Tree pruning getting closer.

 SAPN's tree pruning got a little closer to Clarence park Ward last week. These trees in Clifton St were decimated and may need to be removed. Other trees in the street seem have a got away with a light pruning. I urge you again to look at the map in this blog to ascertain which trees near you are likely to be affected. Concerns should be raised with SAPN at 131261 but I'm happy to hear of any troubles to see if I can assist in any way.

What you see when out letterboxing?

I have been out letterboxing this weekend a long overdue newsletter. So far Black Forest is complete ad Goodwood Oval will be completed during the week. Don does the Clarence Park and areas south of the train line. This would have to be one of the worst incidents I've seen of illegal dumping. There was piles of it. I'll try to have Council remove it this week. it is good to see people getting rid of their rubbish and there were a few heaps with the Council sticker on them.
Then there's the good. It was great to see this vegie patch on the verge.

Green light for zebra crossings

The government, this week, gave to go ahead for zebra crossings to be reintroduced into South Australia. 

The crossings — which are displayed by black and white lines on the road — require cars to slow to 30km/h and give way to pedestrians on or about to enter the marked area.

The government hope  that the reintroduction of these will reduce pedestrian accidents. As they give preference to pedestrians and the speed is so low this would seem to be an inevitable result. The only down point is that they can only be installed on 50km streets. The first location that has come to my mind is the dog leg at the northern end of East Ave. What sites can you think of if Unley were to embrace this?

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Ever seen a fruit bat?

For  those who might be interested, there is currently a large group of Black Headed Flying Fox, a species of fruit bat, feeding in the evening after dark on the large Fig trees in the south western corner of Heywood Park. They can be  seen most nights and  seem to be most active around 6.30pm. They make quite an impressive sight for those interested in the world around them, with a wing span more than a metre. Apparently they are from a recently migrated colony which have taken up residence in the Botanic Gardens, they will exploit food resources with a 50km radius. Great for kids to see. I'll take a look as well.

Full Council Meeting: May 25th 2015

Deputations regarding Pay for use Parking Trial and the Goodwood Library. This topic is also in petitions as  a local resident and avid library user, Mary, has collected hundreds of signatures on a petition calling for no changes to made to the library. On the Agenda are the following;

• Animal Management Plan 2012-2015 Year 3 Annual Report; This report is pleasing as almost all of what was set out to be done has been completed. The extra focus on education and promotion has had a positive impact on responsible pet ownership PASSED
• Kaurna Acknowledgement; Since 2010 Unley has not acknowledged the  Kaurna people in the the acknowledgement at the beginning of meetings but have  a more general term, Aboriginal. This was, in part, due to Ramindjeri land claims being  lodged at that time. In last September that claim has been rejected by the Federal Court. It is now time to reinstate the Kaurna acknowledgement at all Council meetings. For the record I voted against both motions that came to Council in 2010 and have been embarrassed by the current acknowledgement on may occasions. PASSED
• Third Quarter Budget Review;PASSED
• Centennial Park Cemetery Authority-Draft Operating Budget 2015-16:PASSED
• Inner and Middle Metropolitan Corridor Infill-Minister DPA: This has resulted from the Ministerial DPA announced several weeks ago. Council have decided to ask the government to except Goodwood Central and  King William Rd (south of Authur St) from the DPA.PASSED
• CEO Employment Contract: CONFIDENTIAL

Customer Service Charter

As a response to complaints of poor customer service Council has developed the following charter regarding the level of service you should expect to get each and every time you contact the Council. Hopefully, this will set a higher service benchmark for our residents. What do you think?

OUR SERVICE COMMITMENT The City of Unley will listen to its customers and will strive to be responsive, innovative and effective in meeting customer needs. This Customer Charter is a public statement that reflects our customer service commitment to, and provides the framework for what can be expected of us.


http://www.unley.sa.gov.au/sitedata/unity/resources/files/Unley_Customer_Service_Charter.pdf

Reconciliation Week 2015 in Unley: Friday 29 May

  

On Friday 29 May at 10am

The City of Unley is acknowledging 

Reconciliation Week 2015
at the Unley Town Hall, Oxford Terrace, Unley

Musician Ellie Lovegrove and dancer Damien Ralphs will lead our Reconciliation Week event along with Mayor Lachlan Clyne. Local schools and the wider community are all welcome at the event to share their stories of Reconciliation. The national theme of “It’s time to change it up” will be the focus of this significant event.

For more information please contact Matthew Ives, Cultural Development Coordinator, on 8372 5134 or email mives@unley.sa.gov.au

To visit the Reconciliation Week website click here

Water wells for Cromer Pde

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Water wells are currently being installed in Cromer Pde. The idea is that the pipe on the left collects the stormwater from the property until the water well is full, it then diverts the water directly to the street. Meaning everytime it rains the street tree gets a good water and enough is held in reserve to continue to water the tree after the rain event. Looks good!

Walk to school day: Thursday 21stMay

Goodwood Primary School is holding their Walk Safely to School Day (WSTSD) this Thursday 21st May – one day ahead of the national event. 

Local WSTSD ambassador and parent, Amanda Blair has supported the school with the following program:Children and parents meeting from 5 designated  meeting points to walk to school from;Upon arrival through our main Goodwood Road gate entrance, participants will be greeted and acknowledged by the Principal and provided with a piece fruit that has been donated by Goodwood Fresh and Adelaide Produce Market to support this event.

The Today Show on Channel Nine is filming a segment on Thursday morning to air at 7.15 pm encouraging all children around Australia to participate on Friday. This involves 10 Goodwood Primary School students. Channel 10 will be filming their weather cross at the school Thursday night.

