Three working days before Christmas Manly Council has released its independent reports in relation to the feasibility of their Manly 2015 multi-million dollar Plan. At its core, the Plan features the demolition of the Whistler Street car park and Manly Library, and the construction of a car park under Manly Oval. The Oval car park planl has been particularly controversial with the Manly Chamber of Commerce and all resident precinct groups raising concerns about the financial viability of the proposal. Below are a copy of the Traffic Demand Study for the Oval Car Park, the Economic Retail Study, and the final report from KPMG which is based on information provided from the studies and Manly Council. Good for Manly's team of financial experts are reviewing the reports and we hope to have an assessment soon. In the meantime, it is of concern that Manly Council plans to submit its Capital Expenditure report to the Division of Local Government in January to proceed with the project before the elected Council members have had an opportunity to meet and discuss the findings. (The next Council meeting is 10 February 2014). You can view Manly Council's assessment of the reports here.
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Breaking News: Update The $15m upgrade of Manly 'Boy Charlton' Swim Centre has now been approved by the Joint Regional Planning Panel (18/12/13) who previously raised concerns about the traffic & parking plans for the Centre. Some conditions have been applied to address the traffic and parking issues raised including the provision of a footpath on the northern side of the road. Many locals are still concerned that the road is too busy to accommodate the angle parking proposed. (See video demonstration above). The traffic report indicated that an average of 1012 vehicles currently use Kenneth Road. Many of these are school buses and commercial vehicles, which, with the width of the road at 13m is simply not wide enough to provide safe 30 degree angle parking on the southern side and parallel parking on the northern side . We believe that the proposed provision of traffic calming and reduced speed limit to 50km will only agitate, not solve, the issue.
The Mayor, Cr Jean Hay used her weekly newspaper column (Dec 14) to vow to "right the appalling decision made by the last Council to buy No 40 Stuart Street". Number 40, along with Nos 34 and 36 Stuart St which were bought years ago, was purchased as part of a 40-year vision to increase public land at Little Manly beach - a secluded Sydney Harbour jewel. But Cr Hay says No 40 cost too much - $4.25 million - which the council had to borrow, creating the "huge financial burden" of paying off $500,000 per year for the next ten years. In fact that's exactly what Monday's vote was all about. Public fury and the Land and Environment Court had stopped the council's Liberal block from selling public waterfront at No 34 and 36 to pay for No 40. So attention could finally turn to funding the purchase in another way. The business plan included - raising the timber house at No 34 and using the space underneath for a paid dinghy and kayak lock- up facility; using the house as the new home of the Manly Environment Centre, thus saving $75,000 per annum in rental on the centre's existing premises; and delaying the demolition of the house at No 40, meaning the council could continue to receive rent from the property. Changing the council's loan on No 40 to interest-only repayments was also considered but is not likely to be adopted as it more than doubles the cost of the loan - from $1.1 million in total interest to $2.7 million. Increasing Manly's Environment Levy by 50 cents per rateable property per week was also under consideration but does not seem a likely option. An immediate improvement to public land at Little Manly was on the cards as No 36, the smallest property, has been deemed for demolishion for some time, and the land landscaped for public use and additional outdoor boat storage. The council is to consider the business plan seriously at a strategic workshop in February 2014. Let us know here what you would like to see happen with the Stuart St properties. It's been a long, determined campaign by the Save Little Manly Foreshore Group but finally they have won! Little Manly foreshore will stay in public hands, as it should. This week Manly Council finally abandoned its plan to sell off precious public land at Nos 34 and 36 Stuart St. It's a shame it took months of community opposition and a defeat in the Land and Environment Court to persuade Manly's Liberal councillors not to sell off our waterfront. And it's a pity the Liberals wasted $200,000 of our money in court costs - especially when their argument for selling the properties was that they needed the money. The two properties are next to the only harbour boat ramp in the area and are loved by kayakers, canoeists, windsurfers and scuba divers, as well as boaties. The blocks were initially bought as part of a 40-year vision to increase open space at Little Manly beach, one of our harbourside gems. So the council's February decision to rezone the land to residential so they could sell it off, enraged the Manly community and galvanised opposition to the council's Liberal voting block. Mayor Jean Hay's line that the two blocks needed to be sold to finance council's recent purchase of No 40 Stuart St, was never credible. Until its knockback in the Land and Environment Court, the council hadn't seriously explored other ways to fund the new purchase, - such as making better financial use of its existing Stuart St properties or using "Section 94" development contribution funds, some of which are required by law to be used for this exact thing - open space acquisition. As well the council has no problem spending money elsewhere - it's planning a $16 million swim centre upgrade, and a lavish $80 million revamp to Manly's CBD including a $40 million car park under Manly oval. Both these issues have also been very controversial. On Monday (9th December 2013) the council rescinded its decision to rezone Nos 34 and 36. That means the two blocks stay zoned as community open space. Finally! No 38, the only property the council does not own in the Little Manly block, is still slated to be rezoned as residential. While some councillors and Save Little Manly Foreshore supporters are concerned about No 38 being rezoned to residential, Good for Manly believes the main battle has been won. Good For Manly councillor Candy Bingham congratulates all the Manly residents who fought to keep the land in public hands, particularly the Save LIttle Manly Foreshore group, and