Minutes of the Annual General Meeting at Erskineville Town Hall 7 December 2011 7.30pm

Meeting opens at 7.30pm

Present:
Brett Mason
Paul Howard
Paul Hatton
Amalina Wallace
Zio Ledeux
Lesley Clarke
Andrew Marshall
....

Brett Mason opens meeting.
A list of achievements for the year was read out. This included work on keeping the supermarket to scale, Ashmore Estate, parking, assistance to small groups and Alexandria residents.
Projects for next year were noted.
Thanks were given to people who have contributed to projects throughout the year.
The balance of the bank account was noted ($496) and the major item of expenditure (t-shirts for Erko Beserko).


Election of Office Bearers
The following positions were opened for election.
President: Mike Hatton, nominated by Brett Mason, seconded by Paul Howard; elected
Vice President: no nominations received
Treasurer: Zio Ledeux, nominated by Brett Mason, seconded by Paul Howard; elected
Secretary: Alistair Moir: nominated by Brett Mason, seconded by Paul Howard; elected
Communications: Catherine Bass, nominated by Brett Mason, seconded by Paul Howard; elected
Traffic Sub-Committee: Paul Howard, nominated by Paul Howard, seconded by Brett Mason; elected; Tim Hiley, nominated by Brett Mason, seconded by Paul Howard; elected; Gretchen xxx, nominated by Brett Mason, seconded by Paul Howard
Coal Seam Gas Sub-Committee: Zio Ledeux, nominated by Brett Mason, seconded by Paul Howard; elected
Ashmore Estate Sub-Committee: Andrew Marshall (lead), nominated by Brett Mason, seconded by Paul Howard; elected
Database: Paul Howard, nominated by Paul Howard, seconded by Brett Mason; elected
Community Garden: Julie Moffat, nominated by Julie Moffat seconded by Paul Howard; elected
Website: Adam Lee, nominated by Adam Lee, seconded by Paul Howard; elected
Newsletter: Lesley Clarke; by Paul Howard, seconded by Brett Mason; elected

The meeting chair was handed over to Paul Hatton.

Paul Hatton introduced himself and gave his views and plans for activities over the coming year.

Discussion of issues opened.

Ashmore Estate
It was noted that the Leighton plans largely fall in Council planning. The main concerns for Sydney Park Village are traffic management, creation of rat runs, parking provision (shortfall in off-street parking) and height. The DA for clearing and decontamination is coming for consideration by Christmas, the display suits by April and construction to begin by July.
All trees have been recommended for removal, even though they are protected, they will be removed anyway.
The sub-committee for Ashmore will be sent the contact details for Council planning. Another group for just two streets has been formed. Contact will be made with them and they will be invited to the next meeting.

Traffic
Paul Howard advised that there was still no response from Council. The email is to be printed and mailed as they

Other Matters
1. Technology Park – deferred until after Christmas.
2. A letter of thanks will be sent to the school by Brett Mason.

The meeting closed at 9:30PM.

9 th Meeting of Friends of Erskineville Committee
Meeting opens at 7.30pm
Present:
Brett Mason
Zio Ledeux
Amalina Wallace
Penny Hardy
Anna Brainowski
David Aitken
Anne Eastman
John Ferguson
Maggie Aitken
Frances Aitken
Julie Moffat
Paul Howard
Hal Alexander
Russ Hermann
James Smith
Jan mercer
Wendy Bacon 
Apologies:
Alistair Moir
Lynn Schmidt
 
1          Film: Saving the Erskineville Estate 2002; Thursday 14 April
 
Film maker Russ Herman and Erskineville Estate resident Hal Alexander spoke and distributed a leaflet about a showing of the film “Saving Erskineville Estate” next Thursday 14 April at 6.30, at the Erskineville Bowling Club. Hal said it was a popular people’s struggle and that the
main factor that caused the success of the campaign was the unity between tenants of the estate and local residents.
 
2          Ashmore Estate Development – Mitchell Rd 
Information about the Ashmore Estate proposal raised by Friends of Erskineville at the Public Meeting on 29th March 11 is at Attachment A.
·There is a new government and the new premier has publicly expressed his determination to improve development issues in NSW.  The controversial Part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (which gave the previous Minister the power to override planning laws) was abolished yesterday. A key issue - why is it possible for the developer (Goodman) to get a plan approved that doesn’t meet planning processes?

