Piece it together - Community Social speed Puzzling night

Gather your team for a slightly chaotic evening of Social Speed Puzzling at Progress Hall, Saturday 17 October, 5–7.30pm.

Teams of up to four will strategise, colourise, socialise, clamber, laugh and celebrate at pace, as they piece together our brand-new bespoke 500 piece community puzzle, pictured. And this isn’t your conventional jigsaw. Its unconventional cut should keep even seasoned puzzlers guessing.

There’s local glory at stake too. Which team will claim the honour of Coal Point’s speed puzzling champions?

We’ll keep the buzzing brains and nimble fingers working with soup and damper, plus sweet treats for puzzling stamina.

A team ticket is $50 and includes one puzzle to take home.

Registration required by 28 September,

The puzzle behind the puzzling- Fundraiser

Created to celebrate 80 years of CPPA connecting our community, the puzzle brings together a map of our place in space, snippets of local history and some of the wildlife that also call the Coal Point peninsula home.

It’s also part of our 80th anniversary fundraiser, helping CPPA care for our local environment, connect our community and maintain Progress Hall. Keep it for yourself, send one to family or friends overseas, add one to the games cupboard at the holiday house, or get some Christmas shopping done.

Puzzles are $40 each and available to order now through the booking page. Select the ‘PUZZLE ORDER’ ticket.

Come for the puzzle. Stay for the soup, damper and good company and help us put the pieces together for the next chapter of CPPA.

Pig Day Out, racing for a good cause

Little legs. Big personalities. And absolutely no guarantee they’ll head in the direction expected.

Pig Day Out is back at Toronto Hotel on Sunday 4 October, with pig racing, pig auctions, family fun and fundraising for a very good local cause, NourishEd.

Co-hosted by the Rotary Club of Toronto Sunrise and Toronto Hotel, the long weekend event runs from 11am–4pm and entry is free.

There’ll be five pig races, plus a jumping castle, face painting, superheroes, food and drinks.

You can even have a flutter on your favourite little porker. Race tickets are $5 each or three for $10, with prizes for lucky ticket holders. Or bid at the auction to become the backer of a racing pig and share in the spoils if yours crosses the line first.

Behind the fun is a serious purpose.

This year’s beneficiary is NourishEd Australia, a Toronto-based charity providing food, education and practical support to local people experiencing hardship.

NourishEd is working towards creating a ‘Hub of Help’, using its food pantry as a starting point to connect people with further support. Its plans include ready-to-eat meals, cooking and technology classes, financial literacy and recovery programs.

Every race ticket, auction bid and donation helps NourishEd continue that work.

Come for the piglets. Stay for the fun. Help NourishEd help our locals doing it tough.

Pig Day Out
Sunday 4 October, 11am–4pm
Toronto Hotel
Free entry, family friendly

Thirty years of quiet achievement

For 30 years, a group of local early risers has been quietly getting things done.

The Rotary Club of Toronto Sunrise celebrated its 30th anniversary on 10 September with a lunch at Petersons Champagne House.

The club began when a group of younger local men and women wanted a different kind of Rotary. Active, less formal, female inclusive and meeting first thing in the morning, with leadership shared by women and men.

Pictured are Founding charter members (L-R) John Norris, Peter Jamieson, Jeff Jansson, Geoff Hurt, Dollina Renton).

Thirty years later, those early risers have made quite an impact.

Toronto Sunrise has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars and contributed countless volunteer hours to projects at home and further afield.

Locally, members have supported people experiencing homelessness and food insecurity, youth mental health, the Cancer Council and women and children escaping domestic violence.

They’ve also created opportunities for young people through youth exchange, the National Youth Science Forum, Science and Engineering Challenge, leadership programs and driver training.

Further afield, projects have helped provide toilets so girls can remain at school, hygiene packs for remote Aboriginal communities to reduce Tricoma, medical assistance and support for communities affected by disasters..

Some projects are big. Others simply start by asking, “What can we do?”

Friendship with purpose

Two long-time community contributors were recognised at the anniversary lunch with Paul Harris Fellow honours.

For around 20 years, Colin Peterson and Robert Hertogs have worked together on a wine fundraiser that has raised approximately $270,000 for community service projects.

Petersons Wines supplies cleanskin wine at a generous price. Rotarians label and distribute the bottles, with the proceeds returning to community service.

Simple idea. Long-term commitment. Remarkable result.Perhaps that sums up Toronto Sunrise rather well.

Friendship. Practical ideas. People willing to lend a hand. And 30 years of quietly making things happen.

Happy 30th birthday, Rotary Club of Toronto Sunrise

From hollow words to hollow deeds

There’s a housing shortage in our community. And this one has feathers, fur and wings caught up in it.

The loss of large, old trees across our neighbourhood, especially in the past 12 months, also means the loss of tree hollows, important breeding and shelter sites for birds, gliders, microbats and other wildlife.

Protecting the hollow-bearing trees we still have must always come first. But once an old tree and its hollows are gone, replacing that habitat naturally can take more than a century.

So we need to think long term. And act now.

Planning for the hollows of tomorrow

CPPA and Rotary Club of Toronto Sunrise are collaborating on a grant application to the Eraring Community Investment Fund for Hollows for Habitat: A Community-Led Habitat Restoration Pilot.

If successful, the project will begin in 2027, bringing together Rotary, CPPA Landcare, TreeHouse Ecology and local landholders.

The idea is to build local skills as well as hollows.

Volunteers would learn to create habitat hollows and entrance pieces at Progress Hall. An ecologist would assess suitable trees and sites, with qualified climbing contractors installing around 20 hollows on private bushland properties.

