Joy, glee, and excitement are in the air! - Progress Hall re-opeing

The Progress Hall is looking absolutely amazing, and the CPPA Committee is beyond thrilled to be throwing open the doors once again! We warmly invite you to join us for a festive Re-Open Day on Saturday 22 March 2025, from 10am to 2pm.

This special event is a wonderful opportunity to catch up with locals, soak in the cheerful atmosphere, and celebrate the incredible achievements of our community group. We can’t wait to welcome you back to our beautifully refreshed hall—see you there!

10:00- 10:30 Welcome members of the community back to the Hall, seeing is believing, it’s an amazing transformation. Share your ideas for future uses and events.

10:30 – 11:00 The official re-opening of the hall ceremony, with the Honourable Greg Piper MP, cutting the ribbon and turning on the urn. A time for some heartfelt thanks and reflections on the community contributions that have maintained this community asset for the past 74 years.

11:00 – 11:30 Celebrating 30 years of Landcare in our community. Who are the landcarers, what do they do and where do they do it. Join us in a slice of community cake and a cuppa.

11:30 -1:30 Drop by and say hi. Explore the hall, immerse yourself in a display of local weeds and how to get rid of them. Purchase a native plant that can replace your weed. Chat about your trees and see if they have the potential to be a hollowhog-hotel. Join the CPPA and support what we do. There will be members-a-plenty to propose and second your application.

To add to the festive atmosphere throughout the day there will be some light music so visitors can appreciate the acoustics and test out the well sprung floor if you like to move and groove. On stage will be Bobby Paquet, a French folk guitarist and on the recently tuned piano will be Helen English, accomplished pianist.

There will be a rolling morning tea with some tastebud tempting treats provided by the Cleaver crew.

1:30 – 2pm Join in the Annual General Meeting of the CPPA where the achievements of the year will be shared, the financial report delivered, plans for 2025 discussed and the election of the Committee undertaken. Nominations received so far for the Committee have been from Suzanne Pritchard, Nico Marcar, Cath Fairs, Selma Barry, Helen English, Nicole Haigh, Pam Sharp and Ros Cornish.

If you are coming along please send an email to cppasecretary@gmail.com so we can make sure we cater adequately.

What you get from joining the CPPA

Build Connections & Friendships

You meet like-minded people, make new friends, and feel more connected to your local area. It’s a great way to build a sense of belonging, especially if you’re new to the area.

Make a Positive Impact

The CPPA works on projects that directly improve the local environment and enhance sustainability, so you can see real results from your efforts.

Learn New Skills

Whether it’s leadership, event organizing, gardening, advocacy, or public speaking, being involved in a group helps you gain and practice valuable skills.

Boost Your Wellbeing

Volunteering and being socially active can improve mental health, reduce stress, and give you a sense of purpose.

Have a Voice in Local Issues

Joining the CPPA gives you a platform to contribute ideas and influence decisions that affect your community. The CPPA keeps abreast of local issues and supports where we can.

Contribute to our community-owned hall

Your membership/subscription fees provide a financial base that allows us to plan for the year. The $8/person or $13/household helps pay the bills associated with owning and maintaining a community asset. A household is defined as people living at the same address, whether a family or not). Five-year memberships are available for $32 (indiv) and $52 (household).

Join the CPPA

Renewal- Individual

Renewal - Household

Thank you to the refurbishment contributors

The refurbishment of the kitchen started in 2023, on the back of the discovery of a very significant termite infestation. Since then the community and CPPA combined to create something very special, and for that our heartfelt and genuine thanks are given to:

Selma Barry, for the thoughtful practical kitchen design and coordinating the whole project and carrying much of the stress involved in such a project

Cath Fairs & Family, for the attention to detail and decluttering skills, re-setting the hall with enthusiasm and gusto for the next stage of its community life.

