Issue No. 59
To the residents of Willoughby South:
Welcome to this edition of The 272 which has been supported by the generous sponsorship of La Botte Italian Restaurant (608 Willoughby Road, Willoughby 2068).
The aim of The 272 is to build community spirit in the Willoughby South area, so readers are invited to comment below on any issue pertaining to our community.*
You can contact the Willoughby South Progress Association at:
Email: hello@willoughbysouthpa.org.au
Editor: Tony Tenney
*The views and opinions of individual contributors are not necessarily those of the WSPA.
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A word from your new president...
By Leah Bulfin
Dear Willoughby South residents,
I hope you enjoy reading this issue of The 272, a shortened version but still jam-packed with local issues relevant to our area.
I would also like to invite you to our upcoming Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 22 November at 7:30pm in the Naremburn Community Centre, to hear about what we do. Our aim is to cultivate community spirit and provide representation for concerns that matter to you.
Your committee will report on our activities during the past year. Local councillors will address our meeting and will be available to answer questions. We urge you to consider joining the Willoughby South Progress Association so that you too can be involved in keeping Willoughby South a great place to live.
Want to make Willoughby even greater? View the details below.
Your committee continues to monitor how Willoughby Council is developing its new Local Environment Plan (LEP) and its Development Control Plan (DCP). It is anticipated that the new LEP and DCP will come into force in the second half of 2023. All of us need to be vigilant in monitoring proposed and approved developments in the area.
Dates for your diaries:
In 2023, our General Meetings are planned for:
- Tuesday, 21 February
- Tuesday, 20 June
- Tuesday, 21 November
Best wishes to you and your families for the upcoming holiday season from your WSPA Committee and I look forward to meeting some of you at the AGM.
Leah Bulfin,
President, Willoughby South Progress Association.
Our aim is to cultivate community spirit and provide representation for concerns that matter to you.
What's in a street name?
Frenchs Road is named after James Harris French, born in England on Christmas Day 1817. He arrived in Sydney in January 1841 and married Mary, the daughter of Billy Blue, the first ferryman between Sydney and Blues Point. In 1851 he purchased his first grant of Crown land on the corner of Sailors Bay Road and Alpha Road. He called his property Paradise and built a large weatherboard cottage on Alpha Road facing the eastern end of Frenchs Road, named after him. He went on to buy many grants of land in Northbridge and Willoughby and 41 acres in what became Frenchs Forest.
French was employed as a ranger and became involved in local government, petitioning for the incorporation of the Municipality of North Willoughby and was elected as one of its first aldermen, later supervising the erection of a bridge at Flat Rock.
French died at Paradise (not far to go after death!) on 2 March 1893 and was buried in the grounds of the Wesleyan Church. Subsequently his headstone was removed and is now located in the hall at The Forest High School, Frenchs Forest, the site where he had had an orchard. He left the property in Alpha Road to the Royal North Shore Hospital. When the hospital decided on its present site, its Council sold the land in 1929 to the Sydney Church of England Grammar School Council (“Shore”).
Source: Willoughby: The Suburb and its People, Willoughby Municipal Council, 1988.
Forty years young
By Kristina Dodds
On 16 October the Willoughby Environmental Protection Association (WEPA) held its 40th birthday – hard to believe it’s been four decades that WEPA has been advocating for our local environment, greenspaces and foreshores. The party was a picnic, co-hosted with the Nature Conservation Council NSW and was held in Flat Rock Gully, the site of one of WEPA’s first campaigns in the 1980s to halt the tipping of fill and rubbish in the bush valley. A nearby wildlife walk from the top of the site is named after Eric Wilksch, the inaugural WEPA President.
For all WEPA is doing to care for and protect bushland, their years of experience and networks are second to none, and Willoughby is far better off for their advocacy.
Speakers at the picnic included Jenny Zvolanck from BirdLife Australia who told us that the endangered Powerful Owl is once again breeding in Flat Rock Gully. Gay Spies OAM, co-founder and current Vice -President covered the history of WEPA and why it is needed now more than ever. Don Swonnell’s talk on regenerating Flat Rock Gully for over 25 years was well received. Larissa Penn, who has been leading the Stop the Tunnels movement for over five years, also spoke as President of Naremburn Progress Association to detail what will be lost if Flat Rock Gully becomes a dive site.
WEPA is advocating once again to save Flat Rock Gully from becoming the primary dive site for the proposed for the Beaches Link tunnel, where the bushland will be destroyed and 900 construction vehicles per day will enter and exit the site from Flat Rock Drive for five years. What is happening at Flat Rock highlights the continued need for strong, local organisations like WEPA. To find out more visit https://wepa.org.au/.
WEPA is advocating once again to save Flat Rock Gully from becoming the primary dive site for the proposed Beaches Link tunnel.
On the buses
By Ken Wilson
Since April this year Transport for NSW has cut an additional three peak hour services from the 120 route despite government members acknowledging at the privatisation inquiry that the initial cut of seven peak hour services was causing a lot of pain for commuters and was a step in the wrong direction. The local State Member has organised for 12 new bus trips from Chatswood to RNSH every weekday (route 113) from December 13. This replaces some of the direct 114 connections lost in 2020. He has also called for the reinstatement of the 257 to the CBD. Tim is “listening” to former 272 commuters (cancelled in 2021) who have resorted to using Ubers or family members to run them into town.