Already, 24 local landholders have volunteered to become potential hollow hosts.

Importantly, the skills, tools and workshop space would remain in our community, allowing us to keep creating supplementary habitat well beyond the life of the grant.

But wildlife can’t wait for 2027

While we plan for next year and beyond, another breeding season is already upon us. So CPPA wants to turn plans into practical action.

Our immediate goal is to purchase and install 11 supplementary nest hollows within the next month.

We need funds to purchase the hollows and, ideally, engage an arborist to install them safely at appropriate heights and locations.

Professional installation matters. Different wildlife species need their hollows at different heights in the surrounding habitat. Putting up a hollow is one thing. Putting it where wildlife has a good chance of using it is another.

Habitat loss is already putting pressure on our wildlife. The emerging threat of avian influenza adds another worry for our fine feathered neighbours.

Imagine Coal Point without the morning chorus. Without kookaburras cackling across the peninsula, the parrots parrotting on while perusing potential nest sites or the owls’ haunting hoots while hunting quietly after dark. They all need hollows for homes.

We can’t grow an old hollow-bearing tree in a month.

But we can protect the ones we still have.

And where hollows have already been lost, we can provide supplementary habitat while the next generation of trees grows old.

The grant is about building our capacity to help in the years ahead.

The next 11 hollows are about helping now.

Let’s turn hollow words into hollow deeds. Help us install 11 hollows this breeding season.

DONATE https://events.humanitix.com/hollow-words-hollow-deeds

Learning at Landcare - Burnage Reserve

Surrounded by Amelia Street, Excelsior Parade and Whitelocke Street, Burnage Reserve is a small patch of bush with a big Landcare story.

The reserve is named after Colonel Granville John Burnage, born in Dungog in 1858. Burnage had a long military career, serving in the Boer War and at Gallipoli before commanding troopships between Australia and England.

In 1916 he bought waterfront land at Carey Bay and built ‘Worilla’ at 1 Excelsior Parade. A prominent figure in the Toronto district, he retired from the Australian Military Forces in 1921 and died at Carey Bay in 1945.

You can read more about Col Burnage ‘The Gamest Old Man” 

From weeds to wildlife refuge

CPPA Landcare has cared for Burnage Reserve since a Clean Up Australia Day event in 2000.

Early farming, escaped garden plants and nutrient-rich stormwater had taken their toll. Rapid runoff from The Quarterdeck, Amelia and Whitelocke Streets had also created an eroded creek line flowing towards the Lake.

In 2001, State funding helped stabilise the gully. Rocks were installed to slow and guide water, weeds controlled and local native species planted to border the reserve and reduce exposure to the roads.

More than 25 years of bush regeneration has transformed a very weedy site into valuable habitat, with mature gums, rainforest plants and plenty of birdlife.

The reserve is part of the Hunter Coast Lowland Spotted Gum Moist Forest Plant Community Type (PCT), found across much of Coal Point. Knowing the PCT helps Landcarers choose appropriate species when restoring bushland.

Look up in the canopy for Spotted Gum (Corymbia maculata), Grey Gum (Eucalyptus punctata), Lilly Pilly (Acmena smithii) and the threatened Magenta Lilly Pilly (Syzygium paniculatum).

Below them grow Coffee Bush (Breynia oblongifolia), Hairy Clerodendrum (Clerodendrum tomentosum), Cheese Tree (Glochidion ferdinandi) and Poison Peach (Trema tomentosa), with a ground cover of Bracken Fern (Pteridium esculentum), Sword Sedge (Lepidosperma laterale) and Blady Grass (Imperata cylindrica).

The weed watch never ends either. Many weeds, such as Creeping Ruellia (Ruellia squarrosa) and Crofton Weed (Ageratina adenophora), are coming from stormwater runoff and are choking the ‘creek’ and drainage lines leading to the Lake. Other weeds, such as Ground Asparagus (Asparagus aethiopicus), Lantana (Lantana camara) and Mickey Mouse Plant (Ochna serrulata), are brought by birds eating nearby seeds/berries in gardens and on roadsides. Others, such as Madeira Vine (Anredera cordifolia), Turkey Rhubarb (Acetosa sagittata), Fishbone Fern (Nephrolepis cordifolia) and Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) are likely to have arrived via dumped garden waste and have crept a long way into the reserve. Most are hard to get rid of and require constant monitoring and treatment and follow up each time we visit.

The reserve is quite small and doesn’t have any paths through it. However, there is a picnic shelter, with shade in the grassed area, with a lake view and access to the Lake. You will be guaranteed to hear birds calling in the reserve, you may even hear the call of a Whip Bird, one of the 14 species of birds found in the reserve in a survey some years ago.

Want to lend a hand? Contact Ros Cornish on 0408 252 810.

Play your cards right, try Bridge

Looking for a new challenge, friendly competition and good company? The Toronto Bridge Club would love to meet you.

New and experienced players are welcome and, if you’ve never played Bridge, there’s a great teacher ready to get beginners started.

The club offers games 6 days a week in the dedicated clubhouse within the Carey Bay Shopping Village, with plenty of parking.

Come along, meet the players and see whether Bridge might be your next favourite pastime. No need to arrive knowing your trumps from your tricks! Interested?

President Susan: 0417 881 266

Secretary Ros: 0414 884 916

Lessons Michael: 0422 815 581

Play your cards right. Give Bridge a go!

Toronto Foreshore, eternal vigilance?

Remember the battle over Toronto’s foreshore?

In 2018, Lake Macquarie City Council decided, with minimal public consultation, to pursue a four to six-storey mixed-use development on Council-owned foreshore land at Bath Street.