Ian Dennison for his timber transforming talents, commencing with the kitchen deconstruction dealing with the worst of the termite damaged timbers and following up with carpentry detailing at the kitchen completion end of the project

David Israel for being our trades consultant and overseeing the technical aspects of reconstructing the kitchen

Langford Windows for a lovely new window and a $1000 discount

Reece Plumbing Warners Bay for the donations of taps (warnersbay.plumbing.nsw@reece.com.au )

Dave the Plasterer – D & C Senior-for doing a top job for a great price in ensuring the kitchen walls were perfect for the kitchen installation

Brody Geddes from MKB-Joinery and Benchtops who created and installed a lovely kitchen and was very patient with us throughout the process (mkbjb@outlook.com)

Guy Brauer and Ross McGrath for coming to the electrical rescue and donating their expertise and time

CoolWatt Air and Electrical for a prompt quote and installation of additional power points and ensuring the oven electricals had capacity.(Mitchel Davies - 0457124406)

Dean, The PlumbOn Plumber for a quick quote, quick job and community discount

Luke Fairs for the carpentry work in completing theframing and undertaking the gyprocking to get the walls resurrected and replaced.

Tom and Kay Scott for the timber donations that helped us stretch the dollars that little bit further

Toronto Sunrise Rotary for responding to an urgent plea to paint the kitchen prior to the kitchen installation

Carpet Court- Toronto for the newly levelled floor and enduring vinyl flooring

Wangi Mens Shed for supplying Peter Bowen to provide advice ()

Bennetts Painting – Kyle and Graeme for painting the Hall interior in a super quick timeframe and going above and beyond the call of duty to get the tint right and doing all the fiddly bits. (m:0451370045)

The Landcare team for making the grounds and surrounds look so wonderful for the re-open day.

Toronto Workers Club Community services to go

Image from https://www.theweeklysource.com.au/community-living/toronto-workers-club-in-nsw-plans-to-expand-its-existing-elements-of-toronto-retirement-village

The Toronto Workers Club (TWC) plans to demolish the only bowling green and tennis courts in our community to build more units.

The TWC 2024 Annual Report states the club’s short-term goal is to exceed members’ and guests’ expectations in facilities, products, and services. Their long-term objective is to provide the community with high-quality services in a safe and friendly environment, generating profits to reinvest into improved services and community support.

Despite these statements, TWC has directed the bowls and tennis clubs to wind up by June 2025. Both clubs are financially viable and self-sustaining. TWC is pushing for this deadline without lodging a DA with Council or consulting any community or club members.

Residents of the Elements retirement village will also lose access to these on-site activities—facilities they expected when buying their Villas.

TWC is a member-owned, not-for-profit organisation created to provide activities and facilities for the community. Removing bowls and tennis will impact our seniors, local schools, junior bowlers, and tennis players, who will lose these precious facilities forever.

Over 70 people attended a community meeting at The Hub on 4th March to discuss how to stop TWC’s plans. Sadly, no club representative attended. Many spoke passionately about the loss and challenged claims that the bowls green and tennis courts are underused. They are well utilised.

Over the years, TWC has already reduced facilities, removing two tennis courts and bowling greens. Now they’ve told financially healthy, well-attended clubs to close.

Elements residents who bought in when bowls and tennis were part of the lifestyle were not told they’d be removed. They now face years of construction and the possibility of their homes being overshadowed by a motel.

Please give your feedback to the Workers Club at enquiries@torontoworkersclub.com.au.

This is OUR club, OUR bowls green, OUR tennis courts. Our community deserves better. Once gone, these clubs—and what they bring—will be lost forever.

- Maree Smith

CPPA AGM 2025

A brief and efficient Annual General Meeting will be held on 22 March from 1:30-2pm, at Progress hall, 197 Skye Pt Rd, Coal Point.

The Agenda will be as follows

• Welcome
• Minutes of the previous AGM held 30/6/24
• President’s Report
• Financial Report
• Election of CPPA Committee- Nominations received so far for the Committee have been from Suzanne Pritchard, Nico Marcar, Cath Fairs, Selma Barry, Helen English, Nicole Haigh, Pam Sharp and Ros Cornish
• Confirmation of Public Officer - Suzanne Pritchard

If you would like to join the Committee a nomination form is available and nominations will be called from the floor.