• Brett M has been liaising on behalf of FOE with the office of the new Minister for Planning Brad Hazzard towards a proposed meeting to discuss the development.

• Brett has sent out some media releases about the proposed development to 2GB, the Sydney Morning Herald and radio 702 Sydney, and has given some media interviews. There will be an article in the Inner West Courier next week. 

• ACTIONS:

• Brett will circulate the press release to the FOE mailing list.

• Residents who live near the proposed development are asked to attend a photo shoot with the Inner West Courier this Friday 9 April at 8.30 am at the corner of Ashmore St and Mitchell Rd.

• Wendy B volunteered to write a draft letter to Clover Moore to ask how the approval of the development plan came about;  to refer to a letter which showed the Council was informed of the development in June 2010; and to request a review of the previous planning decision, and  that the plan go back to Council for reconsideration.

• Wendy will get the contact for journalist Matthew Moore so FOE can email him articles and information directly. 

• Frances suggested getting GetUp involved in the campaign. It was suggested that information about the Coal Seam Gas drilling be included, and the issue be presented as the first test for Barry O’Farrell’s commitment to improved planning processes and community consultation. 

• Anna B said advice from John Mant is to move quickly, get a message in early re the development coming as a back door deal from a corrupt, discredited government, and for FOE not to be portrayed as NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard). There is a need to frame a careful approach for the media. (“Barry’s First Test”) 

• ACTIONS:

• James, Anna, Amalina and Brett formed a communications team to write letters, media releases and talking points on the issued.

• Anna will contact Malcolm Knox, Sydney Morning Herald journalist.

• David A raised concerns that planning changes to Floor Space Ratio (FSR) will facilitate development. David will send his submission and a copy of a letter on the changes to FOE.

• David will contact Nick Fox, photographer, to assist with an image. Beautiful image of Sydney Park, blighted by diagram of building.

• Wendy B has written an article about the development for New matildas, and will email it to FOE for distribution to the list.

• As many locals are still unaware of the situation, a letterbox drop was organised, Paul H, Zio and Francis will co-ordinate.

• The leaflet will be updated and will include information about Coal Seam Gas mining (CSG). 

• David A said that Sydney Council does not operate with a ward system, and so councillors are not responsible for particular areas of the council, and locals don’t have a councillor who is responsible for their area.  This structure effectively leaves residents without specific representation. 

3          New DA for Hive supermarket site 
Sydney Council’s Planning Committee will meet on 9 May to reconsider the Development Application for the supermarket and additional 20 units. FOE has raised concerns that the design has been changed so much that it needs to be resubmitted as a new application. This would be a good development as it could give the opportunity to challenge the supermarket again.
Paul H will organise speakers from FOE for the meeting. 
4          Membership drive and fundraising
This item was deferred until the next meeting. One new membership fee and $20 in donations were received at the meeting. 
5          Establishment of FOE committee
Paul proposed that Amalina W become Correspondence Secretary. Jan M seconded, all agreed. 
6          Update on:

 

1. Traffic Survey Report

 

2. Car share Scheme

 

3. Community Garden and Baldwin Street Proposal

 

4. Green Bans Park

 

5. Energy Australia works – poor restoration of streets, paths 

These issues deferred. Letter drafted for Energy Australia issue, will be sent on Alistair’s return. 
The meeting was closed at 9.30pm
Attachment A
The owner of the Ashmore Estate has presented plans for 60 Metre towers as part of the redevelopment of the Ashmore Estate Business Park on Mitchell Rd and Ashmore St.
 
Issues raised by Friends of Erskineville at Public Meeting 29th March 11
 
Highly increased density over Councils Control Plan for the site.
SCC has a Floor Space Ratio (FSR) in their DCP of 1.75:1 for the Ashmore Estate site. Goodmans are seeking an increase to 2.75:1.
To help put this into context, the Motto development has an FSR of 1.37:1. The ACI/Meriton site on Bourke St/Danks St is 2.5:1.
 