Community opposition followed, including a petition with more than 5,000 signatures and a well-attended public meeting. In September 2019, Council changed course, deferring the development and incorporating the site into the broader Toronto Foreshore Master Plan, adopted in 2021.

So where are we now? Local resident and long-time community watchdog Ron McSporran has been asking. Ron recently sought an update on the Wharf Road and Terraces precincts, including the much-criticised public amenities beside Toronto Baths.

Wharf Road Precinct. There is some good news.

Council says detailed design for a new amenities building is complete, including lockable change rooms with internal showers, accessible facilities, public toilets and an outdoor shower.

Remaining design and approvals for the Wharf Road precinct are expected to be finalised early this financial year.

Then comes the catch. There is no construction funding and no confirmed construction date.

Council says the project will be ready when construction dollars are allocated through a future Operational Plan.

And the Terraces?

Ron also raised the lack of visible progress in the northern precinct, including the Terraces and Bath Street ends, along with concerns about weeds, vegetation and the general condition of this important public waterfront. He made a pragmatic suggestion. If implementation of the Master Plan remained years away, why not undertake more immediate rehabilitation and landscaping?

Council says it will not abandon the Master Plan in favour of simply undertaking weeding and landscaping.

Funding has been allocated this financial year to complete detailed design of the northern precincts.

Council’s stated aim is that by the end of June 2027, all precincts of the Toronto Foreshore revitalisation will be designed, approved and construction-ready.

That’s progress. But construction-ready isn’t constructed.

Future work remains dependent on funding and must compete with other priorities across Lake Macquarie. Council cannot yet provide a construction timeframe.

For a community that fought hard to retain its foreshore as public space, that’s worth watching.

Back in the April 2020 Chronicle, while we waited for the draft Master Plan, we borrowed an old observation:“The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.”

Six years later, perhaps the price of a great public foreshore is eternal patience.

Sincere thanks to Ron for his determination and vigilance.

You can subscribe for updates at https://www.lakemac.com.au/Projects/Toronto-foreshore-revitalisation

DAs In Play 16/7/26 to 12/9/26

Keeping an eye on local development

The CPPA continues to monitor Development Applications that may affect Coal Point and surrounding suburbs.

A summary of current applications is provided Full details and supporting documents can be viewed on the Lake Macquarie City Council Development Application Tracker.

If you're aware of developments that may impact our community or local environment, we'd be pleased to hear from you.

Please consult LMCC’s website for a full listing: https://www.lakemac.com.au/Development/Planning-and-development-services/Application-Enquiry.

• 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
• OC =Occupation Certificate

What's on at the Hall July-August 2026

 

Piece Together Coal Point - A Community Speed Puzzling Night

Celebrate 80 years of community with a night of friendly competition

To celebrate the Coal Point Progress Association's 80th birthday, we're inviting the community to enjoy something a little different, a Speed Puzzling Night at Progress Hall.

If you haven't discovered speed puzzling yet, you're in for a treat. Teams race against the clock to complete the same jigsaw puzzle, testing observation, teamwork and a little bit of luck. It's fast, surprisingly competitive, and guaranteed to produce plenty of laughs.

Saturday 17 October
5.00 pm for a 5.30 pm start
Progress Hall, 197 Skye Point Road, Coal Point

Teams of two, three or four will tackle a bespoke, high-quality jigsaw created especially for the CPPA's 80th anniversary. Better still, every team takes their puzzle home at the end of the evening.

Will a larger team finish first, or will too many puzzle solvers create delightful chaos? There's only one way to find out.

Not feeling competitive? That's perfectly fine. Enter a social team, enjoy the challenge at your own pace, and discover some of the fascinating flora, fauna and history of the Coal Point peninsula as the picture comes together.

Non-puzzlers are welcome too. Bring along your favourite board game, catch up with friends, or simply watch the friendly mayhem unfold.

Soup and damper will be served from 7.00 pm.

What to bring

Your favourite nibbles and drinks, a little patience and your laughing gear.

Cost

$50 per team, including your commemorative puzzle, soup and damper.

All proceeds will support the next stage of improvements to Progress Hall, making it more accessible for everyone in our community.

If you'd simply like the puzzle, commemorative copies can be pre-ordered for $40. They make wonderful Christmas gifts or keepsakes celebrating our beautiful peninsula.

Bookings via Humantix. Numbers are limited to 20 teams. 

Because the real prize isn't just winning... it's being able to say you're the best puzzlers east of Toronto and north of Wangi.

AGM reflects a year of growth and a future full of possibilities

Although our AGM and Open Day were held back in March, the enthusiasm from the day is still carrying us forward.

A big thank you to everyone who joined us. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces, along with plenty of newcomers discovering what the Coal Point Progress Association is all about.

The annual reports highlighted what has been a very positive year for the Association. Hall hire continues to grow following the recent renovations, The Chronicle sponsorship remains fully subscribed with a waiting list, and our community events and workshops continue to bring people together. Landcare has also gone from strength to strength, with our new "guardianship" approach helping volunteers build a stronger connection with individual reserves.

Financially, the Association is now in a much stronger position. A Lake Macquarie City Council (LMCC) rate rebate, printing sponsorship from First National Toronto and increasing hall hire have all helped place the CPPA on a solid footing for the future.

More importantly, this gives us confidence to keep investing in projects that strengthen our community and care for our local environment.
Something happening every day

One message came through loud and clear during our Open Day conversations, people want to know what's happening at Progress Hall.

Since March, the Hall has become busier than ever. There is now something happening almost every day of the week, making the Hall a welcoming place for learning, creativity, movement and connection.

