Change anything to do with parking in Manly and you are likely to have a problem on your hands. The introduction of ticketless parking meters didn't disappoint this long held theory. While still struggling with the new digital meters, which replaced parking permit stickers for locals, the requirement to punch in your rego number and display a ticket caused many frustrations. Now you were faced with long queues, glare making the screen impossible to read, and some letters not registering on some meters. Just when you thought you had mastered the requirements to park on the oceanfront - the next latest technology hit. Ticketless parking meters! Now not only do you have to face longer queues, deal with the glare making the screen impossible to read but also wonder if the bl***dy thing actually worked as you don't get a ticket of proof that you have paid, or for how long. And that's just the problem - no ticket of proof as a number of locals have discovered recently when they disputed fines. At the March Council meeting the General Manager admitted there had been a few teething problems with the new system resulting in some people being incorrectly fined. If you are one of them, be sure to lodge your complaint with Manly Council and insist on a refund.
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Good For Manly Cr Candy Bingham’s motion to discuss the need for a business plan was illegally ruled “out of order” and left off the agenda at Monday’s Manly Council Meeting. And Cr Bingham’s attempt to have it discussed as a matter of urgency, was also knocked back. A packed gallery, comprising many representatives of Manly's Resident Precinct groups, expressed their outrage as the Mayor Jean Hay refused to allow the matter to be discussed. The motion, which was to examine the financial viability of the 99 year lease of the Whistler Street site and construction of a 470 space car park under Manly Oval, was prepared by residents of North Harbour Precinct. It had the support of the majority of the resident precincts and is a requirement of the Office of Local Government. "The council’s existing documentation is so out of date it was made when the car park was to hold 760 cars, not 470, as is the case now. The KPMG report also contained significant omissions, such as not taking into account the loss of the $1M a year operating profit currently made by the Whistler St Car Park," Cr Bingham explained. The need is urgent. The contracts to build the oval car park and redevelop Whistler St are expected to be awarded next month. At that point, Manly Council and its ratepayers will be locked in, with a penalty fee incurred if the newly merged Council decides to call the projects off. “It’s easy to see why people are upset,” Cr Bingham said. “While the planned 99-year lease and development of the Whistler St site will partly fund the new oval car park, the down side of that deal is that we lose convenient parking in Manly CBD and the potential for a new CBD plaza. We also lose a key site in Manly at a time when the Council is to be expanded." “The remaining cost, including any price overruns, or operating losses, will come out of the pocket of Manly businesses and rate payers.” At the end of the day, Manly CBD will lose up to 100 on-street parking spaces and gain a pitiful 40 extra spots further away. “It’s the ‘why bother’ Car Park,” Cr Bingham said. "Why are the Liberal Councillors hell-bent on pushing this through before the Council is amalgamated? It's irresponsible". The wooden footbridge at the harbour end of Clarence St is a 90-year-old reminder of a gentler time. It’s a historic structure that links North Harbour St and Wellings Reserve and it’s part of the Manly to Spit Bridge Scenic Walkway, which attracts almost 200,000 people a year. But it's future is hanging by a thread. Manly Council closed the footbridge in December after it was found to be structurally unsound. Scaffolding has been put up, but no repair work has been done. Locals are furious, saying the bridge has had no maintenance work done on it for years, despite them repeatedly asking the council to act. Now the bridge is closed "indefinitely" while the Council looks at funding options to repair, or entirely replace it. While Council GM Henry Wong has proposed replacing the bridge with a steel structure, residents say that's not the right fit for the pretty bushland spot. Manly Councillors overwhelmingly agree. When the bridge was discussed at this week's Council meeting, councillors asked Mr Wong to investigate using timber for the replacement work. We'll keep you posted. With Manly Council poised to lock in the controversial oval car park project, a group of prominent local citizens and experts has formed an alliance in a last-ditch effort to “Save Manly Oval”. The group, Save Manly Oval Alliance, is concerned that the car park project fails on financial, heritage, traffic management and environmental grounds and will deliver an overall gain of only 40 extra car spaces - at the massive cost of an estimated $1M for every new space. “Our aim is to conserve and protect for the public interest, the heritage and environmental values of Manly Oval and its surrounds in the historical context,” Alliance president Jack Steggall said. “We will fight this all the way to the Land and Environment Court if we have to”. While Manly Council describes the car park as being constructed “under” the oval, the Alliance says this is not the case. “The project would involve digging up and removing the oval along with almost 50,000 cubic metres of its natural soil and sand base. The oval would be replaced with a two-story reinforced concrete car park, with access ramps and ventilation stacks, and a raised playing field on its roof. It would be a complete environmental disaster,” Mr Steggall said. “It is impossible to believe that this proposed redevelopment will in any way retain or even approximate, the iconic status of Manly Oval, in terms of its history, heritage value, natural beauty and usability as a sports oval and recreational area,” he said. Additional concerns the Save Manly Oval Alliance have include:
The Alliance will engage professional experts to assess financial, heritage, environmental, hydrological and traffic issues arising from the oval car park proposal. Alliance members include: President: Jack Steggall - retired solicitor and longstanding Manly resident Vice President: Former Lord Mayor of Sydney and local government expert Jeremy Bingham. Secretary: Roger Freney - economist, formerly with the Commonwealth Treasury Former Manly State MP and Manly Councillor David Barr Prominent Manly businessman John Humphrey of Humphreys Newsagency and Book Centre. Former Manly Councillor and environmental advisor Dr Judy Lambert. Local Manly rugby identity and former Wallaby Bob McLean. Civil engineers David Wunder and Ian Sharp. For more information go to savemanlyoval.com.au or StopManlyOvalCarPark on Facebook. It's crunch time for drink cans and plastic bottles. Public submissions into the State Government’s container deposit scheme have recently closed. The debate has been feisty, with environment and industry groups backing totally different schemes. The “Cash for Containers” scheme, supported by environment and many community groups, is modelled on schemes used successfully in South Australia and many European countries. It involves installing 500-800 reverse vending machines across the state, which would provide a 10 cent “reward” for every empty container deposited. In South Australia, where the scheme has been in place