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.