Current regular activities include:

• Life Drawing – Mondays, 10.00 am
• Healing Moves Yoga & Therapy – Mondays and Thursdays, 5.15 pm, Saturdays, 9.00 am
• A Soulful Way Sound Bath – Tuesdays, 6.30 pm
• U3a Wine Appreciation - Tuesday 11:30am-1pm
• U3A Fibre & Textiles - Wednesday 9:30am-12pm
• Knocking Boots Dance Classes – Thursdays, 6.00 pm
• Pilates – Fridays, 7.45 am

Whether you're looking to improve your fitness, meet new people or simply try something different, there's likely to be an activity for you.

Visit our online calendar for the latest activities and events:
coalpointprogress.blogspot.com/p/calendar.html

Meet your Committee

We're delighted to have a full committee bringing together experience in community governance, accounting, environmental education, communications and project management.

Our committee members are:

• Suzanne Pritchard - President/Secretary 
• Pamela Sharp - Vice President 
• Nico Marcar - Treasurer
• Cath Fairs - Hall Bookings
• Ros Cornish - Landcare coordinator
• Nicole Haigh - Newsletter distribution
• Helen English  
• Selma Barry
• Denise Rickman
• Kathy Gall

While we each bring different skills and experiences, we all share the same goal, protecting our natural environment, strengthening community connections and ensuring Progress Hall continues to thrive for future generations.

As always, none of this would be possible without our volunteers, Landcare crew, newsletter deliverers, hall users and supporters. Thank you for everything you do.

If you're not already a member, we'd love you to join us. Membership is one of the simplest ways to support the Association and the ongoing care of our community-owned hall and local bushland.

Membership forms are available from the noticeboard outside Progress Hall or online 

Looking Ahead

Making Progress Hall accessible for everyone

One of the strongest messages from our Open Day was that our community wants Progress Hall to be welcoming and accessible to everyone.

Improving access has been discussed for many years, and we recognise that both parking and accessibility remain challenges. Rather than looking for a quick fix, the Committee is developing a long-term plan that will allow us to seek grant funding and stage improvements over time.

An Inclusive Access Working Group has now been established to develop a practical roadmap for the future.

If you have experience in accessibility, planning, engineering, grant writing or simply have ideas you'd like to share, we'd love to hear from you. Community knowledge will be essential in shaping a solution that works for everyone.

This is an investment in the future of Progress Hall and in making sure every member of our community can enjoy everything it has to offer.

Can We Lose the Lawn?

Local native groundcovers that work hard for wildlife

As we learn to garden more sustainably, many people are asking the same question.

Do we really need lawn everywhere?

There's certainly a place for open grassed areas, but many parts of our gardens can be transformed with hardy local native groundcovers that suppress weeds, reduce mowing and provide valuable habitat.

The secret is recognising the wonderful native species already growing naturally around us.

Earlier this year we featured Scurvy Weed (Commelina cyanea), a tough local groundcover with striking blue flowers that is often mistaken for the introduced weed Tradescantia.

Another local favourite is Basket Grass (Oplismenus aemulus). Although often overlooked, it forms an attractive green carpet beneath trees, spreading gently by rooting at each node. It thrives in shaded areas where traditional lawn struggles.

Kidney Weed (Dichondra repens) is another excellent choice. Its bright green kidney-shaped leaves spread to form a dense mat, making it ideal beneath trees or in sunny positions where only light foot traffic is expected.

For those wanting a genuine lawn alternative, Weeping Grass (Microlaena stipoides) is one of Australia's best native grasses. Soft underfoot and naturally elegant, it can be mown occasionally to create the appearance of a traditional lawn while providing far greater habitat value.

Native Violets (Viola species) are another versatile option. Their attractive mauve and white flowers are edible, they tolerate light foot traffic and gradually spread to form a dense living carpet in shaded gardens.

White Root (Lobelia purpurascens) is less well known but equally deserving of a place in the garden. This delicate local groundcover has small white flowers and attractive purple undersides to its leaves, thriving in moist, sheltered locations.

Once established, these species require very little maintenance. While they won't eliminate weeds entirely, they greatly reduce weed growth, making ongoing garden care much easier.

Looking for local plants?

The Lake Macquarie Landcare Sustainable Living Centre, umali bara-ku, 80 Toronto Road, Booragul regularly offers locally native plants for sale and can help you choose the right species for your garden.

Because every garden can become part of our bigger backyard.

Plastic Free July

Small changes. Lasting impact.

Plastic Free July is a simple reminder that small actions, repeated every day, can make a real difference.

Choosing reusable shopping bags, drink bottles and coffee cups is an easy place to start. At home, look for fresh produce without plastic packaging, buy in bulk where you can, and choose reusable alternatives instead of single-use plastics.

Every piece of plastic we avoid is one less item that can end up in our waterways, bushland and Lake Macquarie.

If you've already accumulated a stash of soft plastics, don't throw them in your recycling bin. Instead, collect clean, dry plastic bags, bread bags, biscuit wrappers and other soft plastics and take them to the Awaba Waste Management Facility, where they can be recycled through dedicated collection programs.

Looking for more ideas? Low Plastic Eating Made Easy is a practical video packed with simple tips for reducing plastic waste in your everyday shopping and cooking:


This July, challenge yourself to refuse just one single-use plastic item. You might be surprised how quickly one new habit leads to another.

On the Verge of Greatness

Ten free local native plants could transform your street

Have you ever looked at your nature strip and imagined something more than mown grass?

LMCC has introduced a new verge garden approval process that makes it easier for residents to establish attractive, wildlife-friendly verge gardens while maintaining safe access for pedestrians and road users.

