Blue thru bus

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Busred  BusBlue

Old M40                                                               New 140

One of the Sate Government’s better initiative is no more. Namely the RED M40 buses. In their wisdom, these have been replaced with standard BLUE buses with a 140 route number.

The route and timetable stays the same. Just most of the red buses and the M40 designator have gone.

What a joke.

Bowen & Moriarty Upzoning

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Moriarty  From this to this ?  Moriarty Bowen

Council officers are supporting a ‘spot re-zoning’ of 1A-29 Bowen Street & 6-18 Moriarty St.

The Planning Proposal seeks to amend Willoughby Local Environmental Plan 2012 to change the zoning for the sites and adjacent roadway at Bowen Street from R2 Low Density Residential to R4 High Density Residential, allow a building height of up to 30 metres and a Floor Space Ratio up to 2.5:1 (including 7% residential GFA to be affordable housing).

READ REPORT

OH Reid Citizens Panel

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CrossleyMemorial
A report regarding the formation of OH Reid Citizens committee is going to Council on Monday night (13 May). .
There are at least two matters that may need representation to Council on Monday night:
  • Chairperson. After input from and Ward Councillors, Mayor and GM they are proposing a consultant/facilitator rather than a member of the panel
  • Composition of panel. Quite diverse.
This matter will also be considered by CWWPA at our Thursday 16 May meeting.

Emergency service levy

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SESThe NSW Government has announced the following changes to the emergency services levy

  • ​They have made changes to workers’ compensation to provide better protection for volunteer and career firefighters affected by work-related cancers.
  • ​The reforms reflect existing arrangements in other States and will ensure those who provide vital community services receive adequate medical care and support.
  • This will result in an increase in the cost of providing emergency services across the State, which will be shared, as per the usual funding arrangements between insurance providers, the State Government and local councils.
  • The local government share will be 11.7% of the cost of the emergency services levy.

Council meeting 13 May 19

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Council

There are a number of matters of interest in this Council meeting. This includes items:

16.1 Operational Plan 2019-2020.  This sets out how and where Council proposes yo spend your rates. The plan is in draft form. The next step is for it to go on public exhibition.

17.1 Leisure Centre Pool Hall Upgrade: Detailed designs or proposed upgrade works.

17.2 Formation of OH Reid Citizens Panel: Details of proposed Terms of Reference.

18.3  1A-29 Bowen St & 6-18 Moriarty St: Proposed rezoning to high density.

19.2 Climate emergency: Clr Saville has moved that Council publicly acknowledges that we are in a state of climate emergency.

You can access the details for these items from Council’s website under “Agendas”

 

Metro to open

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The Sydney Metro will open on Sunday 26 May 2019.

MetroOPEN

Transport and Roads Minister Andrew Constance yesterday announced the opening date for the first fully automated, driverless Metro passenger trains which provides a connection between Tallawong and Chatswood Stations.

255 bus issues

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jammed busIs this an answer for the problem?

The 255 bus seems to be encountering ever more difficulties. Lone Pine is a particular problem because of parking on either side of an already narrow street.

Today, a bus was trapped half way along (not sure exactly why) and traffic entering at both ends piled up. The situation rapidly developed into one that couldn’t easily be resolved, as school buses were lined up in Eddy, and there was no room for cars to reverse out of Lone Pine.

Possible solutions? Difficult. One option would be to permit parking on one side only (residents without off-street parking would be upset). Another would be to widen on the western side (also probably upsetting residents).

The concern is that State Transport will axe the service because would-be passengers will give up, giving ammunition in the form of declining patronage to those who would like to axe it for cost reasons.