since 1977, 80% of drink containers are recycled, and a huge number of community groups have benefited from funds raised through container collection campaigns. The alternative “Thirst for Good” model is supported by Coca-Cola Amatil and other major players in the industry. It does away with the immediate cash reward, and substitutes “an annual investment by the beverage industry in a suite of programs aimed at reducing little”. Coca Cola says the industry will contribute $15 million each year in "both financial and non-financial incentives”, but environment groups say it will be more like $1 - 2 million. Green groups, including Boomerang Alliance, Greenpeace and Clean-up, have rubbished the plan, saying it’s "a PR exercise” not a container deposit scheme. Good for Manly agrees. “The crucial part of a successful scheme is to give cash directly to the person who has brought the drink container back, as an immediate financial incentive,” Good For Manly Cllr Candy Bingham said. “That makes all the difference.” The proposals will be considered by Permier and local member Mike Baird and Environment Minister Mark Speakman, with input from an advisory committee, with the government committed to have a container deposit scheme in place by next July. The two schemes as seen by environment group Boomerang Alliance Since the 2010 Masterplan for LM Graham Reserve was adopted by Manly Council, many changes have been made. And yet, the old Plan has never been updated for public review. ,At the February Council Meeting, Clr Candy Bingham of Good For Manly, was successful in gaining agreement that the Plan be updated, but not without the usual argy-bargy.
What has become typical of Manly Council meetings, a simple suggestion that an item be updated so that the public can be keep informed, become an opportunity for the Mayor to lecture all present on the merits of the updated Plan. It was good to know that at least one Councillor knew what was happening! The current 2010 Plan on Council's website shows tennis courts (which now aren't happening due to lack of support) and do not include newly created cricket practice areas for example. Want to know what's happening? Here's a summary from Council staff:
Watch this space. The updated Plan will be posted as soon as it becomes available. Odour complaints relating to the North Head plant operation are an ongoing issue for Manly residents but the issue is much bigger than unpleasant smells The North Head Plant now serves over one million people using 45 kms of pipeline from Blacktown, and ending 3ksm out to sea - a sewerage catchment of 470 square kilometres. That puts Manly at the end of the longest ocean outfall in the world. And yet North Head Wastewater Treatment Plant doesn’t have full primary treatment - only 30% of solids are captured from the inflow to the plant - the remaining 70% of solids are discharged to the ocean. Re-usable sewerage sludge, or bio-solids, are trucked out of Manly to a disposable facility way out West. All major sewage treatment plants in Australian States other than New South Wales perform secondary or tertiary treatment before discharging solids to the ocean. The Environment Protection Authority has been asked to intervene, and work with Sydney Water to achieve pollution reduction in the treatment process with recuperative thickening at the North Head plant, a move supported by Good For Manly. (Recuperative thickening is a 1967 concept in which a portion of digested sludge is thickened and returned to the digester for further digestion. It is a cost effective way to defer major capital expenditure associated with constructing additional digester capacity.) Sydney Water identified recuperative thickening as a process operation to increase digester capacity using existing assets for very little investment. The process was implemented at North Head in 2010. However latest reports show that recuperative thickening at North Head, although not run full time due to plant limitations, has had limited impact with 2015 digester performance reported as being the same as it was in 2009, before recuperative thickening was implemented at the plant. A consultant to Sydney Water stated: "… optimal digester performance is an important aspect of odour control measures." It’s interesting that recuperative thickening at Bondi Wastewater Treatment Plant achieved significant improvements: reducing biosolids production by 22%, increasing biogas production by 20% and reducing hydrogen sulphide generation from biosolids by 80%. Clearly more needs to be done at the North Head Plant! Manly Council brokered a public meeting between Sydney Water senior managers and concerned residents in November last year. The problem of unpleasant odours from the plant was the main topic, but many other issues were raised, such as decentralisation of wastewater treatment. However it became clear that there were no plans for any significant upgrades at the North Head plant. While follow up meetings with Sydney Water are planned for this year, it’s clear that unless we keep the pressure on, nothing will change. That means minimally-treated sewage will continue to be dumped into our ocean backyard and trucks transporting biosolids will continue to emit biosolids offensive odours plus deodorant in Manly on the journey to the disposal facility. Do you think this should be allowed to continue? UPDATE: April, 2016. Following a huge backlash from the community, the Minister announced an additional proposal to go to public hearing of one Northern Beaches Council from The Spit to Palm Beach (ie Manly, Warringah & Pittwater). In the meantime existing Mayors, Councillors & General Managers have been invited to submit an 'Expression of Interest' to serve on the interim Council, and to fully support that process, even though it hasn't been announced what form that will take. The final decision is expected to be announced by proclamation by end June/mid July 2016. At this stage Council elections for the newly formed Council are expected to be held March 2017. ========================================================================================== The Boundaries Commission has announced the public hearing for the proposed Manly, Mosman and part Warringah merger for Tuesday 2nd February at Manly Golf Club. Session times are 1-5pm and 7 - 10pm. You can register to speak and/or send a submission here. (A copy of Good For Manly's submission is below). Does splitting Warringah in half make any sense? Should Mosman be merged into a "Greater Manly"? There is a huge groundswell developing against this preposterous idea with public opinion now favouring only one the Northern Beaches, if we have to amalgamate. Councils all around the State have been told they have to amalgamate - some with the most unlikely neighbors. Follow Save Our Councils Facebook page for more details. Have we been conned on the Northern Beaches? How can splitting the largest council, Warringah, in two to create two Councils of the same size make any sense for the community they are to serve? This is purely a political decision and is not in the best interests for Manly, or the Northern Beaches. Our three northern beaches councils are financially strong and serve their communities well. Why not just leave us alone and let us get on with it! If amalgamation is inevitable then one Northern Beaches Council would seem to be the preferred option by most local residents. Watch this space for details of huge public rally against forced council amalgamations to be held on Saturday 30th January, 11.30am in Strathfield.
