Draft Coolaroo Reserve Action Plan Willoughby City Council is seeking community feedback for Coolaroo Reserve. Please review the Draft Coolaro Reserve Action Plan in the Document Library and leave your comments below in the survey prior to closure of the community consultation period at 5 pm, Monday 27 April 2020. Coolaroo Reserve is a relatively small 2.7 hectare bushland reserve that is important for habitat and as a wildlife corridor linking with larger bushland areas in Ferndale, Mowbray and the Lane Cove National Park. Coolaroo Creek runs through the entire length of the reserve, and there is a Bushcare volunteer group working to rehabilitate degraded bushland. Key Actions for the Draft Reserve Action Plan include: ● Removal of landscape encroachments ● Installation of signage ● Bush regeneration All community members who leave a comment will receive a response after the community consultation period. Your Privacy Willoughby City Council takes the privacy of the participants using this site very seriously. Please note all submission www.haveyoursaywilloughby.com.au

To ensure you views are fully considered and reported to Council we recommend that you submit your views ro Council via email at: email@willoughby.nsw.gov.au rather than respond to ‘Have Your Say’.

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To become or renew as a member of CWWPA before March 30, direct deposit $10* with your name in the reference field to BSB: 032090 Acct: 548083 & complete our Membership Application.  *Non-refundable subject to meeting membership criteria.

Willoughby Council has convened an Extraordinary Meeting for Monday night 30 March 2020.

The Minister for Health and Medical Research, the Hon. Brad Hazzard MP issued the Public Health (COVID-19 Gatherings) Order 2020 restricting gatherings in indoor spaces. For community and staff safety, you will no longer be able to attend chambers to watch the council meeting. However, the meeting will be live streamed and can be viewed on Council’s website. 

The Agenda for the meeting includes:

• Council response to the business and community impacts of COVID-19 virus
• Instrument of delegation to Mayor and CEO
• Confidential business support plan
• Confidential financial impacts and strategy

READ OFFICER’S REPORT

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To become or renew as a member of CWWPA before March 30, direct deposit $10* with your name in the reference field to BSB: 032090 Acct: 548083 & complete our Membership Application.  *Non-refundable subject to meeting membership criteria.

In early December 2019 we wrote to the Premier:

The Chatswood West Ward Progress Association (CWWPA) via the Willoughby Council Traffic Committee (where you are represented by Mr Ken Rutherford) and Willoughby Council have been lobbying the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) over a number of years to get resolution of the problems that plague this stretch of Road. In a recent study, the road was judged to be the third worst section of road in Sydney from a safety and crash perspective. At the last meeting of CWWPA it was resolved that we write to the Local Member (Premier) advising that the Pacific Highway between Boundary Rd and Mowbray Rd and especially between Fullers Road and Albert Avenue is a known traffic black spot. We would appreciate advice from yourself on what your government is doing to address this issue.

We have received the following advice from the Minister for Transport and Roads. It appears that our lobbying has generated at least some changes to be implemented.

From what we can make out a “changeable message sign” is some form of electronic sign such as the ones below:

We are hoping for over the road gantries like along Military Rd.

Changeable Message Signs (CMS) are used in permanent positions above or adjacent to the roadway for lane designation or traffic management applications in New South Wales.

Whilst the Minister mentions some changes that have been made for city bound traffic on the Highway (traffic lights tilted down), nothing seems to be planned to control traffic exiting Albert Avenue approaching Centennial Ave.

Evidently, this is all the changes o be made as whilst an upgrade has been identified as being needed, there  is no funding available.

Sadly, state elections are not scheduled until March 2023.

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To become or renew as a member of CWWPA before March 30, direct deposit $10* with your name in the reference field to BSB: 032090 Acct: 548083 & complete our Membership Application.  *Non-refundable subject to meeting membership criteria.

We are pleased to advise the State Significant Development application for the upgrades to Chatswood Public School and Chatswood High School has been lodged with the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE).

We anticipate the application will be placed on public exhibition for 28 days on DPIE’s major project’s website from early-mid next week. All submissions can be made directly to DPIE during the 28 day exhibition period once it starts. In the meantime, you can find information and documentation previously lodged with DPIE here.

