What about the noddy?

I only took notice of David Penberthy's article in today's Sunday Mail as it had a little in it about Badcoe.  I am always amused at the amount of people a politician can get in the picture while they are being interviewed. It clearly makes for better television if you have people nodding in the background that are agreeing with every word you say. For those of us sitting on the sofa it is an endless source of amusement as we jeer and comment about what is being said. That goes for either party in my house. So please, stand up and speak for yourself: if you have something to say you don't need the noddys, you need the facts and the truth.

Discover Historic Goodwood

On the back of the success of the Goodwood Road streetscape celebrated on Sunday, there is now even more to enjoy which captures Goodwood’s unique history both past and present.

The City of Unley has created Discover Historic Goodwood, a free self-guided walking tour app which will take you on a journey of Goodwood like no other before. Discover Historic Goodwood will walk you through the strange and intriguing stories of people and buildings past and present along Goodwood Road. Take a leisurely tour to visit 14 stops, listen to soundscapes and  stories by local people and view historical photos to discover the history behind each place. The app is now live. Go to the app store on your phone, download izi.TRAVEL app, work your way through the intro and go to 'all guides' at the bottom of the screen which will reveal Discover Historic Goodwood!

This project is a collaboration between Open Space Contemporary Arts, Alyssa Hill Consulting, Smart Artisans, the vibrant Goodwood community and the City of Unley. Earlier this year we asked our community to share their stories of Goodwood with the assistance of Open Space Contemporary Arts and various artists. We have included 10 such stories in this text, photo and audio tour. 14 pavers entitled Discover Historic Goodwood, manufactured by Smart Artisans, help to guide you round the trail.

Discover Historic Goodwood is part of an ongoing series of historic walking trails, including Discover Historic Unley which we launched in 2014 and the Unley Road Traders’ business history markers in 2016. 

Documentation of these projects can be found at www.unley.sa.gov.au/arts.

A Guide to Getting Self-Published

Digital Publishing

A Guide to Getting Self-Published

Have you ever thought about self-publishing but not sure where to start? Join us to hear first-hand experiences from novelist, Matt Pike, on his self-publishing journey. Hear about the pros and cons of traditional versus digital publishing, how to (sometimes) make money, and how to work with other professionals to get your work out there.

THURSDAY 16 NOVEMBER, 5.30 - 7.30PM     UNLEY TOWN HALL OXFORD TERRACE, UNLEY Gold coin donation on entry, bookings essential, phone 8372 5100  or book online.

International Cities and Towns

A tired prperty on Unley Rd

I had the pleasure to attend this conference on Thursday and Friday in Melbourne. As with all conferences the keynote speakers were inspiring and the workshops/ smaller sessions interesting. It brings my mind back to what we are doing well and we what continue to struggle with. to my mind the revitalisation of Goodwood Rd was as good, if not better, that the other studies I heard about. The amazing thing about Goodwood Rd is that it has few vacancies and keeping tenants in buildings and enabling these businesses to trade profitably is an issue that Councils across Australia are struggling with. I spoke briefly with a representative from Marion Council. If you’ve driven down Marion Rd anytime in the last year or so it's not hard to notice that the small groups of 6-9 shops are struggling. Her problem was that the landlords would rather they were empty as the long term gain for them is in the value of the land!  Luckily we have few of these in Unley. But I often hear that King William Rd problem is with the Landlords.

Some quick fixes would include more targeted consultation, trialling ideas on the ground before implementation of the hard infrastructure and tarting up shopfronts, particularly in some parts of Unley Rd.

Goodwood Underpass

At this morning's Goodwood Rd event there was a display of ideas already submitted for the beautification of the underpass. This is a much needed upgrade as it currently looks run down and awful. Hopefully, one or both of the political parties will follow through after the election and get the work started. The photos show some ideas and remind you that you still have a week to come up with something better.

Goodwood comes alive

I attended the event this morning to celebrate the completion of the $6million dollar upgade of Goodwood Rd. The street looked fantastic and people were out in force to enjoy the atmosphere and to broswe in the shops. We manged a good coffee and a pie that were both pretty good. Some photos from the event

Cr Bob Schnell enjoying the opening

Mayor Clyne opening the event

Eugene Boisvert enjoying the event

Restoring the Unley Kindergym: Vote now

 This much loved facilty has been developing children's skills and confidence for a vey long time. The good folk that use the facility as  church need your help to get some funding from the Fund My Neighbourhood piggy bank to restore the building. Please take the time to include this one on your list of 5 choices for funding. You need to register and vote here .

The steeple that needs restoring.

The facility that the kis love.

Time to vote: Fund My Neighbourhood

This state government competition for both concepts and funding is now being put to the vote. Each person who wishes to register a vote must log into the website. You can get to it  here  . Many of the prposals that involved Unley Council have been included but some have been filtered out. One's in Clarence Park are;

• A pizza oven at the Black Forest PS
• Plantings in Byron Rd
• A BBQ for the Goodwood Cricket Club
• An electronic scoreborad at Goodwood Oval

This is a competition, those items with the most votes are most likely to be funded. You can choose  between 3 and 5 items, you do not have to rank them.

