Meeting 18.9.22

MINUTES OF TVC GENERAL MEETING
SUNDAY 18 September 2022 AT 4.30PM

PRESENT: Ray Smith, Murray Jones, John Mebberson, Annette Jones, Kaye Smith, Christine Hill, Judy Bourke, Paul Tuckerman, Ken Clunas, Ross Dearden, Susannah Cavill, Angela Penhallow, John Penhallow, Mary Durrance, Neil Walker, Cathy Bloch, Stephen Le Bas, Elliot Stein, Karine Shellshear, Trent Jansen, Kristen McDonald, Jeremy Park, Michelle Auckland, Marcus Auckland, Matthew Bennett
 
APOLOGIES: Linda Cortie, Stephen Young, Nigel Puckeridge, Louise Wellington, Glenn Durrance, Barbara Mebberson, Kristen McDonald, Martin Gorrick, Tony Horneman.
 
Meeting opened at 4.35 pm.
 
Welcome by TVC President, Ray Smith
 
Minutes of last meeting on 10 July were accepted.  Moved – Paul Tuckerman; Seconded – Chris Hill

President report

• Update on restoration of Amy monument  

Ray held discussions with Steve Maidment, Recreation and Open Space Project Officer, Wollongong City Council (WCC). It was noted that the relocation of the monument was not included in the Draft Infrastructure Delivery Program, but Council believes there is sufficient money to remove and refurbish the memorial in this budget allocation, with a business proposal being collated for consideration to relocate the memorial at the agreed location, near the playground.
ACTION: Council will continue to communicate with the TVC on the progress of the proposal and look forward to seeing the relocation plan come to fruition

• Update on tint for mural near St Michael's school

John Dalla Pozza did an excellent job in painting over the graffiti on the mural near St Michael’s Church whilst leaving the original artwork. The tint is slightly darker due to the age of paint. Some of the art work has been lost due to graffiti damage and some aspects being covered previously, possibly due to the irreverent nature of the small monsters and goblin like caricatures.  The local artist Christine Hill will continue to investigate and try and replicate the original mural. Once completed there is a special clear coating you can cover the mural with that will allow easy removal of graffiti without destroying the mural.  
ACTION: Christine to continue to investigate the mural with the view of repairing it, as best possible, to its original condition. Thereafter it is intended that a protective shield will be applied to the mural. 

• Letter to Ryan Park re E-bikes and E-Scooters

This letter has not been completed as yet. If anyone has any suggestions for what to include in the letter, please email the TVC.
ACTION: Email the TVC with concerns or issues relating to E-bikes and E-scooters so the letter can be sent to Ryan Park.

Secretary’s Report

• Occupation of Jackson Park

Most people are in no doubt aware of the man who has taken up residence in Jackson Park. Over time he has acquired more possessions and his reach around the park has extended. Several complaints relating to abusive behaviour and petty theft were sent to Murray who then wrote to the Lord Mayor and Councillors outlining concerns. Council contacted Murray and advised of their humane course of action involving people from the Homeless Hub and Police.  The problem is, he is not doing anything illegal so not much can be done. Council staff, Police and members of the Homeless Hub have persisted. However, he has turned down the offers of accommodation. It was agreed that some of the excess rubbish would be removed, but this is yet to happen.

ACTION: The matter will continue to be monitored and if any concerns arise Council will be contacted. If any members have anything to report please email the TVC.

• WCC Heritage committee membership invitation

WCC is seeking applications for membership of the Wollongong Heritage Reference Group. Previously a TVC Executive member, Martin Gorrick was on this Heritage Committee but is unable to continue this year due to work commitments. The Reference Group provides advice to Council on policy matters relating to the conservation and promotion of Wollongong's natural and cultural heritage. Individual residents with an interest, expertise, knowledge or background in Wollongong's Heritage are invited to express an interest in joining the committee.
 
Members will be required to attend quarterly meetings. The following meeting dates for 2022/23 have been scheduled:

1. 20th October 2022   
2. 1st December 2022  
3. 16th February 2023  
4. 18th May 2023 

 
If anyone has an interest in joining the committee and wants to find out more, please go to Council’s website:
https://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/your-council/committees-and-groups/wollongong-heritage-reference-group
 
To apply as a member please fill out the online application form and submit via the following link:
https://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/whats-on/news-and-alerts/public-notices/public-notices/join-the-wollongong-heritage-reference-group
ACTION: If interested in joining the Heritage Committee please refer to information on the WCC website.

