, Shane’s Seafood, The Boulevarde Denture Clinic, Kevin Edden Building, Latina body by Julz, Carey Bay Servo, Anne Davies, The Goods Café, Carey Bay Laundry & Ironing and Carey Bay Servo.

Thanks are also given to the Chronicle Crew. Tony and Barbara Dynon, Harvey Mitchell and Nico Marcar for coordinating the delivery and the deliverers, Robyn & John Gill, Nicole Haigh, Dianne Onslow, Jenell & Noel Heslop, Heather McRae, Tony & Bernie Lowther, Ian Dennison, Nico & Chris Marcar, Sue Burrough, Lois Simpson, Steve Dewar, Rod Mellor, Howard Dick, Robyn & Roy Garrett, Andrea Gill, Jennifer Wood, Maryanne & Lindsay Cartwright and Bob & Linda Ireland.

Activities of the Association

Toronto Area Sustainable Group (TASNG)

The CPPA’s collaborative relationship with the TASNG continues by supporting and promoting our shared values via the Chronicle, collaborating on funding applications and projects and extending the Chronicle distribution to cover the TASNG boundaries.

A major collaboration this past year was the Community Car Boot sale which saw 40 car boot sellers set up in October on the first sunny weekend for a while. The numbers of community members present were fewer than anticipated, possibly due to a clash on the weekend with the Coal Point School fete. The concept was seen as a good one and the logistics and site capacity proved to be suitable for such an event in the future.

Toronto Action Group

The CPPA continues to be an active member of the Toronto Action Group, a coalition of local community groups and residents that emerged to champion a community-focussed outcome for the Toronto foreshore.

There have not been regular meetings this past year as the Toronto Foreshore masterplan rolls out.

Landcare

The Landcare crew of 4-8 regulars gathered every Thursday when it wasn’t raining, 8am-noon, to enjoy the company of like-minded locals, engage in physical activity, and regenerate our biodiverse bushland.

The committed landcare crew consists of Lois Simpson, Rod Mellor, Wendy Davidson, Harvey Mitchell, Kath Gall, Nico Marcar, Roslyn Cornish, Nicole Haigh, Suzanne Pritchard, Craig Dewick, Jenny Rome, with several other semi-regular visitors.

Several of our team were recognised for their efforts at the 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.

During the 2022 calendar year, only 250 plants were planted, a tribute to the natural resilience of many of the sites where once the weed threats are removed the natives re-emerge.

During 2022, despite a lot of rain, 42 landcaring sessions garnered 935 hours (859 hours last year) of on-ground endeavours by the dedicated team.

Our Landcare Team cares for 10 local reserves with ‘a guardian’ allocated to plan and coordinate the activities for the landcare session, and generally keep an eye of the reserve.

The approximate percentage of time spent at each reserve during 2022 was