On 28 February the Georges River Residents & Ratepayers Councillors attended their first full ordinary Council Meeting. Here’s an update from the meeting.

UPDATE: KOGARAH WAR MEMORIAL POOL AT CARSS PARK

A contract was awarded on 21 December 2021 to Otium Planning Group to conduct the Carss Park Aquatic Facility Feasibility Study. In a response to a Question with Notice from Councillor Kathryn Landsberry, council officers advised that this long awaited study will include site investigations and technical studies, preliminary schematics identifying suitable concept plans, parking configuration, environmental sustainability assessment, geotechnical assessment, civil construction requirements, review of services adequacy (power, water, sewer, gas and telecommunications), flood impact study, traffic impact study, environmental impact assessment and heritage impact assessment. A registered Quantity Surveyor with specialised experience in Aquatic Leisure Centres is also required to prepare indicative costings for the options.

Although GRRRP would like the report sooner, council officers advise the outcomes of the technical investigations are anticipated to be completed in August/September 2022 and reported to Council thereafter.

UPDATE: BEVERLY HILLS AND MORTDALE MASTER PLANS

UPDATE: PEAKHURST PARK PARKING

At the December 2021 Traffic Committee, Council resolved to relocate the fence on Trafalgar Street, Peakhurst to allow cars to legally park more safely rear-to-kerb at Peakhurst Park. However, despite multiple requests, at this stage Council has not allocated any funding to complete the works. GRRRP Mortdale Ward Councillor Christina Jamieson has been advocating for Council to urgently allocate funding to complete these works, but has been advised this will be an outcome of a budget bid in the upcoming Council budget.

GRRRP will continue to advocate on behalf of the community for this funding to be urgently allocated to improve the safety for all who use this busy park.

UPDATE: BEVERLY HILLS COMMUTER CAR PARK

The NSW State Government has served an acquisition notice on Council to compulsorily acquire the free public car park at Edgbaston Road, Beverly Hills to build a multi-storey commuter car park which would only be accessible by Opal Card use, resulting in the loss of 107 public car spaces. GRRRP supported the motion by Councillor Symington, which was passed unanimously, to write to the State Government seeking support for the provision of at least 169 public parking spaces from 6pm-midnight weekdays and 9am-midnight weekends within the car park, to support local businesses and offset the public parking lost due to the compulsory acquisition of Council’s site and implementation of all-day clearways along King Georges Road.

GRRRP believes there should also be provision for free public car spaces during business hours to support local businesses that have really struggled over the past two years.

COUNCIL PLANS TO COMPULSORILY ACQUIRE BUDDHIST TEMPLE

Council voted unanimously to proceed with the compulsory acquisition of 247 Princes Highway, Carlton for the purpose of providing public recreation space. The property, originally known as the Old Kogarah Inn, was built by the English family in the 1880s as a staging post and hotel and is a special part of Kogarah's history. Over the years it has seen many uses. It was divided into flats and after it was sold in 1987 became the Ocean King Chinese restaurant. It’s currently the home of a branch of the Nan Tien Buddhist Temple. Kogarah residents who have closely followed this property for many years have long advocated for the property to be returned to public ownership.

Protecting the heritage significance of the building and making it available for community use into the future is a priority for GRRRP.

Read more in The Leader article.

CONGRATULATING VAUGHN ARAMBATZIS: KEEP AUSTRALIA BEAUTIFUL SUSTAINABLE CITIES AWARDS 2021

GRRRP Blakehurst Ward Councillor Natalie Mort was pleased that Council congratulated Connells Point resident, Vaughn Arambatzis for being awarded the Keep Australia Beautiful Sustainable Cities ‘Young Legends’ award for his work in recycling bottles to raise funds to donate to the Sydney Dogs and Cats Home. Vaughn, who was 12 at the time of receiving his award, will be invited to meet with Council’s Waste Education Officer to discuss ideas for promoting recycling and waste reduction initiatives to local schools via digital content and Council communications. I think we can all agree we need more Young Legends like Vaughn!

