29 November 2016

27 November 2016

Meeting 26th Nov 2016 with Steph Key

I attended a great community meeting yesterday at Forest Ave Reserve on Forest Ave. The meeting was called by Steph Key, Member for Ashford, in the parliament. The discussion was centred around the poor maintenance of the reserve and the role of Council and the Black Forest School in maintaining the grounds. A Land Management Agreement exists that has been agreed between Council and DECD but has not been reviewed for some time. It is my understanding that the grounds are entirely owned by the school and that council waters and mows the lawns. In exchange the community have access too the open space when children are not using it.
A walk around the edges shows that maintenance of the vegetation has been poor for a number of years. Shrubs are dead and have not been removed and/or replace. Other areas are overgrown; The community asked that;

  • The Land Management Agreement is reviewed and updated and that all parties are aware of their personal responsibility in the maintenance
  • That Step work with the school regarding the current poor state of the award winning veggie gardens
  • Student safety is investigated at the corner of Obam Ave and Forest Ave
  • Student pickups are better policed for offending parents
    This lovely area is now overgrown

Canterbury Tce

As it was!
The state government have now approved and partially funded the rejigging of the Canterbury Tce/ East Ave corner. The new plan will further improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians at the corner when implemented. This should start early next year.

Full Council meeting 28th Nov, 2016

Matters on the Agenda include;
Petition re Timed parking in Essex St, South: A number of residents are concerned at the 4 hour parking limits on both sides of the street
Library Service Review; Their is a 80% satisfaction rate with the existing library hours. The reports details the work of a working party that looked at alternate uses for the front area. The proposal made was not supported by an independent review and it has not proceeded. There is also some discussion about the location of the Toy Library, after review the current  location is still the most suitable.
Community Bus:After a review it is suggested that amore door to door services are offered to tye current Fixed Root users and that the service continues to get residents to the shopping centre. The charter service will continue but with the use of a smaller bus.
Election of Representatives to the LGA Board: I've written my list of prefered individuals, we'll see how it stands up
Community Grants Programme: Grants are recommended for a number of local organisations including the 3rd Goodwood Scout Group,, Good wood PS, Forestville Hockey Club, Goodwood Saints Tennis and Clarence Park Kindergarten
Conservation Grants: These are available twice a year for heritage works on heritage listed and Contributory items.
Corporate Performance Report: An excellent report on progress by the CEO.
Centennial Park Progress Authority:
Tree Prosecution: CONFIDENTIAL
Strategic Property Development: CONFIDENTIAL
Appointment of Independents to the City Strategy and Development Policy: CONFIDENTIAL




20 November 2016

Goodwood Main Street Upgrade - Construction Update Information Session

The City of Unley has completed the detailed design for the Goodwood Road streetscape upgrade and have now engaged local contractor Outside Ideas to undertake the civil and landscape works.

The streetscape upgrade will commence shortly after SA Power Networks complete the undergrounding of the power lines, with work likely to commence in December.

We invite you to attend this information session and construction update:
6-7.30pm, Wednesday 23 November
Goodwood Community Centre
32-34 Rosa Street, Goodwood

Information on the streetscape design is on display at the Goodwood Library and Unley Civic Centre.

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13 November 2016

Council Meeting: Monday 14th November

This is an extra meeting to help cope with the workload of decisions that need to be made and also reflecting on the fact that meetings that go until late at night do not always make the best decisions,
The Agenda includes:

  • City Strategy and Development Policy Committee Establishment: As we have disbanded the former committee and it is a legislated necessity to have one, the composition of this new committee, and who will be on it will be discussed. I favoured a committee of all elected members and still do as it is far less divisive that each committee having to have members elected onto it.  However, it is likely to be a committee with 4 elected members and 2 or 3 independent members.There were 4 committee positions filled last meeting (Property Acquisition Committee) and 8 to be filled this week. That's one  position for everyone, replacing the 3 disbanded committees. Unfortunately some councillors often want more that their share as they have are perceived to have a better skill set or more time; it is my opinion that we are elected as equals and should share the workload while paying some consideration to our personal skillsets. We'll see! Of the 3 this is my preferred option, would love to Chair it but as I am still on the Development Assessment Panel,will not be putting up my hand to do this.
  • Civic Center Redevelopment-Governance and Community Engagement: For those of you who were shocked at the article in a recent Eastern Courier on this topic there is no intention to sell the Civic Centre site nor to bulldoze any heritage listed properties. However, the way forward that is selling the air rights, will be tricky and public communication and support imperative.
  • 2015-16 Financial Statements:
  • Annual report 2015-16:

06 November 2016

Katherine St Reserve opening soon


Some tips to minimise waste

AVOID waste in the first place
Refuse junk mail if you don't want to read it
Share magazines and newspapers or access them free at the library
Store food in reusable containers
REDUCE what you throw away
Buy products in bulk with minimal packaging
Repair before replacing
Use both sides of paper
Minimise food waste and compost any scraps
Use reusable cloth nappies instead of disposable ones
REUSE materials in an innovative way
Reuse glass and plastic containers
Reuse gift wrapping paper and ribbon
Buy refillable containers where possible
RECYCLE products to save natural resources
Buy products made from recycled materials
Turn organics into compost
Recycle suitable containers
Buy products with packaging that can be recycled

01 November 2016

Highrise in Unley


You may have read this week's Messenger. Dan, the journalist, almost got it right. Council is considering selling the development rights for the Civic Centre location to enable it to become a catalyst site for further development in the central area. For every 2 apartments built in central Unley there should be one less two for one development in Clarence Park and Black Forest.  Despite comments online to the article discussing the heritage buildings, they are not at risk for Council development and nor is the Village Green. More information can be found here.