10/50 Public Meeting

A public meting is being organised by the Hornsby Shire Council for local residents impacted by the 10/50 Tree Legislation, at 7pm on Monday 3 November at Pennant Hills Bowling Club.

Kookies and Cutters

How can anyone do this?

NWRL Take-down of Epping to Chatswood Line

NWRL recently released a brochure on the Epping to Chatswood railway upgrade. It identifies northern line customers from between Hornsby and Cheltenham who currently use the Epping to Chatswood railway as part of a direct rail service to the lower North Shore and the city as a sector requiring temporary transport.
Whilst bus routes 1 and 2 go from Epping, bus route 3 goes from Beecroft to Macquarie University, Macquarie Park to St Leonards. It appears from the map to go down the M2. This bus will travel through Cheltenham but will not pick up at Cheltenham! Residents are irate and have been told they will have to get the train to Epping or Beecroft and catch the bus there.
The Trust is asking our local MP, on behalf of the community, to ask the Transport Minister to have this bus stop in Cheltenham even if it is in Beecroft Rd, and also to clarify if the trains from our Northern Line from Hornsby will continue to the city (Wynyard) via Strathfield or if they will terminate at Central during this supposed "upgrade".

How Tree Removal affects Kookaburras

We hear the sad story of how a Kookaburra tried to defend its Old Growth Angophora tree and nest against the 10/50 code in Malton Rd Beecroft, and the tree fellers who were chopping down its habitat. As the Kookaburras were swooping  to defend their tree, the tree feller was waving his chainsaw at the birds. After it had exhausted itself, the bird and other Kookaburras landed on a resident's verandah, and stayed for 48 hours, taking no food, as shock set in. 

NorthConnex Tunnel Stacks

There's an interesting and informative article on page 4 of the Northern District Times today, about the proposed ventilation stacks at the southern end of the NorthConnex tunnels.  The article quotes one of the local residents making the point that at present Pennant Hills Road is mostly occupied by stationary or very slow moving trucks and other vehicles belching fumes out at ground level, and if those vehicles can enter and exit the tunnels at 70kph they will generate far less atmospheric polution.  The proposed ventilation stacks will be 23m tall (a typical mature Sydney redgum tree is about 21m tall) and located just west of Pennant Hills Road and north of the M2.  Transurban studies show air quality at road level will improve by 38%.

Amendments to 10/50 code

Recent adjustments to fire boundaries will not protect any Beecroft or Cheltenham trees because the changes are to Category 2 boundaries, whereas our suburbs are Category 1.

A community environment day meeting is being held on Saturday 25 October, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, at the Beecroft Memorial Train Park. Tree and fauna loss due to 10/50 will be a principal topic.
There is a map showing the existing boundaries at
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/news/rfs-has-moved-to-adjust-1050-vegetation-clearing-code-after-backlash-from-the-community-and-councils/story-fngr8gwi-1227075023868?nk=37e70825398610bf9c1174b4a859d8c5
Apparently Councils will now have the ability to reclassify smaller parcels of vegetation from category 1 to category 2, further reducing the entitlement area, but by the time this gets done many more trees will have gone.

Neighbourhood Watch AGM

The AGM will be held at Scout Hall, Plympton Rd, almost opposite the Carlingford north little shops, on Wednesday 15 October at 8pm.

Foreign Buyers of Residential Property

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, foreign buyers face tough new penalties for flouting property ownership rules, as well as capital gainst losses and cross-matching with immigration records, under likely recommendations by a parliamentary inquiry.
The inquiry is understood to recommend that penalties should be proportional to the value of the property purchased.  At present the largest penalty that can be imposed is just $85,000, seen by many as just part of the cost of doing business.

Community Meeting

Over 100 people attended the community meeting called by the Trust on Thursday night, including Greg Smith and three Hornsby councillors.

Much of the discussion was on the topic of the new 10/50 law which threatens to strip large areas of Beecroft and Cheltenham of the lovely trees that are so much of the historic legacy of our previously beautiful suburbs.  Graham Ross gave an impassioned speach against the blanket imposition of such a draconian rule across the State.  There are clear differences in bush fire risk between houses in the Blue Mountains, where the rule is easily justified, and city suburbs, where the rule is just seen as an excuse for landowners to remove trees that the Shire had previously protected.

The question was asked, what will we be leaving to our children after the trees are gone, the railways and tunnels are put through, our rail access to the city is  curtailed, and 500 extra residents have been housed in the Beecroft village with no improvements to roads or schools?

 

Greg made the valid point that for many years there has been much talk about transport issues, but nothing has been achieved. At least the transport infrastructure that Sydney needs is now being put in place.  It just seems that Beecroft is the hub around which all this development is taking place and Beecroft is not getting any compensating benefits.

 

The general tone of the meeting might be summarised as Much Anger, but nothing we can Do.

The Module development

There is a good article about the new DA in this week's Northern District Times, page 17.  Submissions for the new application close on Tuesday 14 October.
Many of the original objections to the first DA have been addressed, but the problem of vehicle access across the pavement of Hannah Street and into the traffic flow on Hannah Street remain unresolved.

Beautiful Tree lost to Developers

The JRPP decided for the developer, who now has permission to cut down the glorious White Mahogany tree that could have been a feature of the public open space in the shopping village.  At least we tried to save it.