Over 70 local residents attended the Planning Assessment Commission (PAC) hearing to assess the twin tower development by Meriton near the Chatswood Railway Station. Thirteen speakers told Commissioners Richard Thorp and Donna Campbell of their concerns. Thirteen local residents address the Commission.
A determination by the Commission is expected in a week or two.
This article reviews the current position regarding the long delayed Fullers Rd Safety Scheme. After the Council position there is the RMS (RTA) position including a link to the independent consultants report.
COUNCIL POSITION
Mayor and Councillors,
As you are aware Council has been pressing the RMS and the State Government in regard to road safety on Fullers Road and agitating for the installation of road safety measures including speed camera’s on Fullers Road.
Council’s most recent action in regard to Fullers Road was in June 2013 when we wrote the Centre For Road Safety at Transport for NSW making a renewed request for speed cameras on Fullers Road to be completed in conjunction with the Road Safety Scheme. No response to that letter has, to date, been received. Council also wrote to RMS and the local members in April regarding the ongoing delays in introducing the road safety proposals on Fullers Road.
It is noted that RMS is now proposing further amendments to the Fullers Road proposals to address issues raised in the Independent review. It is also noted that the independent review makes no reference to the provision of speed camera’s on Fullers Road. A link to this review can be found towards the bottom of this e-mail.
Regards
Acting Infrastructure Services Director
Willoughby City Council
Ph 9777 7701 or 0417 255228RMS (RTA) POSITIONSubject: Parsons Brinkerhoff – Review of Fullers Road proposalFyi, details have been updated on the RMS website with regards to Fullers Rd. We have released a report by Parsons Brinkerhoff which assesses the Fullers Road proposal.
RMS has review the report and are in the process of amending the design. Once a final design has been completed RMS will inform council of its next step.
Regards
Road Network OfficerTraffic Engineering Services | Sydney Region
T 02 8849 2053 F 02 8849 2794
www.rms.nsw.gov.auRoads and Maritime Services
27 Argyle Street Parramatta NSW 2150 |
Opal travel card readers will be installed at Chatswood by the end of the week. They will also be switched on at railway stations between Milsons Point and Chatswood by Friday. The Opal readers will be operational at 17 train stations across Sydney CBD and the lower north shore.
More than 15,000 people have an Opal card. They have made 330,000 trips since the new technology was rolled out late last year.
The new Opal card will be progressively rolled out across the network over the next 15 months.
Most people would be aware that the sports fields in Willoughby are reaching their capacity. Some of the time fields are unplayable due to adverse weather. At other times, there are different sporting codes vying for the same space or timeslot. There is not just a need across
the city for more sporting grounds. Chatswood, West Ward contains six schools, all are growing in student numbers and they have an increasing demand for sporting facilities.
There is a limited number of strategies that can be used to address this situation. Installing synthetic surfaces on existing fields can overcome some of the adverse weather situations. The implementation of lighting on fields can extend the playing time on a particular field. Working out how to facilitate multiple sporting codes on the same surface can address some of the time slot issues. The final approach is to find spaces for new fields. This latter approach can be prohibitively expensive (due to the high value of land in the city.
Twenty years ago, Council proposed to install lights and a synthetic surface on the O.H. Reid Oval site. The local residents object, mainly due to the topography of the area. The idea was shelved. More recently, Council has been undertaking a review of all its sporting facilities. Whilst solutions have been found for some sports that only require relatively small areas, finding locations for new sporting oval has not been successful.
A local Chatswood West resident has come up with an innovative (albeit likely contentious) solution. His idea is to build ovals at the northern end of Chatswood Golf Club. Possibly 2 to 3 sporting fields could be located on public land currently leased to the golf club (the lease is currently up for renewal). He points out that the site is well-serviced by buses along Delhi Rd. There is an existing unformed vehicular road into the area where parking could be located without cars having to go by residential streets.
The downside for this proposal is the impact on the Golf Club. Currently, three of the club’s eighteen holes are located on the public land leased from Council. The proposal would reduce the course to fifteen holes. This would mean golfers would have to play three holes twice. Whilst the proposal to reclaim the public land for more diverse is radical, it does awaken some issues worthy of consideration. It would be quite interesting to see the number of players per year that use our various sporting facilities. Particularly if this is analysed by the size of the facility and the return to Council from fee or leases.
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Opens 3PM, Saturday 31 August – Incinerator Art Space, Small Street, Willoughby
The Willoughby Spring Festival Street Fair Opening is on Saturday 7 September at 10AM.
This will be followed by the Burst into Life Street Parade.
All welcome
The NRMA has proposed 10 ways to relieve Sydney’s traffic headache:
1. renewed focus on managing traffic
2. manage the motorways
3. optimise the operation of the traffic light network
4. Quick clearance of traffic incidents
5. give motorists reliable & up to date information
6. promote flexible working hours & practices
7. improve the transit lanes
8. remove inaccurate traffic signs & declutter
9. review parking restrictions
10. adopt meaningful performance measures
Read the full details of the NRMA’s Strategy to relieve congestion in Sydney
Willoughby Council proposes to place on public exhibition the draft Plan of Management for part Fullers Park, part O H Reid Reserve and part Burns Park, Chatswood West in accordance with the requirements of the Local Government Act 1993.