The state government has torn up its own rulebook and ignored public opinion in its campaign to push councils together. The three northern Beaches councils - Manly, Warringah and Pittwater - and Mosman council have been forced into two. Greater Pittwater will gain the northern parts of Warringah - Duffys Forest Terrey Hills, Ingleside, Belrose, Cromer, Narrabeen, Frenchs Forest and Killarney Heights. Here in Greater Manly we gain south Warringah - Dee Why, Brookvale, Curl Curl, Freshwater, Queenscliff - and…Mosman! The rationale is that bigger councils are more “efficient”, although there’s no real evidence to prove that’s true. And while the government’s original plan to create a Greater Northern Beaches Council - Manly, Warringah and Pittwater - was not popular, at least it was geographically sensible, recognised our shared ocean beach lifestyle and complied with the “big is better” mantra. But that’s not what’s happened. A cynic would saw Premier Mike Baird has put politics first, and common sense and the northern beaches community a distant second. Overwhelming public opinion is that Greater Pittwater has been created to save the job of Pittwater MP Rob Stokes, who would have faced a huge backlash at the next state election. Warringah, which went from basket case to winner of this year’s most prestigious council award - the Bluett Award - has been split in two. To add insult to injury Mayor Michael Regan was the only Northern Beaches mayor to support the council merger plans. The cynic would say Warringah was split to block Cr Regan, an independent, from becoming the powerful new mayor of the Greater Northern Beaches. Maybe he’ll try and turn the tables and run as a local independent in the state elections or even the federal ones next year? And Mosman? The same cynic would say that’s been thrown in with Manly to bolster the Liberal vote. “I am really angry,” Good For Manly councillor Candy Bingham said. "Splitting the most successful council to create two new councils the same size just doesn't make sense. "Locals are really losing faith in our ‘local member, Mike Baird, who is supposed to be representing us, not what's best for his political party. It's a disgrace", Clr Bingham stated. Reaction on social media has been fierce. Here’s some from GFM Facebook. "Is this the most stupid decision ever?" - Darren Lewis "Worst possible result. The most capable council in the state gets carved up to save two Liberal Party strongholds. I thought The Premier was above this sort of thing." - Simon Anthony Fry "So that's how the Liberals consult with the voters?" - Linda G Silvester Manly Daily had two pages of letters - every one negative. Many were furious that politics had trumped common sense. Clive Finemore summed it up like this: “Mike Baird has caved in to the Liberal Party heavies in Manly and Pittwater… In the process he has displayed breathtaking cynicism and complete contempt for the people of the northern beaches.” Other letter writers were angry that they would now have to pay to use facilities, including their nearest beach, that their rates had maintained. And several people complained that they would now inherit Manly Councli’s swimming pool and oval car park debt. And what will happen to proposed major works, like the oval car park and Whistler St redevelopment? No one knows if there will be a freeze on major new projects, despite so many changes coming down the line. If there’s no freeze, it’s presumably business as usual until the new council elections, which are now not due until March 2017. Manly Council's last meeting of the year was business as usual for the Liberal block. They voted 5/4 to proceed to tender on both the oval car park and Whistler Street site redevelopment - after a 3 hour debate. I've never seen such a huge gallery - there were so many people they were on the landing, sitting on the floor and down the staircase. Roger Freney of North Habour precinct spoke against the motion to go to tender and did a sterling job handling a number of difficult questions with great poise. He was able to get across the community's key points and concerns. Mike Bradley from Ivanhoe Park precinct also had them sitting up in their seats (those who had seats anyway) when, as an economist, he talked about the true value of the Whistler Street site and questioned why Council was offering such a long lease (99 years). The president of the Chamber of Commerce, Drew Johnson, spoke in support of the motion. Five companies will be invited to tender to 'design & construct' the oval car park and two for the Whistler Street site. The tender period will be 12 weeks. An amendment to delay the process was lost 5/4 as was a rescission motion lodged at the end of the meeting. It was very pleasing to see the four non liberal Councillors working so hard to endeavor to delay the process, and ensure that due process was being followed. Clr Cathy Griffin referred to a new term being used by Planning Minister Rob Stokes - "wicked projects". Here's a great reference on google. Yes, it's a wicked project alright! Thank you for your support this year. We will continue to fight for what we believe is "good for Manly" in 2016, and the fight against the oval car park is not over! It's been controversial from day one: the building of a car park under Manly Oval and the removal of more than 100 car parking spaces from the streets of Manly's CBD as part of Manly Council's Manly2015 Plan to pedestrianise the area. Now Manly Council is again under fire following advice from the Enviromental Defenders Office. In addition questionable revenue and construction forecasts; changing of the original plan from a 760 space car park to a mere 500, which effectively only replaces what's existing; lack of transparency and the blatant misleading of the public and councillors in relation to approval processes has left many wondering just why this project is being pushed through on the eve of an amalgamation announcement. Nonetheless, it is expected that Council will vote to proceed to go to tender on the design and construction of a car park under Manly Oval, and the 99 year lease of the Whistler Street car park for