I’m wondering if cancelling the 272 and other shorter trips is seen by some in government as an “investment” in the “business case” for the West Harbour Tunnel. This could explain their current reluctance to shorten the route taken by some 120s to the old 272 format, allowing Busways to run more trips with the same resources, pick up more commuters, reduce traffic congestion and add to the fair box revenue delivered to the government.
The graph below shows the number of services cut and the decrease in passenger capacity.
A message from Mayor Tanya Taylor
Willoughby Leisure Centre
At its 31 October meeting, the Council made the decision to begin construction on the Willoughby Leisure Centre upgrade. A tender to redevelop the centre into a new multi-sports complex was accepted.
As a result, the pool hall will be closed on 19 November to allow the redevelopment process to commence. The decision to commence before December was to take advantage of a $5 million NSW Government grant and because the water pump and filtration systems had reached the end of its useful life. The gym, including group fitness classes and the school holiday program will remain open during construction.
The Centre’s indoor courts and crèche will remain open from 19 November but will need to close at some stage during the construction period. By mid-2024, we hope to be opening a new facility that will represent the very best in modern leisure centres. Council will be investing around $34 million in this upgrade, alongside the NSW Government grant.
Henry Lawson Cave
Also at the 31 October meeting, Council resolved to provide protection to Henry Lawson cave in Naremburn. We’ve committed to refuse to give landowner’s consent for any application which may damage this cave, and will be calling on the NSW Government to do the same. We’ve also agreed that the cave and its immediate surroundings be included in the next round of local heritage investigations.
Henry Lawson cave is an important historical site in Willoughby, and deserves to be protected and celebrated.
Henry Lawson cave is an important historical site in Willoughby, and deserves to be protected and celebrated.
Beaches Link
We also called on the NSW Government to not sign any further contracts or tenders associated with the Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link toll road projects, prior to the March 2023 election.
In this motion, Council agreed to write to the NSW Opposition seeking its commitment that, if elected, it will halt and review the Western Harbour Tunnel toll road and terminate the Beaches Link toll road project.
Council’s position remains the same – we do not accept the Beaches Link Tunnel in its current form.
Advisory Committees
At our September meeting we agreed to seek feedback on a new structure and policy for our Advisory Committees, which establishes four committees aligned to our updated Community Strategic Plan priorities. Advisory Committees are part of the Council’s community engagement framework and involve residents giving us their valuable insights and knowledge about key areas of the Council’s work. Community consultation on Advisory Committees has been extended to 14 November. I encourage you to add your voice via our Have Your Say website.
Wishing all Willoughby South residents a happy summer and fun festive season.
Mayor Tanya.
Stop Now, Reassess the Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link
As mentioned above Willoughby City Council passed a motion calling on the “NSW Government to not enter into any further contracts or tenders associated with the Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link toll road projects prior to the March election in 2023”.
Importantly they also moved to “engage and collaborate with impacted councils including North Sydney, to identify and address any measures needed to safeguard the community and environment in the Willoughby Local Government Area to prevent further impacts associated with the Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link”.
North Sydney Council, passed a similar motion in September. The loss of over 1000 mature trees in Cammeray Park and surrounds is a taste of what Seen around Willoughby – thanks Willoughby Council is in stall for our area if these road tollways continue.
No business case has ever been released, no changes made in design despite thousands of community and school submissions and a Parliamentary Inquiry.
What is required are sustainable transport alternatives and not more toll roads for the most tolled city in the world, that increase car reliance, invade our green space and bushland (Flat Rock Gully Reserve), and encourage rat-running through local streets in Willoughby.
Willoughby South Progress Association is speaking out against these tunnels that are all pain and no gain for our community. It is also worth noting that the Beaches Link is NOT on ‘ice’ as reported in the media. The Minister for Main Roads, Natalie Ward, has acknowledged that the Beaches Link and Western Harbour Tunnel and Warringah Freeway are all one program of works.
North Sydney Council is erecting a range of signs, including the one on the previous page and are asking its residents to write to their local MP. It would be great if you could write to ours and to the Premier to ask that tunnel works and contracts be halted and reassessed. A quick letter or email is taken very seriously by our elected representatives. If you would like further background information, please visit www.stopthetunnel.org.
Want to make a difference in Willoughby South?
Consider joining the Willoughby South Progress Association.
The annual membership fee is $5 per year, or you may choose another amount to pay. Those subscribing now will remain financial until the end of 2023.
How to join:
- Make payment by EFT (details below) with your name on the reference line.
- Email or text your address, phone and email to the number below.
- Attend the next meeting.
EFT details:
Account name: Willoughby South Progress Association
BSB: 032 292
Acc: 680736
Contact details:
Our email: hello@willoughbysouthpa.org.au
Text: 0400 635 607
Alternatively, you can pay cash or by cheque at our next AGM:
Date: Tuesday, 7 March
Time: 7:30pm
Location: Naremburn Community Centre
Want to be a voice in your community?
Raise an issue by hitting the button below share more info about the issue you’d like raised at the next General Meeting.
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