Read the Verge Garden Standards or Street Tree Standards, depending on your planned activity. 

Even better, once your planting plan is approved, Council is offering ten free locally native tube stock to help get your project started.

The guidelines include practical advice on plant selection, spacing and visibility, together with easy-to-follow planting diagrams.

Across Coal Point, verge gardens have enormous potential. They can create valuable wildlife habitat, cool our streets, reduce stormwater runoff and improve neighbourhood character, all while reducing mowing.

Locally native species are particularly important because they provide food and shelter for the birds, insects and pollinators that have evolved alongside them.

Free tube stock can be collected from the Lake Macquarie Landcare Sustainable Living Centre, umali bara-ku, at Booragul.

Sometimes the smallest patch of land can make the biggest difference.

From LMCC- https://www.lakemac.com.au/Services/Trees-and-environment-services/Verge-gardens-and-street-trees

From Weed Patch to Bushland Recovery

A year of teamwork transforms Stansfield Reserve

After ten months of hard work, the CPPA Landcare group is celebrating the successful completion of the Eraring Community Investment Fund project at Stansfield Reserve.

Backed by a $9,000 grant administered through the Lake Macquarie Landcare Volunteer Network, local volunteers worked alongside professional bush regenerators from BARRC (Bushland and Rainforest Restoration & Consulting) to restore this important bushland reserve behind Progress Hall.

The project built on years of previous restoration work and provided strategic follow-up after the ecological burn undertaken in 2016.

The transformation has been remarkable.

Across seven on-ground sessions, volunteers worked shoulder to shoulder with experienced bush regenerators, tackling a long list of invasive environmental weeds including Ground Asparagus (Asparagus aethiopicus), Bitou Bush (Chrysanthemoides monilifera), Morning Glory (Ipomoea indica), Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), Lantana (Lantana camara), Mickey Mouse Plant (Ochna serrulata), Fishbone Fern (Nephrolepis cordifolia), African Olive (Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata) and Corky Passionfruit (Passiflora suberosa).

But the project was about much more than removing weeds.

A key objective was to build local knowledge and confidence in ecological restoration. Throughout the project, BARRC staff shared practical bush regeneration skills, helping volunteers identify priority weeds, apply low-impact control techniques and recognise native plants returning naturally to the site.

Those lessons are already paying dividends.

Areas once smothered by Morning Glory and Honeysuckle are now supporting healthy populations of Bracken Fern (Pteridium esculentum), Basket Grass (Oplismenus aemulus), Molucca Bramble (Rubus moluccanus), Rasp Fern (Doodia aspera) and hundreds of naturally regenerating native seedlings.

During the final inspection in June, the BARRC team described the reserve as "much improved", noting that many areas now require only routine maintenance rather than primary treatment.

Stansfield Reserve forms part of an important bushland corridor supporting Spotted Gum Forest and Sugarloaf Bloodwood Apple Forest communities. These habitats provide refuge for significant wildlife including Powerful Owls, Squirrel Gliders and the threatened plant Tetratheca juncea.

Protecting and restoring these connected habitats strengthens biodiversity across the Coal Point peninsula and helps build resilience for future generations of wildlife to endure and people to explore.

The project also strengthened community connections.

Fourteen volunteers contributed hundreds of hours of on-ground work while sharing knowledge, stories and plenty of morning tea conversations. Support from LMCCs Green Team provided valuable follow-up weed control and practical assistance throughout the project.

The CPPA sincerely thanks the Eraring Community Investment Fund, the Lake Macquarie Landcare Volunteer Network, the BARRC team and every volunteer who turned up with gloves, enthusiasm and determination.

The work doesn't stop here.

Ecological restoration is a long-term commitment, but thanks to this project, Stansfield Reserve is well on its way from weed domination to a healthier, more resilient native ecosystem.

If you'd like to be part of the next chapter, join us for Landcare on Thursday mornings. New volunteers are always welcome. No experience is necessary, just bring a hat, sturdy shoes and a willingness to learn.

Electrify Everything!

New support to make your home more energy efficient

"Electrify Everything" has become a familiar phrase, and for good reason. By replacing gas appliances with efficient electric alternatives powered by renewable energy, households can reduce both their running costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

The NSW Government's Home Energy Saver Program is helping eligible households overcome the upfront cost of these improvements.

Support is available for upgrades including:

🌞 Solar panels and batteries

🪟 Double glazing

♨️ Induction cooktops

🌬 Reverse-cycle air conditioning

Eligible homeowners and landlords with a combined household income of up to $210,000 may apply for an interest-free loan of up to $15,000.

Households with a combined income of up to $80,000, or those holding an eligible concession card, may also qualify for a rebate of up to $4,000.

To find out more, visit: energy.nsw.gov.au/households/grants-rebates/home-energy-saver

Experience Landcare

Landcare Week 3 to 9 August 2026

Experience Landcare

This year's Landcare Week theme is Experience Landcare, and we'd love you to experience the bushland that local volunteers have been caring for, week after week, year after year.

Every Thursday morning, an enthusiastic team, up to fifteen strong, heads into one of our 10 local reserves to restore the bushland habitat through facilitated regeneration. It's rewarding work, good exercise, and a wonderful way to connect with both nature and neighbours.

Take a walk through some of the places our volunteers care for.

Follow the Western Ridge from Whitelocke Street to Coal Point Public School and you'll discover some of the best remaining bushland on the peninsula, with magnificent hollow-bearing trees, diverse native understorey and relatively few weeds.

If you prefer the lakeside, wander through Threlkeld Reserve, on Coal Point Road, our most biodiverse foreshore reserve and home to one of the oldest trees on the peninsula.