shops and apartments, at its next Council meeting on 14th December, just weeks before the State Government is expected to announce Council amalgamations. Advice sought from the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) by Good For Manly clearly sets out the steps which need to be taken by Council before proceeding with such a tender. Many of these important steps have not been taken. For example, the current plan relies on major exit and entry tunnels in Sydney Road for access to the Oval car park, and yet the Roads & Maritime Services (RMS), the authority which controls this main road, has not been formally notified of this proposal. In a recent letter from the Acting CEO, Steven Head, he states that RMS "understood that the Council had abandoned the proposal to built a car park under Manly Oval”. In addition the Oval is part of a Crown Lands Reserve for Public Recreation which can only be used for recreational purposes. Council cannot proceed with a commercial car park unless the Minister for Lands & Water authorises the Oval to be used for the car park as an additional purpose. DA approval from the Joint Regional Planning Panel is also required. None of this has been done and yet Manly Council is poised to go to tender. "It doesn't matter which way you look at it, the Oval Car Park project stinks!" claimed Clr Candy Bingham who has been fighting the plan for the past four years, with hundreds attending public meetings and protest rallies organised by her group, Good For Manly. "The oval car park project has already been rejected by two previous Councils and this Council has been in a locked vote of 5 to 4 for most of its term. With so many questions unanswered, questionable due diligence, lack of due process and pending amalgamations it would be totally irresponsible for this Council to go to tender", she said. "It should be killed off and buried once and for all”, Clr Bingham added.
It doesn’t look like a fir tree, and you can’t wrap it with tinsel, but an underwater Christmas tree would be a great choice this holiday season. The idea comes from University of NSW scientists who are working to restore the seaweed forests that disappeared from Sydney’s coastline 30 years ago. Their plan is to crowdfund the work by inspiring people to sponsor individual “trees” that will be planted onto deforested underwater reefs. The disappearance of the once-thriving seaweed trees – crayweed (Phyllospora comosa) – is thought to be linked to the discharge of poorly treated sewage close to Sydney beaches in the 1970s and ‘80s. The Manly community led that fight with its famous POOO - People Opposed to Ocean Outfall - marches, and our water is much cleaner as a result. However, the crayweed colonies have not regrown. That’s where “Operation Crayweed” comes in. UNW scientists use fertile adult crayweed plants, which they “plant” in a biodegradable mesh attached to reefs about 2 to 3 metres down. The method has already created new, self-sustaining crayweed colonies at test sites at Cape Banks, Little Bay and Long Bay, and researchers are now ready to scale the project up and bring crayweed back to a 70km-long stretch of coastline between Palm Beach and Cronulla. It’s important because seaweeds are the “trees of our oceans, providing habitat, food and shelter for other marine organisms,” said UNSW marine ecologist Dr Adriana Verges. “When these forests disappear, it’s a sign that something has gone fundamentally wrong and diverse marine communities and economically important species such as rock lobsters and abalone disappear too.” It’s $20 to sponsor one tree, $50 for a little crayweed family that can reproduce on its own or $500 to plant a whole forest. Your Christmas tree won’t be on its lonesome. "We have been extremely humbled by the amazing response!" Dr Verges said. "We reached our original $20,000 target in only five days! We had planned to restore four sites, but we are now raising the bar and hoping we can raise enough to restore six or perhaps even eight sites. That would mean reaching $40,000 by January 31." To help visit the Operation Crayweed display at Manly Sea Life Sanctuary or go to pozible.com/project/202503 Artificial intelligence has reached the Manly beachfront. Manly Council has installed smart machines capable of recognising over-staying tourist buses and people who wrongly park in disabled-driver spots. The idea came from the popular facial-analysis app How Old Do I Look, which uses machine learning to guess your age from a photo. Manly’s Chief Information Officer Nathan Rogers said he realised the technology could be applied to something more useful. He said the council IT team began by writing a program that downloaded 10,000 images from CCTV of locations like an empty bus bay at different times of day and under different weather conditions. The images were fed into the council’s Microsoft Azure Machine Learning technology, which is in use in several sites, including bus parking zones at Manly Beach and mobility parking bays at the swim centre. The software can identify anomalies – such as a bus parked in a bay for longer than the permitted time – and alert parking rangers by email. Mr Rogers said the program, which was already very accurate, has become even more reliable over time, and is now a huge asset to rangers who have gained a “sixth sense” ability to be in the right place at the right time. He said the system was not about issuing more fines but keeping parking spaces turning over. Other potential applications include crowd control, and predicting surf conditions. Manly Council has a large number of smart and connected devices, including four smart parking stations, about 25 smart parking meters, 20 wireless access points and 100 CCTV cameras, all connected by eight kilometres of fibre optic cable. It's big but impressive. That's the general impression from a recent site inspection of the new Indoor Swimming Centre in Kenneth Road which is currently under construction. The tour included vantage points inside the site, where tonnes of earth have been extracted to build three pools, and where a crèche, gym, spa, sauna and onsite parking will be located.
