Appointment of General Manager Hornsby Shire Council

Following received from Nick Berman:

As you will be aware, Council’s General Manager Robert Ball will retire on 17 October 2011 after more than 19 years service with Council.

The Councillors and I are pleased to announce that Council’s Executive Manager Planning, Mr Scott Phillips, has been appointed to the position of General Manager and will commence  immediately from Robert's retirement.

Scott has been with Council since August 2008 and comes with a wealth of experience, having previously worked at the NSW Department of Planning and Campbelltown, Fairfield and Wyong Councils.

Having only joined Council relatively recently and worked in many different organisations, Scott comes with fresh ideas and lots of experience.

Congratulations to Scott. I know the Councillors, staff and I are looking forward to working with you.

Best wishes to Robert for a relaxing and happy retirement.

Nick Berman

Hornsby Mayor

Mayor

Hornsby Shire Council

Open Meeting for Beecroft/Cheltenham Residents

The BCCT will host an Open Meeting for Beecroft/Cheltenham Residents on Monday 31 October at the Cheltenham Recreation Club, The Crescent, Cheltenham, starting 7 for 7:30pm.
We are hoping for attendance by the Mayor and Councillors of Hornsby Shire Council and the State MP.
Items to be discussed include heritage, rail, transport and development.
Probably the main item will be the unexpected sudden gazetting of 5 storey rezoning for the Beecroft Shopping Village.
Come along and have your say!

BCCT Spring Walk

The BCCT Spring walk is this Sunday 18 September, Thornleigh Oval starting 2pm at the corner of Handley Avenue and Ferguson Avenue Thornleigh.  As the walk goes through the Lane Cover National Park, no dogs this time.

Rail Flange Noise - TORFMA response

This comment was posted in relation to an earlier blog.  Thank you, Rail Corp

Report noise or other pollution in the rail corridor 1300 656 999 Customer Relations Unit Rail Corporation New South Wales PO Box K349 Haymarket NSW 1238 Telephone: 1300 038 500 (switchboard) Fax: (02) 8202 2111 E-mail: Use the feedback form at the CityRail website.

"We regularly provide axle alignment feedback to the freight operators Pacific National and QR National so that they can consider addressing axle misalignment on their wagons. We also provide regular progress reports to the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water to enable appropriate management by the environmental regulator." NOT working...Plan B, please, NSW Government.

North West Rail Link Information Meeting

The Trust has been invited to send five representatives to attend an Information Session at the North West Rail Link Information Centre at 299 Old Northern Road, Castle Hill, at 11:30 on Wednesday 28 September.

If you would like to be one of the five, please register with secretary@2119.org.au.

Beecroft Village To Be Turned Into Highrise!

According to a report in the Northern District Times, Planning and Infrastructure Minister Brad Hazzard gazetted the Hornsby Housing Strategy on Friday, allowing residential and mixed-use developments up to five storeys in height in Hornsby Shire Council including the Beecroft Shopping Village.

The BCCT had been given no warning of this despite frequent requests for information.  The last that Trust members were formally told was soon after the election when we were told that the issue was "on hold".

The article in NDT says the gazetting allows for a mix of townhouses, five-storey and eight to 10-storey residential and mixed use developments in 10 suburbs.
The Housing Strategy is part of the previous state government’s Metropolitan Strategy, which identified that Hornsby Shire must provide 11,000 dwellings by 2031.
Hornsby Mayor Nick Berman, Deputy Mayor Michael Hutchence and council staff met with Mr Hazzard to discuss the strategy.
“We forwarded all the submissions from residents about the Housing Strategy on to the minister,” Cr Berman said.
“Now that the state government has adopted this strategy, it must come good on its promises to improve the necessary support infrastructure and services such as roads, public transport, schools and hospitals for our growing population.” For more information go to www.hornsby.nsw.gov.au/housing or phone 9847 6760.