Or visit Gurranba Reserve, where years of careful restoration are transforming what was once a dense infestation of Mother of Millions (Bryophyllum delagoense) into an expanding foreshore grassland dominated by Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra). It's a powerful reminder that ecological restoration is measured in years, not weeks.

Together, our volunteers now care for ten reserves across Coal Point. Each one has its own story and each one demonstrates what a committed community can achieve. We’ll be featuring the reserves in upcoming Chronicle articles.

This Landcare Week, take the opportunity to experience your local reserves, or better still, join us on a Thursday morning any time from 8-11am.

No experience is necessary. Just bring a hat, sturdy shoes and a willingness to lend a hand.

Morning tea is always at 10.00 am. Contact Ros cppalandcare@gmail.com to receive a weekly email highlighting the activities and location.

DAs In Play 4/3/26 to 16/7/26

 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
• OC =Occupation Certificate

Dates for Doing - March 2026

Visit the Calendar for details of events and hall activities

https://coalpointprogress.blogspot.com/p/calendar.html

Progress Hall OPEN DAY & AGM

Saturday 14 March 
10-12 Open Day
12:30-1pm AGM

Progress Hall, 197 Skye Pt Rd
Details of the Open Day
Details of the AGM

TASNG Meeting

Wed,11 Mar

4:30-6pm, The Hub,

97 The Boulevarde.

Locals Landcaring

Tools & training provided

Morning tea at 10am

12/3 Hampton St Link - Hampton St end

19/3 West Ridge

26/3 Gurranba

2/4 Burnage

9/4 Stansfield

16/4 Puntie Creek Reserve

23/4 Threlkeld

30/4 Yarul

7/5 Hampton St link - Laycock St end

14/5 West Ridge

Ponte Point (TASNG)

1st &3rd Wed

8:30-10am. Meet under the Fennel Bay bridge

Want to join us?

To receive weekly updates email Ros

cppalandcare@gmail.com

Ideas in the Morning. AGM after lunch.

The CPPA Open Day is an opportunity for the community to connect, contribute and help shape the year ahead. It’s a chance to share ideas with the Progress Committee, explore new initiatives and celebrate what makes our community such a special place to live.

From 10am to 12pm, on Saturday 14th March, Progress Hall will be buzzing.

The Landcare team will host a Grow Me Instead weed display along with local native plants available for sale and to order. 

Conversation tables will invite your input on projects we are proposing, events we hope to host and initiatives we are exploring. Committee members will be available for a chat. Memberships can be renewed. A rolling morning tea will keep the conversations flowing. All the details are here.

At midday, we will pause, share a simple lunch together and reset for the formal business part of the day, because while the Open Day is about ideas and imagination, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) is about governance and accountability.

The AGM will be held from 12.30 to 1pm. It is where we formally receive reports, review the Treasurer’s Report and Financial Statements, and elect the Committee for the coming year. Transparent governance ensures the Association continues to operate responsibly and in the best interests of the community.

This year’s AGM will be efficient. The Achievements Report will be shared, the Treasurer’s Report and Financial Statements are already available on our website, along with the formal Notice of Meeting and Agenda. 

The current Committee has nominated to return with enthusiasm. That said, there is always room for new voices. If you are interested in joining the Committee, please get in touch. There is no pressure, just opportunity.

We warmly invite the whole community to attend both the Open Day and the AGM.

5 Community Conversations at one Open Day

Saturday 14 March 10am-noon
Progress Hall. 197 Skye Point Rd
(Parking at Gurranba Reserve)

1. Grow Me Instead Display - Protecting Coal Point’s Living Web

An important Open Day conversation centres on something slowly disappearing all around us, our biodiversity. Globally, species are disappearing at unprecedented rates. Habitat is shrinking. Ecosystems are under pressure.

And yet here on the Coal Point peninsula, we are in a rare and precious window of time. We still have extraordinary diversity in our yards, reserves and verges. Bushes, shrubs, trees, groundcovers, grasses, insects, birds, possums, fungi and flying foxes, all the intricate threads that form the web of life.

Some of it is obvious. Some lies hidden in dormant seed banks beneath lawns, but it is still here. Given the chance, it returns. Our local landscape has strong regenerative capacity. Birds move through the canopy spreading seed and maintaining genetic diversity. Life is ready. The question is, will we make room for it?

The garden escape problem

At the Open Day a Grow Me Instead display will highlight common weeds across the peninsula.

Some are already established in bushland. Others remain mostly in gardens but have the potential to escape.

Once certain species move beyond the fence line, they outcompete local natives, alter soil conditions, suppress regeneration and reduce habitat complexity for wildlife.

That’s why we need local heroes. Native species that provide nectar, pollen, fruit and shelter. Plants adapted to our soils and climate extremes. Species that strengthen the genetic diversity of our isolated peninsula.

What you’ll see at our Landcare team’s display:

• Common environmental weeds

• Garden plants to keep under watch

• Recommended native replacements

Bring a sample or photo of a mystery plant and we’ll help identify it.

Have the conversation about why small decisions matter, the verge planting, the creeper allowed to spread, the clippings dumped in the reserve. Each choice either strengthens or weakens the web of life.

We will also take orders for autumn plantings, where cooler soil and better rainfall makes for strong establishment before summer.

Join the conversation. Let’s strengthen the strands of our living web.

2. Progress Hall Access, Inclusion and the Next Chapter

In 1951, the people of Coal Point built Progress Hall through garden parties, fundraising and working bees. For more than seventy years it has hosted dances, concerts, meetings and celebrations. It is owned by the community, not council.