Principal contractors FDC Construction and Fitout Pty Ltd are building the Manly Swim Centre which was designed by architect Tompkins MDA. The new Swim Centre, located next to LM Graham Reserve, will incorporate the existing outdoor swimming facilities. The new centre will feature: · A 25 metre, 8 lane heated lap pool with ramp entry · Spectator seating for 150 people · A program pool for exercise and rehabilitation with ramp entry · A fun children's play and leisure pool with a beach entry · A spa pool, sauna and steam room facilities · Administration offices · Gymnasium, group fitness and wellbeing rooms · A cafe and crèche · A separate community building in LM Graham Reserve, backing onto Kenneth Road, will contain change rooms, public toilets, a state of the art co-generation energy plant, bike storage and a bus shelter. · On-site parking for 54 cars including 4 accessible and 2 parent with pram spaces. Parking also available on Kenneth Road, and nearby streets. The Centre is expected to be completed and fully operational by June 2016. A trial of three solar pole lights are to be installed in Manly Lagoon Park shortly in an effort to improve public access after dark. Manly council will install three “smart” lights in the narrow park that runs between North Steyne and Pittwater Rd. The move was prompted by Cr Hugh Burns after locals complained that the park, which has no lighting, does not feel safe after dark. The smart solar-powered lights will have motion sensors, meaning they are usually dim, but become temporarily brighter when a pedestrian or cyclist gets close. They cost $3000 each and will be placed at three key points on the park pathway for a six months trial. Cr Burns said the trial would assess whether the lights were bright enough for park users, but subtle enough to avoid disturbing people living next door. If the trial is a success, the next stage would be installing 11 more lights, bringing the total cost up to $35,000. The lights, which have a simple, compact design, will be similar to ones used in Gasworks Reserve at Little Manly Point. Lagoon Park links two well-lit areas and is popular with cyclists, joggers and dog walkers as well as people taking a short cut home after dark. A Manly Councillor has been savaged on social media with his comment that people who can’t walk dogs themselves don’t deserve to own one. And it’s got legs, running on interstate and other online sites, and prompting mocking retorts such as; “You shouldn’t have children if you rely on childcare?” Liberal Cr Alan Le Surf made the comment during a council debate on new licensing policies for commercial dog walking in Manly. The discussion was prompted by Good For Manly Cr Candy Bingham’s call for a review of the policy, which banned commercial walkers from LM Graham Reserve, reduced their numbers and limited the number of dogs they could walk each day. It infuriated dog owners, who said the new policy was unfair and had been introduced without community consultation. Local vet Dr Beth McDonald said about 50% of households already have a dog, and that number is likely to increase as changes to strata laws make apartment buildings more pet friendly. She said studies have shown that pets are good for their owners’ wellbeing, especially in an ageing population where many people live on their own. And while most people walk their own animals as much as they can, many need professional walkers to fill in the gaps. And some, such as unwell, or poorly-sighted older people, could never cope on their own. Not enough dog walkers would mean more restless, barking dogs driving the neighbours crazy. In the end the councillors played ball, with a new park - Manly West in Balgowlah - to be considered as a new fully-fenced site. As well the council will make sure that local dog walkers are favoured over out-of-area businesses when license permits are given out. “It’s a good outcome,” Cr Bingham said. “I know the dog walkers loved LM Graham Reserve, because it was fully-fenced and very safe for dogs, but it was becoming over-used and there were problems with sports people and lots of dogs sharing the same space. “The reserve is still available for people to walk their own dogs and now we will have an additional fully-fenced area nearby.” The new policies will be reviewed in September next year. Image: Dr McDonald with her labrador Ned. She says exercise and socialisation are essential for dogs. Manly Council is not fit for the future according to a report released yesterday by IPART. Neither are our Northern Beaches neighbours Warringah and Pittwater. So the three councils have no choice but to merge to form a giant Northern Beaches council stretching from the Spit Bridge to Barrenjoey Lighthouse. That’s the verdict in the IPART report, which sets out to assess to the viability, or otherwise, of every council in the state. (see copy of relevant Manly pages below, plus full report). While Manly was judged satisfactory on the financial criteria of sustainability, infrastructure and service management and efficiency, we failed the “scale” test. With a population of only 42,800, we fall way short of the required 251,650 residents. We’re certainly not alone. Out of 36 councils in the Sydney region, 29 councils, including City of Sydney, failed the fitness test. Most met financial criteria, but were deemed too small. Advocates of council amalgamation, such as Premier and local MP Mike Baird, say bigger councils would mean ratepayers get better value for money, as well as better services and infrastructure. But opponents say there’s no evidence that big is necessarily better, and that councils are already grouped into regional organisations, which provide economy of scale purchasing power for many goods and services. The NSW government has given councils 30 days to respond to the report, although it has already made it clear that amalgamations will take place. It’s unclear if councils will continue to operate as usual after that date, or if administrators will be brought in, with a possible moratorium on new infrastructure projects until the merger process is complete. Council elections were scheduled for September next year, but may now be shifted to March 2017.