•   Panmills Drive/Amy Street - going to the Land and Environment Court (LEC)

In January the owner of Lot 101 Amy Street Thirroul (otherwise known as Ray Hannah land) submitted a Development Application (DA) to subdivide Lot 101 into 3 Torrens title lots, including construction of Wilkies Street East and modification to the existing pedestrian walkway off Panmills Drive. At the invitation of the land owner a meeting was held with representatives of the TVC and NIRAG. An alternate configuration that would keep the existing walkway/cycleway was discussed at that meeting.
Neighbours in attendance at the TVC meeting stated that they offered the land owner money to buy the land off him. However, he declined this offer. This DA is causing significant concern in the close-knit community.
It was suggested that neighbours contact Council to see where the matter is at and what they can do. Details of a Council contact will be provided to ensure that local residents can address the LEC and articulate their concerns.
ACTION: Annette to provide details of WCC’s Legal Counsel to residents.  

• Skate Park update - discussions with Kingpin and others

Murray followed up this matter with Rosman, Kingpin Skateboard shop and others involved in the previous push for a skate park. Most were no longer associated with the area thus not interested in taking the matter further. The question of location of a skate park in Thirroul was also raised, but most available land has now been developed. A potential space is the Tennis Courts on the western side of Thomas Gibson Park.
Money for planning and design is allocated in the Draft Infrastructure Delivery Program 2022-23 and 2023-24. Construction is not scheduled to commence until 2024-2025.  Murray will continue to reform an action group.

ACTION: If anyone has ideas about a good location or design, please forward these onto Council or the TVC.

Treasurer’s report 

•  Money running low

Current balance is $2,689.77. The peak was in 2018 when the TVC had $4,000 mainly due to a big injection of funds at this time. There is an ongoing cost of $400 to $600 per year for the website. So, there is a need to increase the coffers.

• Current and possible fundraising

Options:

• Apply for grant funding – most are for refurbishment of a building. TVC can’t apply for this.
• Use to get money from local businesses for graffiti removal. This declined during the height of the pandemic. Maybe able to reinstate this given the increase in tagging of late.
• Have had discussions with local business people. It was suggested we could place job ads on our Facebook page and charge for this.
• Hold a BBQ for the UCI race on the weekend of 24-25 September. Decided against this so as not to impact on local businesses. Alternative - hold a BBQ at Bunnings.
• During the celebration of TRIPS Hall collect donations for the TVC.
• Maybe start a “Go Fund Me” page.

ACTION: Options need to be discussed further by the Executive. Any other ideas please email the TVC.

DA report

• 92-94 Princes Highway (Bulli Pass) - approved for 5 units

A DA was submitted for a 6-unit development about 80 metres down from the start of the Jersey Barriers on the southern side of Bulli Pass. The DA was previously refused by the Wollongong Local Planning Panel for numerous reasons, one of which included that the proposal failed to demonstrate consistency with State Environmental Planning Policy in relation to Infrastructure. This was based upon 

the developer’s suggestion of construction of a cul-de-sac in Bangalow Road to resolve traffic impacts on Bulli Pass resulting from this development. The owners decided to go to the LEC. Following further amendments to the proposal, by agreement, the LEC granted consent to the DA. The final approved plan set incorporates the following changes to the proposal:
 
•             No road works in Bangalow Road.
•             A reduction in the number of dwellings from 6 to 5;
•             Redesign of the dwellings to remove all tandem (‘stacked’) garage carparking;
•             An increase in the area of landscaping across the front elevation;
•             An increase in the side boundary setback to the west; and
•             An increase in the size of the internal bin storage area.
 