Vale Les Murray

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LesLes was a onetime Chatswood resident and an early Patron of The Concourse.
In 1965 Les married Valerie Morelli in Our Lady of Dolours Church, Chatswood. Valerie was from McCartney Avenue, Chatswood. Later they lived in Edgar Street, Chatswood near what is now Bartels Park. Valerie and Les had five children. One of them was on the Spectrum. Les could often be seen in the park playing lovingly with his son. He was a man with a huge heart.
Whilst living in Chatswood, Valerie and Les revived a tradition started by another world-class poet, Kenneth Slessor (Five Bells),also from Chatswood. They would host dinner parties for poets, mainly from Sydney and Melbourne. These included Slessor and other recognised poets and literary figures such as Douglas Stewart (Fire on the Snow), Geoffrey Lehmann (his co-conspirator on Murray’s first book of poetry), Christopher Koch, Mark O’Connor, Peter Porter, Peter Goldsworthy, Chris Wallace-Crabbe, Alan Gould, Robert Gray, Jamie Grant and his wife Margaret Connolly.
Les penned many poems that resonate with imagery of Chatswood and the North Shore:
work’s turned its back on sweet brilliance
but when they start to loom, these towers
disappear. Dusk’s lightswitchers reveal
yellow business branching kilotail
and haloed with stellar geometry
Mirror-glass skyscrapers
In addition to Les and Kenneth Slessor, Chatswood and Willoughby has produced an extraordinary number of highly renowned poets, writers and literary figures who either lived or wrote about the area. This includes Louise Mack, Mona Alexis Brand (Children of the Sun), Tad Orwell (Kangaroo Flat), Lennie Lower (Here’s Luck), Francis Webb (A drum for Ben Boyd), Kenneth Cook (Wake in Fright), Jennifer Rankin (Night ride), Barcroft Boake (Where dead men lie), Kate Grenville (Lillians story),Matthew Reilly (Scarecrow), Henry Lawson, Burnum Burnum (Wildthings),Nancy Wake (The White Mouse), Betty Roland (The touch of silk) and Gwen Meredith (Blue Hills),
Les Murray has won many literary awards, including the Grace Leven Prize (1980 and 1990), the Petrarch Prize (1995), and the prestigious T.S. Eliot Prize (1996). In 1999 he was awarded the Queens Gold Medal for Poetry on the recommendation of Ted Hughes.  
As an aside, many years ago it was suggested to name a memorial in Chatswood after Les. Les was very moved at the time. However, this was squashed. Mainly on two grounds – he was not dead and people were concerned he may say something embarrassing (yet that was the essence of the man).
The time is now opportune to reconsider how best way to recognise the contribution Les has made and his association with Chatswood.

Grants

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There are a number of grant opportunities available at the moment that will definitely worth looking at:MoneyThe Community Litter Grants have had a full facelift and are looking better than ever as a way to complete your local litter projects. For local single group projects grants range from $4,000-$10,000. For multi-site or multi-organisation projects grants range from $20,000-$70,000.

For more information go to the EPA website www.epa.nsw.gov.au of contact the EPA Litter Prevention Unit at litter.prevention@epa.nsw.gov.au

The My Community Project grants are open throughout NSW for a range of community projects. Go toMy Community Project for all the details.

From: Clr. Saville

No smoking

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NoSmokingFrom a resident:

In the last few years I have noticed the increase of public smoking, in the streets, laneways, shopping mall car parks (ie. Chatswood Chase), pretty much everywhere.
The effects of cigarette smoke is noticed immediately and it is rather unhealthy, uncomfortable and intrusive to pedestrians who choose not to be subjected to cigarettes.
It would be a health advantage if Chatswood CBD is declared a smoke free area. Create enclosed smoking areas and if the public chooses to neglect, they can receive on the spot fines. The council can leverage existing parking officers to extend their reach to fine smokers who choose to ignore.
Not withstanding the barrage of cigarette butts that are merely thrown into the streets, the smell of cigarettes emitting into the air and in your face for that matter and the overall health concern of it to  all the public I believe needs to be taken seriously.
I have found this on the NSW health site: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/tobacco/Pages/smoke-free-laws.aspx but to what extent these laws can be applies to banning the entire Chatswood CBD area from smoking remains to be seen.
Tell us below what you think about this matter.