Ides of significance in other parts of Unley include:

• Wheelchair access to the Capri Theatre
• Restoration of the Unley Kindergym building  (I'll write a separate blog on this)
• Upgrading the Playground at Soutar Park

VOTE NOW

Future of suburban development: Community Forum

A Community Forum to  be held on the 26th October in the Glandore Community Centre will be of interest to anyone concerned about orderly development in Black Forest, Everard Park, Millswood and Forestville. The form will be run by David Pisoni (Memeber for Unley) with support from Lachlan Clyne (the endorsed Liberal candidate for Badcoe). It is time for  the Liberal Party to tell us what they would do differently from what we are currently getting fron Labor if they are in government come March. The event is at 6;30pm. If you want to attend you need to register at www.planning-forum-badcoe.evenbrite.com.au  or call Lachlan on 0427132494.
For those of you who are wondering, I'd love to know about Labor events that will be held and will happily spruik for them as well. We need change from what seems to be an increasingly adhoc system and we need it now, but who will provide it?

Why the double blues?

Did you know that the first time Sturt Football Club and Port Adelaide met in Sturt's debut year, they defied the odds and came out victorious?   On 25 March 1901 Norwood Football Club passed a resolution to admit Sturt into the competition, followed four days later by North, West, Port and West Torrens.  The colours of light and dark blue were nominated by the father of the Sturt Football Club, Arthur Thomas, representing the Cambridge and Oxford Universities - the names of the streets upon which the Unley Oval resides.  Less than two months later the Sturt Football Club made its debut in the South Australian Football Association.  It won two of its first four matches, with Port Adelaide being its second victim.

Fund My Neighbourhood; Special Council Meeting Oct 9th 2017

Fund My Neighbourhood is a state government initiative that enables organisations to suggest projects that they believe will benefit their local community. These projects will then be vetted to ensure they are within the guidelines;

·        Open space, sport & recreation

·        Mobility, transport& safety

·        Health, wellbeing &inclusion

·        Arts and culture

·        Environment and sustainability

·        Innovation and technology

 and then put to a vote by the people. $20million will be allocated in the first round. On Monday Council will examine those projects that are on Council land or will need Council support to be implemented. There are other projects in Unley other than those listed but Council does not know what they are. Applicants can seek between $10,000 and $150,000. Projects submitted include beautifying Byron Rd, new site screens for Goodwood Oval and a new scoreboard for Goodwood Oval in Clarence Park Ward. Items not supported by Council are mostly those that have already been completed, are already budgeted for or are part of a longer term project (upgrading Wilberforce walk).

While Council was unable to provide information about how the vote will be conducted it is my understanding that the vote will be online, that there will be one vote only per computer and one vote per person and that residents will be asked to nominate 3 projects only in preferred order.

An interesting process as there is no indication of what amount has been allocated per council area and what preference will be given in neighbourhoods the Labor Party thinks that they might win, or need to win come March.

For a list you will need to look at the agenda (here)

Petty rows or worthwhile complaints?

In Monday's paper there was an article about the need for Councillors to set their own Code of Conduct rules. This is what we always did until an over authoritarian state government decided, in in 2013, that they were better at doing this than we were. And so they passed a law about it that allowed Councillors little freedom in the way that they went about their work and much stricter rules of conduct that they had for themselves. It comes back to the old adage that Councillors and Councils are a waste of time and money. Not true, of course, but we keep on getting it.

Nevertheless, giving Councils back the power seems like a good idea. ICAC has been flooded with trivial matters from councillors about the behaviour of their colleagues and feel that we would be better off monitoring the discipline of each other. As far as I am aware Unley has had a couple of these investigations in addition to my complaint about the behaviour of our Mayor early in his first term of office. The problem, as I see it, is that Council will still not have the power to do anything more than a ‘slap on the wrist’. 

It’s a bit like me suspending a student for repeatedly wagging lessons by not allowing them to be at school at all for a day or two. We both see the irony but I can only use the rules available to me!

Goodwood Groove

This popular event is being held again on Sunday the 22nd October in Goodwood. As well as the exiting program being prepared by traders the Council will be acknowledging the completion of the

upgrade to the area. It certainly looks good without the stobie polls and as the new road surface nears completion and the flowers in the new planters are blooming.

Active Ageing Australia Celebrate Age Award

The City of Unley was proudly recognised with an Active Ageing Australia Celebrate Age Award in the Local Government category on Friday.    The much contested award was presented to  CEO, Peter tsokas,  by Mrs Lan Le in a ceremony at Government House.

This award celebrates Unley's  strong strategic commitment and initiatives in the Age Friendly space, with an  Active Ageing Alliance, creation of the annual Age Friendly Cities Australia forum, the Circuit 101 Meal Service at the Unley Community Centre and our Active Ageing Award as part of the SALA Festival. As well as new work such as the Age Friendly Streetscape Project, the  Age Friendly Retail Pilot, the review and implementation of the Community Bus service and the heart-warming and inspiring Unley Legends films. All are  great examples of the work done to make a meaningful difference for the  community.

No award is achieved without a team effort, and it is timely to acknowledge the contribution staff and volunteers across Council to implement the Active Ageing Strategy and how we are all working to promote positive ageing in our community.

Happy Active Ageing Week!