A copy of the judgement and conditions consent can be viewed at the address below:
https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/1818883f6ba811524b63330f

• No of DAs approved by Private Certifiers v's Council approved

A GIPA (Government Information Public Access) request was submitted to WCC for statistics relating to DAs submitted to Council and those to a Private Certifier (Complying Development Consent) for the financial year 2021-2022. The following information was received:
DAs submitted to Council:

Complying Development Consent (CDC)

The percentage approved via Council and CDCs are similar. However, it appears of late that there has been an increase in CDC approvals and a decline in DAs listed on WCC website. At time of the meeting there were only 5 DAs registered on line with Council. It is difficult to extract CDCs as they are only available via the   

NSW Planning Portal, which is extremely difficult to negotiate. For those interested here is the link:
https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/opendata/dataset/online-cdc-data-api
ACTION: We will continue to try and extract the data from the NSW Planning Portal.

• Thirroul Plaza update

No information has been received as yet in relation to the Plaza. It is still under consideration of the LEC. The outcome will either be an approval or a refusal. Approval will likely come with conditions, but they cannot be anything that is significantly different to the original proposal (e.g., floor space of the Coles, number of units, etc). Appeals in both cases (regarding either an approval or a refusal) can only be made if there is an error of law. That is, if there was a mistake made during the hearing or some information was wrong. This is called a “56A Appeal”. If a 56A Appeal proceeds, it is the case that it often goes back to the original decision being re-made. The Minister for Planning has no authority to make any determination in relation to the application. We await the LEC determination.

Graffiti Report (Tony was on UCI duties so the report was added after the meeting)
Data relating to reported graffiti attacks was received from WCC and filtered for reports from Thirroul. This showed around 55 reported attacked since January 2021. The list is long so some may have been missed. This demonstrates that WCC is recording attacks so we need to encourage people to keep reporting so WCC can identify the ‘hot-spots’.
 
ACTION: Continue to report any graffiti attacks to Council.  

Garden report
WCC staff have not been able to work on the gardens as late as they have been busy preparing for the UCI. The garden committee received some mulch for ‘Grannies Garden’. The weeds are being cleared and once ready there will be a call out for members to assist spread the mulch. An email will be sent to the TVC advising when assistance is required.

  Jackson Park is a big issue as it is no longer possible to go in and work on the gardens. In fact, the garden beds are slowly being trampled. Council is investigating installing a vandal proof tap. This will mean that only selected people will have a tap key to open the tap.
State Rail removed the lantana close to the railway line along Sea Foam Avenue up to the Men’s Shed.
ACTION: An email will be sent to the TVC advising when assistance is required to distribute the mulch around Grannies Garden. A call out for member’s assistance will then be made.

General Business
                                Update on UCI event
Do not park on Lawrence Hargrave Drive on the weekend of 24^th – 25^th September.
Saturday is the Women’s Elite Road Race which starts from Helensburgh at 12.25 pm. So should be in Thirroul before 1pm.
Sunday is the Men’s Elite Road Race which starts in Helensburgh at 10.15am and should be in Thirroul around 10.40 am.

Business on notice

Electrify 2515 presentation - 30 min
Representatives from Electrify 2515 gave a presentation to members. They are a small group of volunteers and started around a year ago. They are working alongside Saul Griffith, an Australian-American inventor and renewable electricity advocate.  
Electrify 2515 is a pilot project to electrify the whole postcode and a unique opportunity for households to take part in a pilot project to electrify a whole community.
Rewiring Australia wants to subsidise and support at least 500 households in a single community to go electric in six important ways and it is hoped that 2515 could be that community. Rewiring Australia says it wants to select a pilot community in the first quarter of next year and begin rollout in mid-2023. It states 500 households is the minimum number required to demonstrate the technical and social viability of the program. So far, this target has been achieved as around  

1,000 households have signed up – around 1 in 4 local households.
Funding for this and other pilots is being sought through collaboration with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), State Governments and industry.
There are 6 simple things households and businesses can do to reduce emissions:

1. Use heat pumps for water heating
2. Use air conditioning rather than gas for space heating
3. Convert to electric stove tops rather than using gas for cooking
4. When purchasing a new car consider purchasing an Electric Vehicle – cost 1 to 2 cents per kilometre
5. Install roof top solar
6. Consider purchasing a battery to store solar energy which can be used when the sun goes down.

The group is looking at what can be done for renters and those living in strata accommodation. Also, looking at a community battery.  Early days yet.
To find out more and register your interest go to the website -  https://electrify2515.org/.
Meeting finished at 6.15pm.

Next TVC meeting – Sunday 27^th November at 4.00pm