Follow Vaughn’s fundraising campaign

UPDATE: GLENLEE @ LUGARNO

GRRRP Peakhurst Ward Councillor Peter Mahoney submitted a motion in January 2022 for the item Glenlee, 80 Boronia Parade, Lugarno to be listed on Schedule 5 of the Georges River Local Environmental Plan 2021. This was passed with unanimous support. As a result council officers prepared a Planning Proposal that was considered by the Georges River Local Planning Panel on 17 February 2022 and the Panel supported the proposal to proceed to Gateway Determination.

We await a positive outcome of the Gateway Determination so that Glenlee is listed as a local item of heritage significance. This is in addition to Council supporting the NSW Minister nominating the site on the State Heritage register. The site is currently protected by an Interim Heritage Order.

WHAT IS THE COST OF TRANSPARENCY?

GRRRP campaigned on a platform of more Council transparency. Kogarah Bay Ward Councillor Elise Borg had a number of motions on the agenda of the February Council meeting, including reinstating webcast recordings of the 2020 council meetings on Council’s website and creating an Incoming Grants Register so there is transparency with the community of which grants were received from State and Federal Governments and which projects they funded.

Disappointingly there was a view that these motions required too much staff resource to complete and were therefore not supported by a majority of Councillors and were lost. Which begs the question, just what is the cost of transparency and how important is it to Council?

GEORGES RIVER COUNCIL COMMUNITY GRANTS

Georges River Council Community Grants 2021-2022 Round 2 is now open. Applications close at 5pm on Friday 1 April 2022. This is a good opportunity for School P&Cs or any other non-profit organisation to put ideas forward. There are two types of grants that can be applied for.

Reconnecting Communities - Grants of up to $25,000 for major programs or projects from community organisations which result in more connected communities, promote social connectedness and reduce isolation, to be delivered over 24 months.

Capacity Building Grants - Grants of up to $10,000 for not-for-profit organisations to run programs or purchase assets and equipment to meet community needs, to be delivered over 12 months. 

See the recipients from the last round - good for ideas!

Small Donations: Councillor Discretionary Ward Fund - All Georges River Councillors have an allocation of $5,000 each which they can apply to be donated to selected not-for-profit organisations. The maximum donation per organisation from each Councillor is $1,500. If you know of an organisation you think is worthy of a donation, please get in touch to let us know.

CELEBRATING ST GEORGE LOCAL BUSINESSES

In early February, the four Georges River Residents & Ratepayers Councillors joined Mayor Nick Katris and Councillor Colleen Symington to represent Georges River Council at the St George Local Business Awards.

Small businesses have been hit particularly hard during the pandemic. Many have not survived. Those that did were tested with some of the toughest challenges of their lives. There were so many different types of small businesses represented at these awards but there was a sense of shared experiences throughout with everyone understanding how tough the last few years have been.

It was great to see so many small local businesses, many of them family businesses, out celebrating and being recognised and rewarded as a result of the support of their customers.

Congratulations to all the finalists and the winners of all the categories. See the full list of winners in The Leader.

COUNCILLOR NATALIE MORT: OUR VERY OWN AUSTRALIAN CHAMPION

Arriving in Australia 40 years ago as an Irish backpacker who couldn’t swim, Natalie never ceases to amaze us. On 27 February, Natalie competed in the Australian Triathlon Championship 2022 at Huskisson. In a time of 5 hours and 55 minutes, she completed the Ultimate Triathlon; 1.9km ocean swim, 90km bike and 21km run and placed first in her age division, thus making Natalie an Australian Champion!!! We’re super proud of Natalie’s superhuman efforts.

Do you know where Natalie learnt to swim and then trained for triathlons? Yes, you guessed it - Kogarah War Memorial Pool at Carss Park!

UPCOMING MEETINGS

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