Tuesday 13 November 2012

Dates for the Diary

  • Local Landcaring every Thursday around Coal Point
    Ring Robyn for details  4959 1507 
  • Wednesday 14th November 12-6pm @ Toronto Library
 Community conversations about LMCC Planning Instruments
  • Friday 16 November 7.30-10.30pm @ 
Progress Hall, 197 Skye Point Rd, Coal Point
    Opening Night 
Art & Craft Show
  • Saturday 17 Nov.  10am-5pm- Art & Craft Show
  • Sunday 18 Nov. 10am-2pm @ Progress Hall
 Art & Craft Show. 
    For entries or volunteering
 contact Barbara 4959 1259

  • Saturday 17th November  8.30am-3pm
Lake Macquarie Community Garden Tour for volunteers involved in community garden projects or interested in starting one in your local area.Bookings essential (places are limited) to 4921 0333 or council@lakemac.nsw.gov.au

Art & Craft Show Immanent

The Art & Craft show opening night on Friday 16th November  celebrates local artistic talent in a community space, Progress Hall. The night brings art loving locals under the one roof to catch up and kick off the festive season. 

This year’s Art & Craft show will provide local artists with a venue to display their works and the community with opportunities to acquire something unique. 


Additionally the Opening Night will officially launch the NSW Environmental Trust Funded Threatened Species Last Stand on the Coal Point peninsula project.


Opening night will run from 7.30 to 10.30pm and will include

  • Official Opening and Project Launch by Greg Piper MP
  • Auctions of a painting by June Friend (Mattara Prize winner), Quilt from Sew Easy, Toronto, and 4 art lessons provided by the Arts Emporium
  • Lucky Door Draw
  • Art and Craft items for sale
  • Local Native plants for sale
  • Information about the Threatened Species project
Opening Night bookings are being taken to assist with catering. For $10.00 per person you’ll receive a glass of wine/soft drink & nibbles and a ticket in the lucky door prize.
Contact Barbara 49591259 or 0409839428 for bookings.


 The Art & Craft Show excitement will continue over the weekend on 17-18 November with demonstrations by

  • Geoff Davis, renowned leatherworker who will be making a leather belt over the week-end - if anyone would like to pre purchase the belt he will make it to order. 
  • Jean Hurley showing her encaustic art technique
  • Stephen Cassettari demonstrating his Chinese painting and
  • Florence Humphreys, renowned porcelain and ceramics painter demonstrating her skills.
The Art & Craft Show raises funds towards upkeep and maintenance of  Progress Hall which is owned by the Progress Association.

The 2012 Art & Craft show raffle

The tickets are $2.00 each or 3 for $5.00, apologies for error in the October Chronicle
 

This year the raffle has been generously supported by
  • Harvey World Travel- $100 gift voucher, lightweight suitcase and travelers gift pack
  • Bunnings Glendale- 4 burner Jumbuck BBQ
  • Toronto Bay Bistro RMYC - $60 voucher
Raffle tickets can be purchased at the Hall, 197 Skye Point Rd, Coal Point over the weekend of the Art Show.

Ethics Classes in Schools

Coal Point Public School is one of two schools in Lake Macquarie that participates in the Primary Ethics Program.
 

Currently students from Yr 5 & 6 benefit from studies in Ethics. Next year  Years 3 & 4 will also be included in the program and so support to expand the program is sought.

BECOME A VOLUNTEER ETHICS TEACHER OR COORDINATOR

  • Join an active and growing community in the Lake Macquarie area
  • Teach children how to think not what to think

Flexible working environment
Volunteer Ethics Coordinators are the conduit between the school and teachers
An Ethics Coordinator:
✓    Is well organised and able to liaise with school principals, Ethics Teachers and parents
✓    Interviews, selects and supports the best Ethics Teacher

 ✓    Is comfortable working in an online environment
 

Ethics Teachers deliver Primary Ethics classes
An Ethics Teacher:
✓    Engages children in learning about ethics
✓    Is a good listener with a genuine interest in helping young people
✓    Commits to teaching one class each week during school terms
Ethics Teachers undertake
✓   Police and Working with Children checks

✓   Full free training in the Primary Ethics curriculum 
✓  Ongoing online training

Learn more and apply online at www.primaryethics.com.au
or contact Graham Wrightson, Volunteers Manager, email: gwrights@bigpond.net.au 
or phone 0409594732

http://www.vandaltrak.com.au/

http://www.vandaltrak.com.au/
A new system for dealing with Graffiti has been launched. It requires registration to log an incident but allows the general public to report and monitor incident progress through cleaning and prosecution.


Graffiti is a significant issue within many local government areas reducing the value and image of our communities & neighbourhoods. 


The VandalTrak system aims to log, track and manage Graffiti incidents in one place.
It's your community. Report graffiti vandalism with VandalTrak, so together we can assist authorities to bring those responsible to justice.

Lake Macquarie City Council Floodplain Management Committee

 
~Expressions of Interest ~
~Community Representatives ~
~Applications close 9am, 12 November 2012 ~

Are you interested in flood risk management and have the capacity to consult with community members to make objective, evidence-based decisions about floodplain management in the City of Lake Macquarie? 

Council is seeking seven (7) community members to join the Lake Macquarie City Council Floodplain Management Committee, including:
Three (3) community representatives from flood-affected locations within the City
One (1) delegate from each incorporated Aboriginal Land Council within the Lake Macquarie Local Government Area
One (1) representative of an established environmental group
The role of the Committee is to provide guidance and assistance to Council on issues relating to sustainable floodplain management. The membership term is for 4 years, meeting 3 to 4 times each year.  For further information or to register your interest, please contact Greg D Jones, Senior Sustainability Officer (Natural Disaster Management), on 49210303, gdjones@lakemac.nsw.gov.au, or Box 1906 HRMC NSW 2310.

