Willougby Council has now considered submission in relation to the installation
of five (5) floodlights at Mowbray Public School Oval. The Council Officer’s recommendation is to approve the installation.

The application was notified to owners and residential occupiers of neighbouring properties and submissions invited between 5 July and 27 July 2017. Ten (10) written submissions, an on-line survey with 35 comments and two (2) petitions containing 84 names and 46 signatures (representing 20 properties).

Following notification and preliminary assessment of the application the applicant amended the proposal and submitted amended plans to address issues raised in the submissions.

The amendments propose the planting of 31 trees along the northern boundary and replacement of parts of the northern boundary fence.

The Council Officer argued:

“The application has been amended to address concerns about the potential impact on theresidents of the properties in Ulm Street, immediately to the north. The rear boundaries often properties adjoin the school oval. The proposed light towers are designed to direct thelight onto the playing surface and to avoid light spillage. Nevertheless the lighted area couldbe visible from the adjoining properties. To reduce this potential it is intended to plant treesat 3 metre intervals along the boundary. Twelve (12) of the trees will grow to a height of 15metres with the remaining nineteen (19) growing to a height of 8 metres. In conjunction withthe existing trees this will provide a vegetated screen that will be a visual screen and reducethe potential for errant footballs to enter adjacent properties. To reduce the potential for noise intrusion the applicant intends to facilitate the replacement of two sections of timber fencing that do not provide an adequate acoustic barrier. Together these measures should eliminate unreasonable impacts on the residents of neighbouring properties“.

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Clr Saville has given notice to Council seeking support for public transport

MOTION
That, in support of public transport:

a) Willoughby City Council states that strongly supports affordable, safe, adequately
resourced and funded public transport systems as essential for a sustainable city.

b) that on behalf of WCC, the Mayor, and GM approach the NSW Premier (in writing and
meeting with), to urge that the government continues to support, resource and fund
public transport systems in Sydney. Copies of WCC correspondence sent to the
Premier be forwarded to Minister for Transport, Leader of the Opposition, Shooters,
Fishers and farmers, Christian Democrats and the Greens.

c) that WCC urges the government to support and adopt the recommendations by State
Transit to improve the performances of bus services

4. BACKGROUND
The Berejiklian government has been embroiled in an industrial dispute with Rail, Tram and Bus Union since May when plans were announced to privatise bus routes in Sydney’s inner west, one of four regions operated by State Transit. North shore bus services also risk privatisation. Safe, affordable public transport, including buses and properly resourced and funded public transport systems are essential for a sustainable cities

In many instances buses scheduled running times no longer reflect actual running times.
This has resulted in frustrating customer experiences and misleading reports that State
Transit is able to control and therefore improve service reliability (SMH 31.8.3027)

The NSW government should support and fund Sydney buses to improve their on-time
running (On Time Running Service Reviews 2016-2017)

Many residents across Willoughby rely on public transport systems for work, shopping, sport, social activities etc and expect the government to continue supporting these essential services.

GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENTS
Point (a) is addressed below in regards to Council’s strategy and actions relating to public
transport. When necessary these matters are brought to the attention of the Premier and/or relevant Ministers (as requested in point (b) of the Notice of Motion).
Willoughby City Council’s support of public transport is clearly expressed in the Willoughby City Strategy 2013 – 2029, where the goal under the heading “Transport and Mobility” states:

“To manage the transport needs of the Community in a sustainable manner by reducing car dependence and promoting public transport use, walking and cycling.”
In promoting increased use of public transport, section 4.2.1 provides details of actions that Council supports. These being (inter alia):

a Promote active and public transport
b Improve integration between transport modes
c Improve local accessibility and transport options between suburbs
d Work with Government and the private sector for improved local and regional public
transport

In addition to providing the Willoughby Community transport options, the above actions are also aimed at reducing Greenhouse Emissions.
Initiatives to encourage proper resourcing of safe, affordable, improved and convenient
public transport is supported as it will further enhance the effectiveness of Council’s resolve to properly manage parking within the Willoughby Local Government Area under Council’s Street Parking Strategy.

Council staff are in regular contact with the State Government’s traffic and transport
agencies through the Local Traffic Committee, which is a forum where public transport
initiatives are discussed with the Roads and Maritime Services, Sydney Buses.
More recently, Willoughby Council has been playing a positive role in working with State
Government Agencies in the implementation of the Sydney Metro Project, given its
significance in the enhancement of Sydney’s public transport network.
In regard to point (c), the recommendations by State Transit to improve the performance of bus services have not been released publicly although a copy of the report has been
obtained. The report obtained by Council appears to focus on the performance of four subregions only, being the Northern Beaches, Inner West, the Eastern Suburbs and Sydney Suburbs none of which directly impact the Willoughby Local Government Area.

The report identifies that the northern Sydney depots actually demonstrated strong performance in regards to on-time running. The recommendations are primarily focussed on timetable service reviews in those four sub-regions. Council’s influence in these areas and the timetable specifically would be limited.

On behalf of the Chatswood West Ward Progress Association the Committee has lodged a submission regarding Willoughby Council raising the rates to fund the  upgrade of the car park at the Northbridge Plaza.

It was unclear from the limited information provided by Council as to who exactly would be paying for this upgrade that primarily benefits the owners of the Northbridge Plaza and local residents.

Given that Chatswood West ward west of the Pacific Highway has virtually no shops (unlike most other suburbs) and certainly no Council funded parking near shops we wanted Council to understand that the Association would resist any attempt to have West Warders paying for such an upgrade at Northbridge.

In the process of a making a submission, we brought to Councils attention our concerns with the process they are using to determining this matter.

A copy of our submission follows:

In responses to longstanding requests from West Ward residents, the Association has called on Willoughby Council to petition the Greater Sydney Commission (GSC) for some specific critical infrastructure. This includes:

• a substantially upgraded transport interchange at Chatswood
• additional open space across the city in response to growing population targets
• a more efficient interchange (by direct tunnel connections rather than the current plan that requires drivers to proceed via Pennant Hills Rd) to/from the M1 tunnel to the M2 motorway.
• an addition public high school within Willoughby City, perhaps on the Metro South ‘dive site’ when the site is vacated.
• upgrade of the Pacific Highway through Willoughby including resolution of the various Category ‘F’ intersections such as at Fullers Road and Mowbray Roads.

The GSC recently published a series of strategic plans covering the planned growth  of northern Sydney and Willoughby going forward. If you have suggestions for other pieces of critical infrastructure, please let us know at cwwpa.org@gmail.com

Posting regular updates on this website has proven to be problematic. Accordingly, you can obtain your own copy of updates by registering with kylie.brosnan@sydneymetro2.com.au