Background
The subject land comprises part of Chatswood Golf Course and natural areas along the Lane Cove River and Swaines Creek foreshores. The land has been used as fairways as part of a golf course for over 60 years. During that time the subject land has been leased to Chatswood Golf Club for golf, with the remainder of the golf course land owned by Chatswood Golf Club. The most recent 20-year lease of the subject land expired in November 2012. The golf club wishes to renew the lease to continue use of the land for golf.
Renewal of the lease over the subject land needs to be expressly authorised in an adopted Plan of Management. The subject land is not included in an adopted Plan of Management, having not been incorporated in the Chatswood West Ward Parks Plan of Management (1996) nor having had a specific Plan of Management prepared for it. Recreation Planning Consultant, Parkland Environmental Planners was engaged to prepare the draft Plan of Management, which will be added to the suite of Park Plans in the Chatswood West Ward Parks Plan of Management (1996). The consultant will also undertake the public hearing for the categorisation of the community land (Sect 40A of the LG Act).
Discussion
As stated previously, the subject land has been leased to Chatswood Golf Club for over 60 years. The land is made up of 3 land parcels:
1. River foreshore (100 foot reservation) Crown Reserve R59294 – part of O H Reid Reserve Lot 7334 in DP 1157827
2. River foreshore Crown Reserve R 44128 –Burns Park Lot 7088 in DP 1123914
3. CommunityLand – Lot 1 in DP 1171023
Leasing the subject land to the Golf Club requires two leases – a Crown Land lease (with Council as Reserve Trust Manager) and a Community land lease (with Council as owner). Once a new Plan of Management is adopted for the land and the use of the land for golf is confirmed, two new leases will be prepared for the Golf Club.
The relevant issues for the subject land are:
These issues form the basis for the draft Plan’s objectives, performance targets, means of achievement and assessment.
RIGHTS OF PUBLIC ACCESS
A separate topic that has been relevant for many years is public access across private land owned by the Golf Club. Whilst access along the Lane Cove River foreshore is available to the community, the link connection from OH Reid Reserve to Ferndale Park using bushland owned by the Club has been the subject of on-going negotiations between Council and the Club.
It is proposed that the negotiation to achieve a Memorandum of Understanding with the Club for public access across the Club-owned land will be finalised prior to enacting a new lease for the Council owned section of the subject land.
The Community land owned by Council must be categorised as per the requirement of the Local Government Act Section 36. The draft Plan proposes that land currently used as golf course be categorised as ‘sportsground’, and land containing bushland be categorised as ‘natural area- bushland’. These proposed categories must be subjected to a public hearing (Section 40A). The categorisation of the community land as sportsground doesn’t preclude the land being used for any other active recreation involving organised sports or the playing of outdoor games.
Community Notification
The Local Government Act sets out the community notification/ public exhibition process (Section 38). The period of public exhibition must not be less than 42 days from the date the draft plan is exhibited.
During the public exhibition period, a public hearing will be held in respect to the proposed categorisation of the community land owned by Council – but not the Crow nLand. The Crown Land is already reserved for the purpose of ‘Public Recreation’ under the Crown Lands Act, and is not subject to categorisation under the Local Government Act.
Conclusion
Plans of Management have an important role in ensuring the community is involved with the use and management of community land. In this instance community land and land reserved for public recreation has been used for sport (golf) in response to the community desire for the sport. Once the draft Plan has been on public exhibition and undergone a public hearing, the matter will be reported to Council for final determination.
No, there has not been a bushfire in Chatswood. However, what has been happening is a rapid growth in the sale value of Chatswood homes.
A 4-bedroom 1955’s house on a former Orchard in Violet St, Chatswood on a 422sqm block recently sold for more than $400,000 over its reserve, setting a new record of just over $1.9M. The previous record was just under $1.8M.
There was a crowd of 150 people on hand for the auction. Thirty were registered bidders. There had been 200 inspections and 45 contracts issued. Bidding started at $1M. It was a tortuous bidding war with over 150 bids. Toward the end the bidders tried to offer $500 bids but the auctioneer refused on the basis he would be there all day. The final bid was $2,000 above the previous highest bid.
Location is the key. Proximity to the Chatswood CBD is valuable. The new owners are planning to renovate rather than rebuild.
The new Opal Smartcard being introduced by the NSW Government has run into more trouble. The Opal card is designed to allow commuters to travel on all form of public transport: trains, buses and ferries.
NSW has been trying to get a system like the Opal card implemented for some time, at least over the past ten years. They have been promoting the card as providing lower costs for travel. There are also other incentives offered such as free travel after the completion of eight journeys in a week, lower fares during off-peak travel plus a cap on daily spending.
The Government have been trailing the cards in Sydney. Reports are in that rather than saving commuters money, in fact, it is costing them more. One commuter expecting to save 60 cents per week found she was paying an extra $7.60. Commuters who use multi-buy tickets to commute to and from work during peak hours will also pay more. The hardest hit will be yearly pass holders.
Chatswood West Ward History 