Planning for 
Lake Macs future

A community drop in day to talk to Council staff will be held on Wednesday 14th November, noon-6pm at Toronto library to discuss the proposed new planning instruments.
http://www.lakemac.com.au/development/planning-2012

The Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan

This is final objective of the Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan. The working group coordinators meet monthly to discuss the various projects. Contact with the group can be made through the Secretary, John Gill on 4959 1507 or tasngsecretary@gmail.com

Objective 6:  Enhance the appearance and atmosphere of our neighbourhood

  1. Reduce the incidence of graffiti and encourage alternative appropriate expressions of art:
    1. Initiate graffiti removal events that have an intergenerational approach with the whole community working together
    2. Establish a reporting mechanism to advise Council of graffiti incidents to enable timely removal of graffiti 
    3. Investigate graffiti removal initiatives undertaken in other neighbourhoods
    4. Organise and conduct a community street art program, which engages with the local youth community and establishes a sense of place and ownership:
      1. Organise a mural project with local schools and youth groups
      2. Investigate the feasibility of a graffiti wall in the neighbourhood
      3. Seek grant opportunities
  2. Organise an anti-littering campaign in the neighbourhood in conjunction with Council and  local organisations:
    • Enlist the support of programs such as “Don’t be a Tosser” and Clean Up Australia campaigns
    • Seek grant opportunities
    • Liaise with Council to ensure adequate and appropriate rubbish and recycling bins are available in public places
     
  3. Ensure that community groups are well supported and in touch with each other:
    • Develop and promote a directory for local groups in consultation with Council, Toronto Chamber of Commerce and Tidy Towns Committee
    • Organise and hold an open day to showcase the groups within the neighbourhood
    • Build connections with relevant community groups throughout the development and implementation of the Action Plan to work collaboratively and share appropriate resources
    • Conduct regular Sustainable Neighbourhood Group meetings
    • Liaise with Council and community organisations to improve the streetscape of the Toronto CBD
    • Advertise and promote community activities through community and school newsletters and networks (e.g. magazine and Coal Point Chronicle) 
     
  4. Support our community’s young people:
    • To have a voice in the neighbourhood and to   develop ideas and projects
    • Find ways to engage with young people from local schools
    • Develop ways of communicating with young people, build relationships and opportunities for them to develop projects they are interested in and are able to express some ownership 

  5. Enhance understanding of our community's history: 
    • Develop a project to record local history and create signage and landmarks to recognise historical, cultural and environmental aspects of the neighbourhood through liaison with the Lake Macquarie and District Historical Society 
    • Build relationships with the local indigenous community to improve understanding of local indigenous history and culture
  6. Work with Council and community groups to create way-finding signage throughout the neighbourhood
  7. Liaise with Council and community organisations for the upkeep of community facilities, parklands and reserves (see also Objective 4)
  8. Enhance playground facilities:
    • Monitor the use of playgrounds within the neighbourhood and report misuse or other issues to Council
    • Promote the creation of playground facilities for toddlers and preschool children within the neighbourhood

A Little Local History

Landcaring around Coal Point provides a unique perspective on the vegetation and often a window into the past. Local Landcarer Robyn Gill caught up with long term resident John Wilson and gained an insight into Gurranba Reserve and the local history. 

John Wilson grew up on the shores of Lake Macquarie, during World War II at the home of a relative where his mother also cared for 4 children of the extended family so they would be safer than at their home near the BHP. 


From 1955 he lived adjacent to Gurranba Reserve at the home which was built after his father died (at BHP in 1954) on land bought just before his death. This was close to the lake so John learned to swim well and has been swimming long distances there ever since.
John remembers walking to Burden’s dairy farm in Rofe St (where the home still stands) and to Moss’s farm (where Carey Bay Wetlands and  the “Pony Club” area are now) to collect milk which was available once a week from each farm as rationing was in place during the war.  


John’s mother, Hilda, established a shop and Tearoom next to their home as there were many visitors at the reserve often to see the beautiful garden above the foreshore next to Gurranba reserve.


This garden which was a matter of pride to the community was established by Miss Dawkins and Miss Tannah who came from England to live there after WWII first buying an old shack then building a new brick home which is still there. The two women had a shop in Newcastle in Hunter St. near Pacific Park which may have been a jewellers but opinion suggests featured craft materials especially for embroidery (John thinks they had similar businesses in England).


John still refers to some places on the foreshore by the names of early residents such as Skillen’s Point between Skye Point and Rofe St. 


He also remembers most of the local residents such as the Guy family who had the Coal Point Post Office and store were well known residents and their daughter, Joy, with her daughters continued the pedestrian postal delivery as a contractor until quite recently when it became a standard Australia Post service.

Landcare Report

Landcare in Coal Point/ Carey Bay in October can be fairly much summed up in 2 words – watering and mulching .  

The plants we use usually need no further water from us after planting day as they are so fitted to their environment but this month we have needed to save some lives of the most recently planted. It is heartening to see how they respond and also to see that most of the more established ones cope well with the conditions. 


The other bright spot is that some of the most vigorous weeds are looking stressed  - even Mother of Millions. 


Please work on some rain dances as we are seeing curtains of rain approaching over the water from Wangi but melting away over the water.