It's bad news for Manly dog owners and their pets. Professional dog walkers have been savaged by a recent council decision to ban them from LM Graham Reserve, reduce their numbers and limit the number of dogs they can walk each day. Last month, without consulting dog owners or dog walking businesses, the council closed Graham Reserve to commercial dog walkers. This is despite it being considered the safest local dog venue as it has a designated, fenced dog exercise area. That means that only Seaforth Oval, Tania Park and Manly Lagoon Reserve remain available for the businesses to use. In addition, dog walkers numbers have been cut by means of a new permit system. The council issued nine permits only - not nearly enough to meet demand. To make matters worse, each dog walker is only allowed two walks per day at one designated venue. Dog owners are furious, with more than 600 signing a petition for change. They want more permits, more walks per permit, and for Graham Reserve to remain part of the mix. They also accuse Manly Council of breaching the 1993 Local Government Act by failing to comply with a requirement for community consultation. “Manly is an area of dog lovers”, Good For Manly Cr Candy Bingham said. “It is estimated that about 50% of people here own dogs. Most of them walk their own dogs, but many use the services of professional dog walkers. Now we have a situation where there are just not enough to go around. “Of course we need to balance the use of our public parkland so everyone can enjoy it, but the existing system was working well. I don’t know why the council didn’t talk to the people involved before rushing into this decision.” Cr Bingham is also concerned that local dog walkers missed out on the permits, with several going to out-of-area businesses. "It concerns me that once again Council seems to have made a rushed decision with no consultation. Even the Councillors had not been informed", she said. Whistler St car park will cost $10M to bring up to fire safety standards according to Manly Council and the Chamber of Commerce. They are wrong. They’re stating our 45-year-old car park needs to comply with fire standards for a building built today. But the requirements, though adequate for public safety, are less stringent for older buildings like ours. They have to be - otherwise councils all over Australia would be sent broke trying to keep their public buildings up to date. The disappointing part is that the Council and the Chamber must know this, but they keep repeating the wildly inaccurate figure anyway. The real compliance cost is about $500,000. And one has to question the fact that if the Whistler Street car park is so bad, why is it listed in Council's current financial accounts as being in good condition and required no maintenance in the 12 months? Below is the breakdown of costs required to bring Whistler St up to the relevant Building Code of Australia fire standards, as prepared for Good For Manly by an independent assessor. This isn’t the first time the Council has bad-mouthed the car park. In 2013 they said the building had concrete cancer and was “falling down”, before later admitting that wasn’t true. Later that year, the building became “a fire hazard”, which required a $5M safety upgrade - ten times too much. This year it’s a $7 - 10M safety upgrade - twenty times too much. The truth is the building is structurally sound and will last for at least another 20 years, and probably for another forty. It needs $0.5M in compliance work and some more in beautification projects like a green wall or murals on the outside to make it look more attractive. Pulling the car park down and selling/99-year-leasing the land for apartments and shops is a key part of the council’s Revitalise Manly (formally Manly2015) Masterplan. The revenue produced from this long term lease will go towards covering the cost of the new 500 space car park under Manly Oval. Without the disposition of the Whistler Street car park, the whole scheme falls in a heap. Hmm .. I wonder if that has anything to do with the grossly exaggerated numbers being pushed by Manly Council? When a fox killed 26 of Manly’s little penguins in June, the local community fought back. And won. In an extraordinary campaign, almost 150 people volunteered to protect the penguins 24 hours a day. The team, which included community “penguin wardens”, National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) staff and fox control experts, physically guarded the North Head colonies for three months without a break. And that was for three winter months - with “freezing” temperatures and long, dark nights. At the same time NPWS increased its program of fox baiting and soft jaw trapping, and used marksmen and tracker dogs to hunt the predator. The fox responsible for the killings - able to be identified by its paw prints, penguin autopsy results and infra-red camera footage - was never caught, but rangers are confident it is no longer active. So now they're moving to stage two. Penguin volunteers no longer have to spend the night at Collins Beach, Store Beach or Q Station. They will be replaced by back-to-base cameras and an array of new high-tech gear. As well frequent fox-baiting and soft-jaw trapping programs will be carried out and there will be a blitz on people walking dogs in North Head national parkland - an offence that carries a $350 fine. But the new equipment doesn’t come cheap, so the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife has started a $20,000 fund raising campaign. They need $10,000 for 20 motion sensing cameras to monitor the area $5,000 for a thermal camera that can detect the heat given off by penguins and predators $450 for 5 fox lights that are triggered by movement and give off bright, flashing lights to scare away foxes $1,000 for 10 nesting boxes to help the penguins rebuild their population To help, go to chuffed.org/project/manly-little-penguins In the meantime NPWS ranger Mel Tyas said the penguin colonies had bounced back, with the 26 penguins largely replaced by birds moving in from outside the area. “It’s great news,” she said. “The volunteers were absolutely fantastic - they were there all winter long, and now it looks like the colonies will be OK. And if there is any trouble again we’ll be onto it straight away.” PROTESTERS at the No Oval Car Park rally packed the oval grandstand today. The crowd of more than 600 expressed their anger at Manly Council that their voices had been ignored. But their rates would be used anyway for a car park that’s high-risk, in the wrong place, and not needed anyway. You can view of short video of the event here. The next step was clear - a call for intervention from a higher power. The crowd unanimously endorsed a call to local MP and State Premier Mike Baird to act now to block