But expectations have changed. Accessibility standards have strengthened, community understanding of inclusion has grown. What was once acceptable no longer meets contemporary standards.

If the Hall is to serve everyone into the future, we must plan for it now with a strategic approach.

This year, CPPA will develop a detailed Disability and Access Plan, with a staged, strategic framework that assesses the current limitations, identifies best-practice solutions, integrates building and landscape design and positions the CPPA to apply for grant funding to implement the design.

We are seeking expertise from landscape architects, design specialists, surveyors and grant writers.

More than compliance, accessible design benefits everyone; parents with prams, less mobile residents, hall users moving equipment. Good access is good design.

At the Open Day we invite imagination. What could be possible? Seamless pathways, integrated landscape design or flexible outdoor spaces. The Hall was built by the community. Its next chapter will be shaped by the community too. If you can't make it to the open day and are interested in contributing to the discussion, register your interest here

3. Dancing Through the Decades with music, movement and community.

When Progress Hall was built, it was designed for dancing, with a raised stage, sprung timber floor, and plenty of room to roam with razzle and dazzle.

This year we want to bring that intention back to life with Dancing Through the Decades, a celebration of music from the 1950s to the 2020s across eight events.

And who better to provide the soundtrack than our own community? Coal Point is rich with talented musicians. Bands. Duos. Solo artists. Some gig regularly, others may just need the right invitation...you’re invited!

The concept is that each event will include a dance instructor to guide a few moves from the era, nothing formal, just enough to get started, then the floor is yours.

Dancing dissolves age barriers, it builds connection without saying a word and is good for the brain and the body.

If you would like to attend, perform, organise or suggest some songs for a decade, come to the Open Day or get in touch through this Expression of interest form.

Let’s fill the Hall with music and dance again. 

4. From Brighton Avenue to a Nature-Positive Future

Thinking Ahead of the Curve

Some conversations take years. In 2016, a DA for 2 Brighton Avenue/133 Excelsior Pde proposed removal of 215 of 218 trees on the block. Community concern was strong with 133 submissions and the matter progressed to the Land and Environment Court. The amended proposal retained 31 trees in keeping with Council’s recommendation “the applicant should give strong consideration to retaining continuous canopy vegetation to conserve scenic amenity to the Toronto Bay area”

As the implementation of the DA works began with the gruesome grind of the arborist’s arsenal it has again highlighted how confronting canopy loss can be. Biodiversity decline rarely happens in one sweep. It happens incrementally, tree by tree.

Across the Coal Point peninsula, connected canopy corridors allow wildlife to glide, flit and forage between the Spotted Gum Open Forest, remnant rainforest gullies and Swamp Oak Floodplain Forest. When those corridors are thinned or broken, fragmentation compounds and safe movement through the landscape becomes harder with each passing year.

The bigger picture

In February, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services released its Business and Biodiversity Assessment.

Its message is clear. Biodiversity loss is not just environmental. It affects economic systems, property values and community resilience. Nature underpins everything. The report calls for shifting financial flows toward protection and regeneration, not simply managing decline.

A local response?

One Open Day conversation will explore the idea of a local Green Investment Fund.

Not an offset scheme or a protest mechanism but a proactive investment model supporting habitat protection and restoration, linking of wildlife corridors and collaborative and sustainable housing

This would require careful design and collaboration. It is not about stopping development. It is about recognising biodiversity as living infrastructure.

The Brighton Avenue story reminds us that decisions today shape canopy cover for decades. How do we move from reacting to shaping? Join the conversation or register you interest in the project here.

5. Fortify Your Foreshore

Walk the waterfront after a storm and you can see the change. Exposed roots. Slumping banks. Sections of foreshore that are quietly disappearing. The foreshore is under pressure.

This year, CPPA proposes a workshop series titled Fortify Your Foreshore. You can register your interest in the workshops here.

Workshop One – Where and When

Where is the foreshore? It is not a fixed line. It shifts over time with water levels, storm surge, sediment movement and vegetation change.

Experts, historical mapping and current mapping will help demonstrate where the foreshore sits now and where it may move in future.

Workshop Two – What and Why

The foreshore is the transition zone between land and lake. Water meets soil. Roots bind banks. Fish shelter. Birds feed. It is one of the most biologically rich areas in the landscape.

Healthy foreshores absorb wave energy, filter runoff, protect property and safeguard water quality. When degraded, impacts ripple outward.

Workshop Three – Who and How

Responsibility for the foreshore is shared between landholders, Council and State agencies. But practically, one property owner’s actions affect their neighbour.

Hard structures can deflect wave energy. Clearing vegetation can accelerate erosion. We will explore soft engineering approaches such as strategic native planting and appropriate structural responses.

Protecting foreshores is not a single-property issue. It is a whole-of-community project. If you live by the water, walk the shoreline or care about the health of our lake, this conversation is for you.

Complete the Expression of Interest form to keep in touch about the event.

Notice of CPPA AGM 14 March 12:30-1pm

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) this year will be swift and efficient. The achievements report will be provided in the Chronicle that will be distributed in the first week of March, the all important Treasurer's Report and Financial Statements are provided below.

The CPPA is very fortunate to have an amazing Committee who are making great things happen within our community and are keen to keep doing that, so the Committee have all nominated to return. 

Of course if you'd like to join the Committee there's still room...but there's no pressure.

Preceding the AGM will be an open day at the Hall from 10am-12pm, where the landcare team will have a weed display and native plants for sale, conversation tables will have places to share your ideas about projects we want to undertake, events we want to host.The Committee will be available to chat, you can also renew your membership. There'll be a rolling morning tea and snacks to sustain you. 