A village of Tower Blocks
 
To achieve their proposed density, Goodman want to include in their plans, 60 Metre tower blocks, accommodating between 17-24 storeys. These buildings would be taller than the towers opposite Sydney Park, along Sydney Park Rd. The limit Council wants to see on the site is 9 floors, across 2-3 towers located centrally on the site. There’s no guarantee of ‘tower creep’ once the development application is prepared, with the caveats of ‘If you let us do this, we’ll do that for you’.
 
Poor quality design
Goodman have used a storey height of 2.7M, providing for a ceiling height of approximately 2.4M. Sydney City Councils DCP lays down for a 3M storey height.
 
Overshadowing
Towers of this size will create significant overshadowing across Mitchell Rd, Belmont St and other surrounding streets and lower level parts of existing and planned developments in the precinct.
 
Traffic & Parking
Residents around the Coulson, Eve, Macdonald and Mitchell Streets can expect to have a significant growth in the level of traffic flowing through Mitchell Rd because of the increase in density and those residents needing to access and egress the precinct.
In addition, an increased impact on parking pressures as it is unlikely there will be anywhere near enough parking opportunities for the tenants of the planned development. For instance, Sydney City Council parking allocation policy works on a MAXIMUM of spots per total residential capacity.
There is also likely to be an increased volume of traffic along Ashmore St, as it becomes an access point to parts of the development, impacting on the bottleneck issues around Mitchell Rd and Copeland/Swanson St’s.
Particularly as it is likely to be the access point for any retail infrastructure placed on the site, like supermarkets.
The proposed bike path along Ashmore St is likely to further reduce parking capacity which also has regular additional pressure from sporting events held at Erskineville Oval.
Opening Macdonald St into the development is also likely to re-generate a level  of traffic in the lower streets of Erskineville, which were purposely isolated from through traffic some years ago.
 
Public transport
Rail journeys on the lines through Erskineville and St Peters are already under pressure, with not much chance of increased capacity on those lines and up to now, no commitment to stop the Cronulla/Bondi Junction train at either station, which could provide an additional capacity to the CBD and up to Bondi Junction.
Unlikely to see new or additional bus services come into the area, the current 355 route is almost as fast as walking to Bondi Junction.
 
Loss of sight lines
The towers will create a huge visual block from Sydney Park through the rest of the suburb and on to the city, which goes toward disengaging the park from the rest of the community.
The Draft DCP requires the panoramic views from the eastern & western knolls of Sydney Park to the Central Sydney skyline are maintained.
 
Loss of scale
We choose to live Erskineville for many different reasons, but one for many is the sense of human scale to the built environment. With 60 Metres the tallest and who knows the lowest, this development creates a level of height and density not in keeping with the local built environment. It’s more in scale with a CBD environment, of which has no relation to a residential suburb.
The Draft DCP requires a mix of building types that respond to the area’s context.
 
How Green will it be?
They can say they will build rooftop gardens, green walls and make the whole development look like one big topiary maze. There are absolutely no rules to ensure the finished buildings are completed with these sorts of design features.
How much open garden space will be sacrificed for additional structures relating to the buildings?
 
What is their long term commitment to the area?
Are they going to build it?
Will they get the City Plan approved and sell the site to a developer to build it. Think of one who has a poor track record with quality and low density.
Whichever developer takes the project on is likely to attempt to stretch the limitations of the Control Plan in order for them to maximise their profit, which will see us going through a similar process to the one we’re going through now.  