Treasurer's Report for 2024- Harvey Mitchell

The course of financial events described in this report follow somewhat predictably from last year’s report. In that report it was suggested

that Progress Association activities would be dictated by the need to cope with the discovery of termites at the hall. This problem will require significant spending to refurbish the infected structural work, as well as to restore the furnishings which have been destroyed in the rebuilding work so far. In addition, the Association plans to take the opportunity to enhance the aged kitchen area. Fortunately, the Association has benefitted from income in the form of an $8000 donation from the Eraring Site Community Support Programme, an $8000 grant (i.e., with restrictions on how it can be spent), from the state government’s Local Small Commitments Allocation Program, plus a $500 donation from the Toronto Lions Club, and notably a total of $2000 in donations - to date - from the community.

Until that report was presented, the planned work had seen only a small amount of expenditure because of the need for significant preparation work. Since then, the kitchen refurbishment is essentially complete, with around $40,000 being spent on hall repairs and refurbishment. This report for 2024 can therefore be summarised by saying that the Association’s total liquid assets are just a few thousand dollars. The Association clearly has no capacity to carry out further work unless there is significant income, and a review of routine expenses and incomes is appropriate.

As far as expenses are concerned, our significant routine costs, primarily relate to council rates, (approaching $4000 per annum), insurances (both building and personal, especially for Landcare workers, approaching $2,500 per annum), electricity supply and similar matters, and an annual cost of over $1000 for continual termite inspections and treatment.

Throughout 2024 we also lost income from Chronicle sponsorship, our most significant income source, because of limited volunteer capacity to produce the usual number of issues.

Membership subscriptions, which comprise the Association’s third main form of income, have been good as members have been as supportive as ever.

As far as income is concerned, it is hoped that hall hiring, which is normally one of the three main sources of Association income, and which fell to almost negligible levels, due to the renovations will pick up again. Even so, the Committee may need to consider other fund-raising measures, such as trash-and-treasure events.

Taking all this into account, the Association’s financial position is still not in a secure state, and Association activities need to reflect this situation.

Thank you Harvey

Sincere thanks go to Harvey Mitchell who is stepping down from the CPPA Committee this year. Harvey has been an enthusiastic supporter of the CPPA, as a landcarer, committee member, Vice-President, newsletter distributor and for the past two years Treasurer. A working-bee enthusiast, if there were a pair of hands required, they were provided. Harvey’s attention to detail and cautious deliberations have been an asset to the Committee and we thank him for his contributions to our community.

DAs In Play 30/1/25 to 10/3/25

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

TASNG Talk

The Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group (TASNG) has been shortlisted for a LakeMac Award for Environmental Leadership. This nomination recognises TASNG’s ongoing efforts to rehabilitate the wetlands under the Fennel Bay bridge every 2nd Wednesday, their commitment to reducing graffiti, with the group currently pursuing a grant for a mural along the passageway to Aldi as the next phase of the anti-graffiti campaign. 

TASNG has a long history of supporting Cleanup Australia Day and campaigning for recycling bins at fast food restaurants. 

TASNG is planning a meeting with the new Mayor to push for more accessible recycling (e.g. soft plastics, fabrics, e-waste, cardboard and polystyrene, and even toys among other products) in most suburbs, with the aim to reduce waste and lower our emissions.

TASNG continues with its education campaign to the public about the Circular Economy and Recycling, working with police, Council and businesses to try to keep Toronto clean, graffiti free and safe, landcaring near the Fennell Bay bridge (Crocodile Point) and advocating for better cycling and pedestrian infrastructure.

We are always keen to have new members and friends. Annual membership is only $5, donations are always welcome.

We also support access to the Chronicle by extending its distribution to Kilaben Bay and Toronto. Contact Nico (Secretary) for membership forms, torontoareasng@gmail.com and bank account details are;

Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group, BSB 650 000, A/c no: 505782001. 

TASNG have a landcare site Crocodile Point (TASNG)

The group meets on 1st and 3rd Wed of the month

8:30 - 10am meet under the Fennel Bay Bridge.