The Coal Point Chronicle

Thursday, 8 December 2022

Car Boot Catch Up Wrap Up

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

Thank you to all who participated and visited.

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

TASNG Update – Steve Dewar - Chair

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday, 24 October 2022

A Big Community Weekend

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Coal Point School Fete 29/10/22

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

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

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

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

Graffiti in Toronto

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

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

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

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

The Great Cycle Challenge

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

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

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

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

Is Your House Sustainable?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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