Seventh Meeting of Friends of Erskineville Committee
Meeting opens at 7.30pm
Present:
Brett Mason
Paul Howard
Alastair Moir
Julie Moffet
Doug Cairns
Lyn Schmidt
Amalina Wallace
Zio Ledeux
Penny Hardy
Tony Ryan
Tim Riley
Catherine Bass
Ben Thow 
Apologies:
Keith Kibble
Grecian Miller
 Brett Mason opens meeting. 
Community Garden
In response to the Council claiming the unsuitability of the site for a community garden, Julie felt it politic to lie low for a while in the expectation that by not drawing attention to the issue it will continue to stay in public ownership by default. Their seems to be no support for a garden amongst Councillors. The general consensus though is that we should keep chipping away at Council on the issue. Julie will draft another letter challenging the points in Councils letter. 
Traffic and Parking
There was discussion again about parking. This time the Rochford/Prospect area has been targeted for residents parking. The strong feeling in the meeting is that the Council is following an ad-hoc approach to parking in Newtown/Erskineville with no discernable logic in its approach to residents parking or parking restrictions. 
We need to make our views known to Council as soon as possible. To that end Tim will put the survey data into a report format over the next weeks with the hope of having something ready for March. He noted that it needs to have an authoritative tone with a summary chapter summarizing the main points. We should also distill this material into an effective press release. 
Car Share Schemes
Once again we received an unsatisfactory response from Council to one of our letters. This time our list of queries re the car sharing scheme failed to elicit any useful answers. What is the policy towards car share companies? How do they allocate spots? None of these were answered satisfactorily. Madeleine will be asked to prepare a letter to Council in response. 
Tree Master Plan
It appears FOE are now influential enough to be asked to comment on Councils Tree Master Plan. This will be a street by street assessment. The MP will be put up on the FOE website and residents can make individual responses. FOE may draft a response. 
Play Ground on Green Bans Park
The Council has gone ahead with plans to install a childrens playground at the Green Bans Park. This is another example of Council going ahead with a scheme without proper community consultation. Local residents were notified only 2 days ahead of the project starting. In this case there may be better locations for a playground as an off leash park has now become dog free. The need for a bubbler was raised. Brett will draft up a letter to Council. 
Energy Australia Restoration Works
Energy Australia is currently upgrading the cabling in local streets. The standard of pavement and street restoration after completion is unacceptable. In some cases bollards have been removed and not replaced. Bitumen is being used to fix gutters where concrete should have been used. A letter will be drafted and sent to the contractor, Energy Australia, State authorities, Energy Minister and Councillors. This aesthetic and engineering abomination should be fixed as soon as possible. 
Draft City of Sydney Plan
Residents have received a letter inviting comments on the draft City of Sydney Plan. We should lobby Council to hold a public meeting to explain what they are doing. If this happens FOE will promote it. We also need to study the plan and evaluate its implications. 
Hive Site – New DA
The developer responsible for the last 2 DA proposals for the site (Harold Finger) has returned with a new DA. This time the supermarket is joined by 20 apartments in a much enlarged development. The same issues that were objectionable previously are still in place. FOE has engaged an independent town planner to look closely at the SEE and report back to ascertain wether there are grounds to object. If there are, we will arrange a public meeting to inform Erskineville residents of the  situation at which the planner will speak. 
Other Matters

 

1. Pyrmont Community Group meeting: an invitation to attend will be taken up. They are keen to get our take on matters of mutual interest.

 

2. Barangaroo:  Marcell Hoff has written to FOE to update us on where the Hands Off Our Harbour organization is at. They are currently organizing to oppose the Barangaroo development proposal in its current form. We will put up the link to their website on FOE website.

 

3. Turtle Lane DA: 5 Townhouses + 2 other buildings have been proposed for

this site on Turtle Lane. Doug Cairns and fellow local residents are organizing an objection and are looking for advice on how to approach it. FOE recommended talking directly to Councillors as soon as possible to make them aware of concerns. It was suggested that a strategy for residents to organize objections to DA’s be written and posted on FOE website as a step by step guide.

 

4. Gas Mining at Sydney Park: The controversial method to extract gas (fraccing) is being mooted for the inner west. A test bore has been set-up in Sydney Park. Local activists are running an American documentary called Gasland on this process to gather support around objecting to this mining method.

 

5. Community Grants: Are we an appropriate group to be lobbying for grants? Brett will look at successful grant applications in the past and see if we could fit something around an application.

 

6. No Dogs Allowed: A resident of Burren St wrote to FOE expressing concerns about the lack of proper signage indicating restrictions on dogs – particularly near playgrounds. Their was general sympathy for her position but FOE felt that she needed to work at getting support and FOE could advise her on strategy. Brett has written to her.

 

7. There is now an FOE poster on the notice board at Erskineville Council offices. We have a key. 

The meeting was closed at 9.20pm