March 20 - 26, 2016: Issue 256

Pittwater Council Invests In Our Community: Avalon Bowlo to Bowl On

Avalon Bowling Club Members at Saturday afternoon bowls Competition - March 19th, 2016 

 Council bowls a win for Avalon

18 March, 2016: Pittwater Council

Avalon is the beneficiary of a great win-win agreement between Pittwater Council and Avalon Beach Bowling and Recreation Club through a recent purchase of land at the Club.

General Manager Mark Ferguson said that Council had secured valuable open space for Avalon and helped secure the financial future of the Club.

“Council has purchased one of the greens at the club which will become an extension of Avalon’s Dunbar Park,” he said.

Mr Ferguson said Council had been in negotiations with the Club over the last few years looking at ways to secure the Club’s long term viability.

“We wanted to ensure that the Club could continue operating successfully into the future.

“The purchase of the land also means that the broader community will gain an asset in the centre of Avalon village by having more open space at Dunbar Park,” he said.

The recent signing of the agreement by Council’s General Manager Mark Ferguson and the Club President Maurie Altman will see the land reclassified as community land and rezoned from low density residential to public recreation.

Mr Altman said he and members of the Club were delighted with the outcome.

"This agreement means that the existence of the Club is assured into the foreseeable future and it is great to have the support of Pittwater Council to achieve this outcome,” he said.

The agreement will see the two parties enter into a new consolidated lease comprising the Clubhouse and two of the greens.

 Pittwater Asked to Have Its Say On Council Amalgamations AGAIN

Above: Rally for Local Democracy last Sunday - see videos of speakers HERE

There have been a few KPMG Reports that have been released in the past few years around amalgamation debates, commissioned by various sources for the purposes of defining the many components of various 'Options'. 

That commissioned by Manly and Pittwater Councils in early 2015 echoed an over two decade old Pittwater experience of finding; ' The wider variation in median house prices across suburbs in a merged Northern Beaches council may generate resistance from ratepayers in regards to cross-subsidising services and infrastructure in other suburbs that are not in close proximity or have few shared interests.'

An interesting 'Community News' document published by Warringah Councillor Vincent De Luca OAM outlines the other old, and remaining, and clearly recurring, objection that caused a second and quite valid reason for secession - inappropriate developments and in some cases, blatant overdevelopment, and a spending of residents rates on what could be construed as propaganda that may not benefit those paying for it. Mr. De Luca states $68 million a year could be saved by letting Warrigah go greener to the north and more metro to the south, with over two and a half million of this saved through 'Media and Marketing' alone.

That would be a 'regional art centre' in Pittwater, and a few thousand more trees being planted by volunteer bushcarers and getting rid of more in reserve weeds, a music festival, and a food festival, and a youth shed, and a men's shed... or two and a half new surf clubs.

As Local Government disappears by increments of 'this is what you must address now' to become what is shaping up to be regional government, and residents are fed up with having said 'No' in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 and being ignored, applause has been generated for Mosman Council who have announced they will follow Woollahra's lead to challenge the state government's proposed merger for it as the government has used the wrong part of the Local Government Act to hold inquiries into forced amalgamations.

Before Pittwater residents get too fed up their council is asking they make a submission on their views regarding the push for having something the same here again via the 'Boundary Review' website. Community comment on Warringahs proposal for a mega council 'option' is open until 8 April 2016. You can lodge a submission HERE

For the following two Saturdays Pittwater Council will also have community information stalls in the village centres including Avalon, Elanora Heights, Mona Vale, Newport and Warriewood as well as at Mona Vale Library and Avalon Recreation Centre.

 Pittwater - Autumn 2016

Autumn is Banksia season in Pittwater 

On Station Beach, at Barrenjoey - Pittwater 

Pittwater Online News is Published Every Sunday Morning: 8 a.m. 

 Past Features   Archives (pre 2014)

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