formally acknowledges the major job undertaken by Cr Barbara Aird who fought for the vision for years at Manly Council. A circling shark fin is every swimmer's worst nightmare, and the recent death of surfer Zac Young near Coffs Harbour has refocused our emotions on the danger that lurks beneath. But are we really at risk? And if we are, do shark nets - our current shark prevention strategy - actually work? Shark meshing off Sydney's beaches was introduced in 1937 following a series of fatal shark attacks, including several on the Northern Peninsula. Most people think the nets are to stop sharks reaching popular beaches, but that's not true. The nets are there to kill sharks - specifically big (two metre long) sharks. Not only is this a controversial practice at a time when we are trying to protect Australia's declining shark population, but the nets kills a huge number of other marine creatures as well. Late last month, a whale calf drowned after it became entangled in a shark net off Mona Vale Beach. And so far this season, six whales have been caught, and luckily rescued, from shark nets off Queensland. Added up over several years, the carnage is sickening. Over the last 20 years almost 4000 sea creatures have been caught in shark nets off the NSW coast alone. Of these, less than 150 were "target" species - great white or tiger sharks. A massive 96 per cent of deaths were "bycatch" - giving a total of 3795 dead dolphins, turtles, whales, seals, stingrays, penguins, dugongs and harmless sharks. In a further irony it's reported that 35 - 50 per cent of sharks caught in the nets are on the beach side. However the meshing program, which is run by the NSW Department of Primary Industries, has plenty of defenders. Most point to the fact that there has only been one fatal shark attack in the meshed area, which includes beaches from Newcastle to Wollongong, since the program began. And that's despite the huge popularity of our part of the coast, which is enjoyed by 2 million people every summer season. But Dave Thomas, founder of local conservation group Eco Divers, isn't buying. "The risk of having a shark encounter is infinitesimally small," he said. "There are five fatalities in the world per year. There are a lot of things that will get you before that - hippos, vending machines, coconuts." Mr Thomas says the nets, which are 150m long, six metres high and sit in 10-12m of water, are by no good as a barrier as sharks can swim around or over them. What the nets do do well, is act as "indiscriminate killers of everything". He has the support of Surf Life Saving NSW which, along with marine ecologists and environmental and animal welfare groups, is calling for more research into alternative shark protection measures. Ideas already on the table include radio signals, sonar technology, electric nets and swimmer education. There's no debate that swimmers should avoid swimming at dusk, dawn or in murky water. They should also stay out of the water when schools of bait fish are about, to avoid being accidentally bitten by a shark in a "feeding frenzy". As well, shark nets were introduced in an era when our coastal waters were often dirty and sometimes contaminated with offal and blood, which meatworks used to dispose of in public waterways. The situation is so different now, surely our swimmer safety approach should change too. Good For Manly supports research into alternatives to shark meshing. In the meantime we believe the shark mesh season should be shortened. The nets are currently in place between September 1 and April 30, which overlaps the whale migration season from late April to November. This is our debate. There are shark nets off Queenscliff, North Steyne and Manly. Let us know what you think. Help us take a fair shark net proposal to Manly Council early next year. Manly Council has knocked back a chance to resolve financial worries over its proposed oval car park. Today the council rejected a motion by Good For Manly councillor Candy Bingham to commission a realistic "revenue generating" forecast. Cr Bingham proposed that financial services company KPMG prepare a "sensitivity analysis" on the financial return from the car park based on 75 per cent concessional (free) usage. Cr Bingham said previous KPMG modelling had used the figure of 50 per cent use of free car parking, although the council's own surveys show free use actually accounts for 75 per cent of car park visits, as drivers take advantage of Manly's "two hour free parking" rule. Councillors opposing the motion said the council had already asked for financial forecasts on the project. But when General Manager Henry Wong was specifically asked if the 75 per cent figure would be used, he could only reply that he "would expect this would happen". As none of the councillors have seen the brief provided to the analysts preparing reports, we can only speculate on what they have actually been asked to review. According to Many Council's Manly2015 Bulletin dated 12th December, 2013 the following studies are underway: Study Timeline 1. Village Centre Development Mix Study Mid November 2013 2. Retail Centre Study Mid November 2013 3. Parking Demand Study Mid November 2013 4. Independent Due Diligence Advice late December 2013 5. Lodgement of CapEx to DLG January 2014 (Division of Local Government) 6. Lodgement of DA to JRPP March 2014 (Joint Regional Planning Panel) 7. Tender for Oval Car park May/June 2014 The fast pace and timing of this project is alarming with all major reports due over the Christmas holiday season. Mayor Jean Hay tried to criticize Cr Bingham during debate on the motion saying, "This is the 13th occasion you have brought concerns regarding this project to Council". But actually the council should be listening to the concerns raised not only by Cr Bingham and Good for Manly, but all nine of the resident precinct groups, the Chamber of Commerce and four of Manly's most prominent property owners. As the Liberal councillors keep reminding us - "let's see what the independent studies show". One would wonder however, if it was truly necessary to commission these very expensive reports when it would appear that the project is flawed. Council has spend $177,000 in the last financial year alone on consultants for Manly2015, and that was before all these reports were commissioned. |
AuthorCandy Bingham, Deputy Mayor & Manly Ward Councillor on Northern Beaches Council. Background in marketing, public relations and community engagement. Author of five business books. Former Lady Mayoress of Sydney. Aka Candy Tymson. ........................................
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