A warm and hearty invitation will be extended to the whole community via the The Chronicle where all the details will be provided.

If you have any ideas you'd like incorporated in celebrating this community milestone or would like to be involved in making it happen please get in touch.
Email: cppasecretary@gmail.com or
M: 0438 596 741 sms/ring

The formal proceedings of the AGM will be 12:30 -1pm

Hope to see you
Suzanne Pritchard
President-Secretary CPPA

Notice of the AGM for the
Coal Point Progress Association

To be held at Progress Hall

197 Skye Point Rd Coal Point

12:30 - 1pm

Agenda 

1. Welcome
2. Attendance & Apologies
3. Confirmation of minutes of previous Annual General Meeting held 22nd March 2025
4. President's Report
5. Treasurer’s Report and Financial statements
6. Nomination of Returning Officer
7. Election of Office Bearers and up to six other Committee members
8. Confirmation of Public Officer- Suzanne Pritchard
9. Close of AGM

What’s on at the hall

In our 80th year it’s wonderful to see our hall being used to bring people together for yoga, pilates, sound baths, wine appreciation, fibre and textiles classes, private functions and CPPA meetings. The online calendar shows when the events are on.

Back by popular demand is Cheese and Yoghurt Making, offering a hands-on class where you’ll learn to make Fetta, Persian Fetta, Haloumi, Yoghurt, Labne, Ricotta, Mascarpone, Paneer and Cream Cheese... and take it home.

You’ll leave with the skills and confidence to recreate these dairy delights in your own kitchen. This is a practical, small-group workshop. Places are limited to 12 per class. Bookings are essential.

Dates in MAY: Sunday 3, Saturday 9, Sunday 10

Cost: $150 per person

Catering: Lots of tastings and a sumptuous morning tea. Please advise in advance of any special dietary requirements.

Hosted by: Lyn & Pete Malcolm - Mobile Cheese Class.

How to Book: A $50 deposit is required to secure your place.

Phone/text 0402 978 820 or Email: mobilecheeseclass@gmail.com

Facebook & Instagram: @mobilecheeseclass

Learning at Landcare - March

Autumn has arrived on Awabakal Country. The air cools, dew settles overnight, rainfall increases. In many years, this is our wettest season as breeding cycles shift with some species finishing, and others just beginning. The birabaan, the Wedge-tailed Eagle, begins its breeding season now.

Country is never still. It turns quietly, precisely, season by season. One of the most noticeable autumn movements happens at yareya, dusk.

Have you noticed the nightly flyover?

There are several species of winakang, bats, on Awabakal Country. The Grey-headed Flying Fox is the largest. These are our local fruit bats, a threatened keystone species protected by law.

They are the only mammals capable of true flight. Their wings are modified hands, a fine membrane stretched over elongated fingers. With these, they can travel up to 50 kilometres in a single night searching for pollen, nectar and small aru, insects. Unlike the smaller microbats, flying foxes do not use echolocation. They rely on keen eyesight and smell to locate flowering trees and fruiting forests.

In Australia, bats are major pollinators. They spread pollen and seed across distances far greater than birds and bees. They support forest regeneration. They provide prey for owls and other raptors.

On Coal Point you can watch and hear them foraging in our mature eucalypts, moving through late summer blossoms before drifting off into the dark.

If you would like to know more about our local flying fox population, there’s a comprehensive management plan for the Blackalls Park Flying-fox Camp and advice about injured wildlife is available 24/7 on Hunter Wildlife’s Rescue Line: 0418 628 483.

Feeding the pollinators

So what is in flower for autumn’s pollinators? Red Bloodwood, Corymbia gummifera (pic), is still blooming from January through to April, look for its tessellated rough bark and distinctive urn-shaped gum nuts. You will find it at Hampton Street, Stansfield Close, Threlkeld and West Ridge Landcare sites.

Grey Gum, Eucalyptus punctata, also flowers from summer into autumn, its smooth bark sheds in ribbons, revealing fresh pale trunks beneath.

Along the road to Myuna Bay, Paperbark, Melaleuca species, Tea Tree, Leptospermum species, and Banksia species provide valuable nectar sources. Autumn is not a quiet time in the bush. It is the feeding season. A replenishing season.

Watching and learning

Our Landcare team is always learning. One of the tools helping us build knowledge is iNaturalist. Observations logged around Coal Point are creating a living record of our local biodiversity. Every plant, insect, bird and fungus adds to the picture. You are welcome to contribute. We are happy to help you learn how. https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/coal-point-progress-landcare

A tale of two groundcovers

An attractive native groundcover you may notice in reserves and backyards is Commelina cyanea.

It has lance-shaped leaves that trail across the ground and vivid blue flowers loved by native blue-banded bees. Early settlers gave it the unfortunate name “scurvy weed” after eating it to ward off scurvy. Despite the name, it is hardy, shade-tolerant and forms a useful dense groundcover. (Image from PlantNET)

It is often confused with a serious environmental weed, Tradescantia fluminensis, commonly called Trad or Wandering Trad.

At first glance they look similar. But Trad has fleshier leaves, white flowers and far more vigour. It spreads aggressively, rooting at every node. Any fragment left behind can regrow. It can smother large areas of bushland if left unchecked. There is good news though.

CSIRO has developed a biological control for Trad, a leaf smut fungus, Kordyana brasiliensis. Approved for release in Australia in 2019, it weakens the plant gradually over time. We are hopeful it will reduce some of the dense infestations in our reserves when it is released.

Learning at Landcare is never finished. Autumn is a season of movement and change.

Each Thursday morning from 8am to noon, with morning tea at 10, we work, observe, question and share knowledge.