11th Meeting of Friends of Erskineville Committee Meeting opens at 7.30pm Present: Brett Mason Paul Howard Alastair Moir Brett Johnson Amalina Wallace Margaret Neale Marc Nicholls John-Daniel Encel Ian Mercer David Aitken Apologies: Tim Hiley Andrew Marshall Julie Moffat Lyn Schmidt Madeleine Anderson Brett Mason opens meeting. Ashmore Estate Question arose as to wether Wendy Bacon got through to Council with her letter in regard to Council not being made aware of revised plans for the development by the architect or developer. Sydney Park Village had an AGM for the Executive Committee recently. There is a lawyer on the Committee who is checking up on legal implications of any planning matters. In contrast to what Goodmans are claiming there will be no DA until the Control Plan is signed off, and so far it remains at the submission stage. The immediate residents are overwhelmingly opposed to the proposed development in its present form. There has been no response as yet from the Minister for Planning to FOEs request for a meeting in regards to the Ashmore development and no response from Council either for a meeting with Planners. Glenys Berejiklian (Minister for Transport) has issued an invitation to attend a breakfast meeting on Transport matters. FOE sees no benefit in attending. It was agreed that a FOE sub-committee should be formed to oversee the Ashmore situation once its development gears up. Erskineville Road Supermarket Site – New DA The DA for the above application was approved by Council on 16 May despite a continued strong objection from FOE particularly around the issue of lack of parking. There were no concessions made to any of FOEs objections apart from Councils plan to proceed with a traffic and parking audit. FOE will resubmit its Traffic Survey Report to Council. There was general anger at the meeting about Councils decision, particularly that they had ordered a traffic survey to be done but had approved the DA before results of that survey would be in. A comment was made about the dysfunctional nature of the Councils Planning group – how could they recommend the DA approval when it goes so much against policy in relation to parking provision. The issue of affordable housing was used as a fig leaf to approve the DA when in no way would these units fit the criteria of affordable housing. David A raised the issue of how could they approve a plan without provision for disabled parking. Would this break Federal law – he will investigate the issue further. The May newsletter has more detail on how Councillors voted etc Ward System Brett M and Paul H will attend a meeting of various local action groups to discuss issues of common concern. There is some discussion about wether to push for a reintroduction of the Ward system. Some are even calling for breaking away from Sydney to join Marrickville Council or reinstate South Sydney. Is there support for a Ward system amongst residents and should FOE do a survey to evaluate opinion. There is general dissatisfaction with the level of engagement of Council to issues outside of the City bailiwick. We need more local representation and the Ward system would see greater focus on local issues. It was decided that we should lobby for LEP to be put on hold until issues such as Ashmore were discussed and resolved. Traffic Survey There has been a lengthy response from the Lord Mayors office to FOE in regard to our repeated questions in regard to parking and traffic. The Council has agreed to do a survey but FOE would like to meet with planners before they commence in order to agree on scope of work. Other Matters Car Share Schemes A response was received from Mayors office. Community Gardens A letter will be sent to Council in response to their offer of the Baldwin Street reserve as a site for a community garden. Play Ground on Green Bans Park No response from Council as yet to Amalina W letter to Council in regards to FOE concerns about the use of part of Green Bans Park as a playground. Energy Australia Restoration Works There has been a response from Council and AusGrid on the deplorable state of Subakettes work. Evidently the contract with Subakette obliges they restore all footpaths and affected areas to their original condition once work is completed. Play Turtle Lane The DA was approved Aleexandria Working Group Evidently workers from The Technology Park at Redfern are parking in the surrounding residential streets of Alexandria rather than the parking areas provided on site. This is causing concern along with the lack of a proper bus service through the area. City of Sydney Night Time Policy Brett M attended a community forum to gauge what ideas residents might contribute to a draft policy document which will be delivered around September to be put on exhibition in 2012. The 2 main issues raised were: Improvement of transport linking entertainment areas eg Kings Cross to Newtown (shudder!) and a better approach to licensing laws so that small operators have more leeway in regard to planning laws. Suicide Prevention Fundraiser Event at Enmore Theatre on 5 June to which members are encouraged to attend. Fracking An email has been circulated to residents asking them to join a protest meeting at the drill site when drilling starts. Council having initially supported the scheme have gone quiet on the issue sensing community disquiet. Financials and Membership A number of people joined FOE this evening. Other Matters A surveyor was observed in the Erskineville Housing Estate leading to speculation that the area may be up for redevelopment plans again. Residents are keeping a close watch as the situation develops. It was noted that a previous proposal was fiercely rejected by locals as the area is one of the more successful housing areas of its kind. The meeting was closed at 10.00pm |