31 March 2018

FEELING A BIT JAZZY?

FEELING A BIT JAZZY?

Unley are very proud to present the South Australian Jazz Archive Inc's major biennale exhibition here at the Unley Museum. 
Join us for the launch of A Centenary of Jazz
Sunday 22nd April, 2.30-4.30pm

A fun and entertaining FREE afternoon, with live jazz music on the lawns, wine and nibbles.

The exhibition will run until 6th May 2018.

30 March 2018

Shared Streets v Shared Zones



What's the fuss and what's the difference?
According to the experts, but in layman's terms,  one is a like a mall with cars (shared zone) the other like a street with pedestrians (shared street). The speed limit for  shared street is 25kph and for a shared zone is 10kph. In the mix as well is often bicycles that can travel in either diection, often even in a one way street. Nevertheless, we are likley to see more of these types of zones in the future.

29 March 2018

Full Council Meeting; March 26th 2018

The following items may be of interest;
  • Petition re the Goodwood Oval precinct: residents are particularly concerned at the recent appearance of a pod (read shipping container) that appeared near the southern entrance a few weeks ago. The greatest concern is, I believe, other than the appearance of the thing and the fact that no consultation occurred (even with your ward councillors) is that the new grandstand may be built without sufficient storage to meet the needs of the clubs and that pods/sheds may still be required after the new build.
  • Deputation Re Almond St: this was also an agenda item. While staff and the consultant were able to recommend a Shared Street to enhance the safety of pedestrians and cyclists in this street  the preferred option for residents is a Shared  Zone. After nearly an hour of debate the Shared Zone was not supported by Council.
  • Shared Street opportunities: following on from the request from Almond St Council asked staff to locate other suitable locations for Shared Streets. Staff came up with a significant list and then shortlisted 8 streets. Unfortunately, many of the streets suggested were dead ends and no through roads that already have significant amenity over those who live in through roads. From the list I would start with those streets that meet the criteria that have the poorest amenity. In my books this was Richards St in Forestville.
  • Pocket Parks: despite the disaster that was Kelvin Ave and the potential pocket park in that location Council voted again to develop this concept and identify suitable streets. In my opinion we should be spending our money on greening opportunities that are not dead end streets but on current underdeveloped Council land. 
  • Economic Development Rates Incentive Policy: Council voted to support offering rates relief to developers in the Unley Central Zone and to the purchasers of the resulting apartments, each for a period on 3 years. Hopefully, this will encourage development where it belongs and not in local neighbourhoods.
  • Cr Schnell asked a question regarding the banning by China of imports of recyclable material. This was not answered as clearly it will take some time to research an answer. Other Councils are already positioning to raise rate revenue as this increases Council costs.

21 March 2018

Time to take a closer look at Unley's facilities

I have taken 4 weeks leave to care for my little
granddaughter. I am going to use this opportunity to have a look at as  many of Unley's child friendly activities as I can. This week we have already been to Goodwood CC Playgroup and intend to try their Kindergym on Friday. I'm keen to check out Babytime at the library and to get to a few extra playgrounds. We are already regulars at the Everard Park playground.

LED Street lighting: is it time for Unley?

Unley has been discussing alternative street lighting decisions for a couple of years now. First of all we looked at solar and more recently, LED. While the upfront costs in this are high the yearly savings could be up to $300,000 per year. The savings being in the payment for the running of the lights. This would equate to a signigicant return on the investment. At this point at least 2 other ouncils are implementing the technology..

19 March 2018

Native Title claim settled


 The Attorney General and Cabinet approved the settlement last week and the Kaurna approved the settlement at a community meeting shortly after that.

The settlement means that there are  16 parcels of land in the original Kaurna claim area that will have  native title over them, however, none of these parcels fall within the City of Unley.  The settlement means that native title rights and interests over all land and waters within the Determination Area, other than the 16 parcels, have been extinguished. The 16 sites are all in City of Mitcham and Adelaide Hills Council.

As well  Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988 (AH Act) remains in place, and affords protection to Aboriginal sites irrespective of the native title status of the land.  

As the City of Unley has no land with Native Title it would be the case that any matters that arise under the AH Act could be dealt with on a case by case basis.  