the oval car park scheme. Guest of honour on the day was environmental warrior Jack Mundey, who has come out of retirement to help save Manly’s oval and “village green”. In a huge show of support, Mr Mundey pledged to call for a “green ban” on car park development work, if the council persisted with its plan. Speakers included Rob Burgess - formerly Manly town planner, a town centres specialist and the man behind the push to list the oval on the State Heritage Register; David Barr - former Manly State MP and councillor; and Candy Bingham - rally organiser, president of Good For Manly, and current Manly Councillor. Mr Burgess blasted the council for clinging to “a crazy notion that has already been rejected three times”. Arguments against the car park include the location of the oval in a natural water course and the fact that Sydney Rd is too narrow to be used for the proposed entry and exit ramps. “Sydney Rd is a major arterial road and no work can be done on it without the approval of the RMS,” Mr Burgess said. “To put in car park access ramps, the RMS require a road reserve width of 30m - but Sydney Rd is only 18m wide. So the ramps can’t go in unless you remove half the rugby field.” He said that access ramps would also turn the road from four lanes to two, and “create a traffic jam as far up as Balgowlah shops”. It’s another Kenneth Rd disaster waiting to happen,” he said, referring to the traffic chaos that has resulted from the council’s swim centre upgrade work. Second speaker David Barr also cited the council’s disastrous project management record. “The swim centre development is a bloated monstrosity with a bloated budget to match” he said. “It’s a vanity project for people with big egos. “These same people are planning to wreck our heritage oval.” He warned that the oval car park would only be the beginning of the development work, with a club complex for Mounties bowling club and a shopping complex along Belgrave Rd all in the mix. Mr Barr called out the Manly Chamber of Commerce, who support the oval car park project, for failing to represent the Manly business community. “In Manly 70 - 80% of businesses don’t belong to it,” he said. “It’s a few rich developers - that’s all it is. “They don’t represent small business. They have another agenda.” Cr Bingham summed up the mood of the Manly community to the car park plan “This is the message that I’ve heard,” she said. “We don’t want it. We don’t need it. We can’t afford it. “So why are the Liberal councillors pushing this so hard?” Cr Bingham said the Good For Manly alternative was to “work with what we’ve got.” “We can beautify Whistler St car park with green walls, murals, or at least a coat of paint. We can open up the parking area out the front and link it to the Market Plaza and library. Then we get rid of the ugly fire escape in front of the library, and connect up the whole area in a big plaza. “It would cost about $5 M, it wouldn’t destroy anything and it would keep customers and car parking in the right place for local businesses.” Cr Bingham called on the crowd to support her call for Mike Baird to intervene. Protesters also signed post card to be delivered to the MP begging him to act. An easy course of action for Mr Baird would be to call a moratorium on all major new council projects ahead of council amalgamations to be announced later this year. Residents, who were then invited to have their say, ranged from young school student Sofia, to former rugby player Jack Steggall. The crowd was entertained with music from the band “Ulterior Motive”. And despite terrible weather for the entire previous week, it didn't rain at all. "The more opposition there is, the more determined I am," Mayor Jean Hay The unpopular oval car park and the Whistler St car park re-development are likely to go to tender next month. And yet this current, high-risk, plan only provides for an additional 40 car parking spaces in Manly's CBD. Why are the Liberal Councillors pushing this? It's 12 month's since an estimated 1,000 people marched against the Oval Car park ... We Can Still Stop It Opposition from residents, businesses (see related story below), almost all our community precincts and the four non-Liberal councillors, continues to be ignored. Or as Mayor Jean Hay summed it up for the public gallery at the August’s council meeting: the more opposition there is the more determined I am to go ahead anyway. But despite Mayor Hay's determination not to represent us, our voices have still been heard. Several times Cr Hay has said that If it wasn't for Cr Candy Bingham and the Good For Manly team, the oval car park would be built by now. She means it as a criticism, but really it's an admission that, even in Manly, the council eventually has to listen to the people. Unanswered Questions 1. Sydney Rd, where the car park entry and exit ramps will need to be built, is a major road controlled by the RMS. Permission to proceed will be needed from the RMS, but no request has been made from the council so far. Even worse, Sydney Rd - at 18m wide - is way below the 31m road width required by the RMS before access ramps can be approved. Does the council plan to slice 13m off the oval, grandstand and park? Or are they planning a 'Kenneth Road' solution which locals have found unsafe and unworkable? 2. Manly Council is now claiming that "The Masterplan can be delivered without the need for any long term loan, and will be fully funded by the commercial ratepayers of the Manly CBD and from the long term lease of the new Village Centre site development - the Whistler Street car park site". Not according to the calculations of an independent report. The Masterplan will in fact cost us $40 million over the next 20 years! See financial report below. The Manly community, led by Cr Bingham, has stopped the car park so far. And we have to act again now, to stop tenders being locked in for a project we don’t want, and don't need. Good for Manly is holding a protest rally on Sunday 27th September, 3pm at Manly Oval, to give the community a forum to demonstrate the strong opposition to the car park scheme. Legendary Enviromental Activist, Jack Mundey, has come out of retirement to support the Manly Community with this fight. The protest is support by Manly Independents Clrs Barbara Aird and Hugh Burns and Greens Clr Cathy Griffin. More details here. This is why: 1. The $40 M car park will provide 40 extra car spaces. By our calculation that's $1million per space. Clearly not a good use of our money. (see report below). 