You can also find information on our project website. The NSW Department of Education is temporarily changing some of the ways we keep you informed about our project in your community to account for social distancing measures. In lieu of community information sessions, the information boards and information pack that would normally be available to view in person will be loaded onto our project website once the public exhibition starts.

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To become or renew as a member of CWWPA before March 30, direct deposit $10* with your name in the reference field to BSB: 032090 Acct: 548083 & complete our Membership Application.  *Non-refundable subject to meeting membership criteria.

Usually when we talk about Council meeting ‘in camera’  we mean in closed session behind closed doors in a shroud of secrecy.

But no more (well sometimes).

The NSW Government has passed a Bill that amends the Local Government Act to allow councils to hold official meetings electronically instead of physically.

Virtual meetings will allow councils to continue to function and make decisions on behalf of their local communities while helping to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.

Under previous legislation, councillors had to be physically present at meetings and residents allowed to attend in person to watch them deliberate and make important decisions on behalf of the community.

For the next six months, these attendance requirements will be satisfied if council meetings are held remotely using audio visual links such as Skype. If that method is not available, council meetings will be able to be held in any other manner approved by the Minister.

To ensure meetings are open to the public, councils will be required to webcast their meetings. All councils have been required to webcast their meetings since 14 December 2019 under existing requirements.

Use of electronic meetings can be extended to 12 months if required.

The NSW government has passed legislation that will allow the Local Government elections scheduled for September 2020 to be postponed.

The Bill provides the power for the Minister to postpone the local government elections for 12 months, with a possible further extension to 31 December 2021, should the need arise. This is a time limited power that will automatically expire after 12 months.

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To become or renew as a member of CWWPA before March 30, direct deposit $10* with your name in the reference field to BSB: 032090 Acct: 548083 & complete our Membership Application.  *Non-refundable subject to meeting membership criteria.

In relation to Clr. Saville’s recent motion regarding ‘fracking’ the vote was equal, an number for and against. The Mayor had voted against the motion. The Mayor elected not to use her casting vote. That being the case, the motion is deemed lost. This is the first time in decades (or maybe ever in Council’s history) that a casting vote, when available, has not been cast.

When a vote is tied the Chair can cast a second vote to break the tie. It is completely up to the chair how that vote is cast. It can either be for or against the motion. In Westminster Parliament there is a ‘constitutional convention’ the second vote of the Chair is cast in favour of the status quo. However, indur Council’s code of meeting practice this is not required.

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To become or renew as a member of CWWPA before March 30, direct deposit $10* with your name in the reference field to BSB: 032090 Acct: 548083 & complete our Membership Application.  *Non-refundable subject to meeting membership criteria.

Currey Park has been inundated with turkeys, around 20 or so, and in addition to digging up the garden beds n the Park, they are also digging up the garden beds of the surrounding units. During the summer, 2 (or perhaps 3) turkeys managed to build a large mound near the child care centre and in the past months out popped all these turkeys. We believe the Council is intending to remove the mound and also put up signs asking people to stop feeding the turkeys, which is discouraging them from dispersing to other areas. The turkeys are getting slightly intimidating as they now sometimes approach people expecting to be fed.

The following motion will be put to at our next meeting this Thursday night: That we ask the Council what action they will take to resolve this problem.

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To become or renew as a member of CWWPA before March 30, direct deposit $10* with your name in the reference field to BSB: 032090 Acct: 548083 & complete our Membership Application.  *Non-refundable subject to meeting membership criteria.

Telstra has won a federal court action that allows them to install new pay phones with interactive advertisements without Council approval. However, the advertisements can only be for Telstra products. Commercials ads would require Council approval.

FULL STORY

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To become or renew as a member of CWWPA before March 30, direct deposit $10* with your name in the reference field to BSB: 032090 Acct: 548083 & complete our Membership Application.  *Non-refundable subject to meeting membership criteria.

The Australian Defence Forces are engaged with training exercises across Sydney during February and March. This involves military helicopters fly low over houses on the North Shore, even at night.

FULL STORY

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To become or renew as a member of CWWPA before March 30, direct deposit $10* with your name in the reference field to BSB: 032090 Acct: 548083 & complete our Membership Application.  *Non-refundable subject to meeting membership criteria.