At last : the state election is over















Congratulations to David Pisoni for being re-elected to the seal of Unley and to Jane Stimson as the new member for the new seat of Badcoe. Both electorates have a large swathe  in Unley with Goodwood Rd and the train line being the boundary. I look forward to working closely with both of them.

13 March 2018

Amalgamations again.


We must be getting closer to the actual state election day. Seems like the theory is that Councils are causing all the problems, can't be trusted with your money and generally poorly educated and not whatever the current government has been up to. I could list at least a dozen disasters on behalf of Labor and yet when the Liberals have had a chance to shine they continue to pick fault as well (rate capping). How is it possible for a reporter in the Advertiser to propose amalgamations and the use as an example Onkaparinga Council. Yes, it is the biggest but it doesn't seem to be an example of best practice on a number of fronts. This week its auditing and credit card use. I guess it’s possible that we (as Councillors) are having the wool pulled over our eyes by administration staff. However, it would also be highly unlikely. 

11 March 2018

This is your chance to ask the hard questions; Harmony Day

THE CITY OF UNLEYLIBRARIES

To honour the spirit of Harmony Day, this year we are giving you the chance to ask those questions, to bring up the difficult topics and to start a conversation that can enrich you and your community.
‘I think there is no point in being scared of bringing things up. I think it is fine, we can talk about things, we can explore things, see the point of view of another person. And in that posture of learning, if you go to a dialogue without any agenda and with an open mind that I am actually going to learn something from this person, then you will.’
 - Dr Roshanak Amrein
Borrow a Living Book
We have eight living books incorporating seventeen cultures and faiths and you can book a session to have an honest discussion.

Each session will be a small group of up to five people for 45 minutes.

Trees: serious business

This is not the tree concerned just an exemplar.

You might have read the story about the regulated trees in this week's paper. According to the story the neighbours pruned two regulated trees while to owner was away on holidays. Imagine her surprise when she got home. This pruning was estimated to be 90% foe one tree and 50% for the other. By law up to 30% of the canopy of a regulated tree can be pruned without development approval. A similar, but different case is brewing in Unley at another location. As Councillors we are continually told that we are not working hard enough to protect the tree canopy on both public and private property and yet I have not heard one election promise over the last few weeks that would have the potential to alter the seemingly downward trend. However, when Council takes court action the cost to rate payers has the potential to be eye watering.

01 March 2018

Good Healthy Soil

Good Healthy Soil 

At Fern Ave Community Garden
Matthias J Salomon, PHD student of Adelaide University is investigating Urban Agriculture. Some months ago, he took samples of the soil in some of the plots and the common area. Matthias has now analysed the samples and will be presenting his findings.
The presentation is at 6.00pm on Friday 9th March 2018 at Fern Ave Community Garden,18-20 Fern Ave, Fullarton.
The presentation will be followed by baked potatoes and a glass of red at around 7pm.
Gold coin/s donation
This is your chance to understand your soil. Matthias will talk about Urban Agriculture, the importance of soil, soil composition
and the nutrients necessary for effective crop production.
The talk is open to the general public as well as garden members -
please RSVP by message to Cecile on 0405 558 723 for catering
purposes.

Over passes and underpasses


A few promises this week (Labor) have seen the potential to remove several level crossings in Unley. These include the tram and Goodwood Rd, the train and Cross Rd and the train and Leader St. Given that the Leader St underpass was promised during the Goodwood Junction works and seems to have been shelved maybe this one could go first?  The tram line at Goodwood Rd seems to be a nice idea but I have rarely waited long for the tram to pass in that location. However, the underpass/overpass on Cross Rd at the train line would be a welcome sight. This, of course, would be less beneficial if the freight trains were rerouted to go around rather than through Adelaide. This has been promised by a would be Liberal government. This option would allow a two way commuter  train service to Mt Barker!
And to top all of this the funded cycle overpass that would sit alongside the existing overpass at Goodwood would allow a safe passage for bicycles and eliminate the dreadful underpass at Goodwood Station. This is now stuck in the planning process.
What we will have in 4 years time when we are back in election mode is in the relm of the great unknown.