2. The new car park is in the wrong place. It’s too far from the shops for the elderly, or anyone with small children or lots of gear. It’s also a long way from the beach. It is likely to be a car park of last resort, after the on-street spaces, and the council’s three other car parks are full. 3. The project is high risk. Not all the figures are available for public scrutiny but what we’ve seen doesn't stack up. No provision seems to have been made for the entry and extra ramps, the ventilation stacks or the extra cost of building in a flood plain with part of the car park lying under the water table. No costs have been made public about relocating and reinstating the Cricket and Rugby club's facilities. 4. The debt. Our independent experts say the oval car park will cost about $40M to build. KMPG estimated leasing the Whistler St site will generate about $15M. That leaves a $25M hole. More if the car park runs over budget, or generates less than expected in income. We are already in debt for an major indoor swim centre development which is believed to be 30% over budget. 5. It's our village and our money, but our voice has not been heard. There has been no genuine community consultation, the decision-making process has been obscure and important public information has been hidden behind "commercial-in-confidence" claims. 6. We will lose control of land in the heart of the village. Whistler St car park site, which currently generates around $1m in profit each year, is to be leased for 99 years to pay for the oval car park. Developers are bidding for high-rise apartments and shops. We do not want to lose this asset. What Are the Alternatives? 1. We can beautify and revitalise Manly village cheaply and without fuss. We don’t need to sell off Whistler St and dig up the heritage oval. Good For Manly supports the plan to limit traffic in the CBD, and re-pave and open up our laneways for cafes, bars and shops. Lets start by doing that. 2. We don’t have to pull Whistler St car park down. We can renovate it with vertical gardens or murals, and modernise it including a new lift. Lets have the discussion. 3. We can improve the library and surrounds, by removing the ugly external fire-escape and opening up the plaza. Lets have the discussion. 4.. We can generate more car parking in our CBD, simply by managing our existing car parks better. They are not well sign-posted, so many people don’t even know they are there. As well there is currently a bizarre practice of putting up the “Full” sign, when lots of car spaces are still free. Lets have the discussion. If you agree, or would like to know more, be sure to come to the Protest Rally on Sunday, 27th September, 2015. Want the Council's view? Go to their website here to see the pretty pictures they won't allow us to show you! WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PLAN? DO OUR SURVEY HERE
Have a look at Good for Manly's ideas on what we can do to revamp the Whistler Street car park in this slideshow. Very cost effective way to use existing infrastructure that simply needs a renovation. What do you think? Manly businesses don’t want a car park under the sports oval, nor do they want the Whistler street car park demolished for shops and apartments.
That’s the shock result of a survey conducted by Good For Manly on attitudes to the Manly CBD masterplan. As well as opposition to the oval car park, the survey of over 200 small ground floor Manly businesses found overwhelming opposition to the demolition of the Whistler St car park, and to further pedestrianisation of the CBD resulting in loss of on-street parking and the closure of Sydney Rd. But the businesses did support the planned Manly Library revamp. The results are a surprise, as the businesses’ peak body - the Manly Chamber of Commerce - staunchly supports the oval car park/Whistler St development. And businesses that were members of the Chamber of Commerce did look at the project more favourably. But even in the Chamber group support for the oval car park/Whistler St plan ran at less than 50%. However the Chamber businesses liked the idea of more pedestrian zones and, like the overall group, supported the library redevelopment plan. The survey was carried out last month, and involved face-to-face contact with 214 businesses in the Manly CBD. Only ground floor businesses were included, and because contact needed to be made with either the business owner or manager, most large businesses such as banks, pubs and chain retailers like Suzanne, could not take part. Businesses were asked to reply “Support”, “Don’t support”, or “Don’t know” to these five questions: 1. Manly Council now plans to build a 500 space car park at Manly Oval to replace the Whistler St car park. The Oval car park will provide a minimal number of additional parking spaces. 2. Council plans to demolish the Whistler St car park and lease the site for 99 years to be redeveloped for shops and apartments. There will be no public parking on this site. 3. Council plans to refurbish/rebuild the Library with an additional two floors of community space. 4. Council plans to remove 100 parking spaces on the street to further pedestrianise Manly’s CBD. 5. Council plans the closure of Sydney Road from Belgrave St to The Corso, and no through traffic in Central Ave, to pedestrianise Manly’s CBD. This is the result: Traffic flow in Manly's CBD will be radically changed as the Council rolls out its Revitalise Manly Masterplan. Work is set to start this month on the plan to pedestrianise Sydney Rd, with the ultimate goal of closing the road to traffic all the way from The Corso to Belgrave St. Stage 1 of the project involves the pedestrianisation of Sydney Rd between Central Ave, where the pedestrian zone in Sydney Rd currently ends, and Whistler St.
The work will include new landscaping, and improved public seating, paving, street lighting and signage, in an effort to transform Sydney Rd into a new pedestrian friendly high street. Other major changes will include: 1. Central Ave will become a two-way cul de sac, stopping at Sydney Rd. Trucks and vehicles longer than six meters will be banned after 8am. 2. Henrietta Lane will also become a two-way cul de sac. Trucks and long vehicles will be banned after 8am. In pedestrianised areas delivery vehicles will be limited to the hours between 5am and 8am, and permitted on Market Lane, and on Sydney Rd between Henrietta Lane and Central Ave only. While construction work is going on, delivery vehicles will be re-routed through parts of Sydney Road that are currently pedestrianised, and the eastern end of the Corso. Stage 2 of the project, will involve the further pedestrianisation of Sydney Rd from Whistler St to Belgrave Rd, as well as changes to traffic flow and parking in Whistler St. No date has yet been set for this work which is subject to the final decision on the proposed construction of a car park under Manly Oval and redevelopment of the Whistler Street car park site for shops and apartments. |
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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