What a great event for the students, the school and the wider community.

$9billion roadmap

At last, the state government has announced it's plans for the South Rd upgrade including the Glenelg tram overpass to Cross Rd. Cost $710 million with a low to medium priority. There seems to not be much detail as yet and a few questions will still need to be answered?
How much property will need to be acquired  (the article says property on both sides)
Will all access from Black Forest to South Rd be blocked coming in or out or both?
Will the Black Forest Shopping Centre survive?
How will the kids from west of South Rd get to Black Forest Primary School?
How will it alter the flow of traffic between South Rd and East Ave/Leah St?

Tom gives in!

It was good to see that this week the Treasurer, Tom Koutsantonis , bowed to pressure from both federal and local government and agreed to make up the $190 shortfall that they have traditionally paid, with federal government support to pensioners. However, this will not be taken directly from eligible persons rates notice but by way of a direst grant. Some will lose the benefit and a few others will gain.

Time to have your say

Council is currently consulting on a number of issues. Now is the time to have your say.

•  Draft Living Active Sport and Recreation Plan 2015-2020 and Policy

The City of Unley has developed a draft ‘Living Active’ Sport and Recreation Plan 2015-2020 to provide a direction to provide, promote, advocate for and facilitate sport and recreation opportunities to build the capacity of the community to lead a physically active lifestyle. (read more)

•  Code of Practice for Access to Council Meetings and Documents within 12 months of the last council election. 

The purpose of the code is to set out the Council’s principles and practices which support open, transparent and informed decision making by the Council and community access to its meetings and documents.(read more)

•  Draft Annual Business Plan 2015-16

(External link) is to let you know about:

• The services provided by the City of Unley

• Proposed new initiatives and projects, and

• Draft budget for 2015-16 (read more)

• Brown Hill Keswick Creek Stormwater Project

Members of the public are invited to learn more about and comment on proposed flood mitigation measures for upper Brown Hill Creek during a community consultation process from Wednesday 13 May to Tuesday 23 June, 2015.(read more)

Full Council Meeting: May 11th 2015

This month saw an extraordinary meeting of Council to ensure good debate and so that the next meeting later in the month was not too long. The items on the Agenda included:

• A Mothers Milk Outdoor Dining: while the report suggested that the Cafe bear the full cost of the kerb extension and bollards (required due to safety concerns). After much debate Council decided to pay for the kerb extension and for the cafe to pay for the bollards. This seemed a sensible solution  and, hopefully, one followed through in King William Road when the current temporary parklets are replaced. PASSED
• Pay for Use Parking Trial: this has been contentious since it was first suggested. However, it does have the potential to reduce commuter traffic and to raise revenue for the City. PASSED
• Street Cleansing Review: This was a new service standard that reduces the frequency of cleaning in some streets and increases it in others. There will still be an as needs response and extra services in those areas with heavy leaf fall when required. PASSED
• Quarterly Corporate Review

Gender imbalance on committees

Council has recently advertised and selected new new independent members onto all of its committees. The presence and participation of the independents adds a richness to the debate that is very welcome. However, given the significant gender imbalance of elected members (there is only one female elected member) it was a great opportunity to get more women involved with council and interested in eventually becoming elected members. The final makeup of the committees is as follows;

• Development and Strategy 9 :1 
• Infrastructure 7:1
• Community and Culture 6:1
• Audit Committee 5:0
• Unley Business and Development 9:4 (including trader representatives)

This is a total of 36:7 or less than 17%.

I have asked the staff to investigate ways in which the next round of advertisements for these positions, in 2 years time, can be managed to attract more well qualified and competent female applicants and then for the selection panels to be mindful of the benefits of working toward gender balance on the committees.

Draft Annual Business Plan 2015-16

.Before a council adopts it’s Annual Business Plan it must prepare a Draft Annual Business Plan and undertake a public consultation process.

This purpose of the Draft Annual Business Plan 2015-16(External link) is to let you know about:

• The services provided by the City of Unley
• Proposed new initiatives and projects, and
• Draft budget for 2015-16

In drafting the Draft Annual Business Plan 2015-16(External link), council seeks to achieve a reasonable degree of rate stability over time while ensuring ratepayers are paying for those services and infrastructure maintenance obligations they require.

A Long Term Financial Plan has been developed to assist Council with developing a budget within a prudent, longer-term financial framework. The key objective has been to ensure financial sustainability in the medium to long term, while still achieving Council’s goals as detailed in the Community Plan 2033 and Annual Plan objectives. This Long Term Financial Plan has informed the development of the Draft Annual Business Plan 2015-16(External link).

You are invited to comment on the Draft Annual Business Plan 2015-16(External link). Your feedback will be accepted between Wednesday 6 May and close of business on Friday 29 May, and can be made in the following ways:

• Provide your comments online through this page
• Send an email with "Draft Annual Business Plan" in the subject heading, to pobox1@unley.sa.gov.au
• Send a written submission to "Draft Annual Business Plan", PO Box 1, Unley, 5061
• Attend a meeting to be held on Thursday 28 May, 5.30pm at the Unley Civic Centre, 181 Unley Road, Unley. 
  City of Unley staff will be available to discuss the Draft Plan with you at this time

Once public consultation has finished the draft will be considered by Council at the Full Council Meeting on Monday 22 June.

May 3rd Celebrations

Today marked the 100th anniversary of the 10th/27th battalion marching from the City of Unley to World War 1. The streets were lined with people this morning to see the reenactment of the event. Descendants of the original soldiers also joined the march with enormous pride. After the march the governor gave a well planned speech, this was followed by a sausage sizzle in the Memorial Gardens. It was good to have a chance to catch up with many residents.