Greenwich, NSW

3 Matters Arising
Regarding the resolution to request Council give earlier notice to the GCA when Development Applications are due to come before Council, the Mayor declared that no change was envisaged as Councillors themselves are only notified on the Thursday prior to the Council meeting.

4 Correspondence
Outwards
Date To Regarding
5 Aug 04 Lane Cove Council DA 14 George St
28 July 04 Lane Cove Council DA 12 George St

Inwards
Date From Regarding
19 May 04 Kyn & Nicola Evans cc letter to LCC re Tesrol/Billy Blue DA
4 Aug 04 Greenwich Village Games thank you
2 Aug 04 Lane Cove Council plastic café curtains on Greenwich Rd

5 Financial Report
The Treasurer, Gus Herstik, tabled his report. Funds available totalled $8,540 with the only commitments being the costs of printing the last two newsletters (around $300).

Funds are up $631 on the same time last year.

Resolved that the Financial Report be accepted (moved Liz Gill, seconded Sally Dowling).

6 Current Developments
a) Billy Blue/Tesrol at 33 Greenwich Rd
There are two threshold issues:
• existing use rights
• low cost housing issue (SEPP 10).

Regarding existing use, it was questioned whether Council’s legal advisor had all the information, including Justin Gleeson’s contrary advice as contained in the GCA’s submission to Council.

A resident has raised the rights issue with Hemmings QC (for LCC) but no reply has yet been received.

River Rd access issue has been raised with the RTA but they were not concerned. In terms of SEPP 11 this is not a traffic-generating development.

A meeting was held with the applicant to discuss preservation of the heritage gardens. No difficulties were expressed in meeting the conditions.

The external assessor’s report is expected in early September, so the matter should come before Council at the meeting on 20th September. Concern was expressed that residents will have little time to meet with Councillors to discuss the report.

Actions:
• forward the GCA’s opinion re existing use to LCC’s legal advisor once again;
• initiate discussions with the Director-General of DIPNR regarding their decision on the low-cost housing issue;
• bring traffic issues to the attention of the East Ward traffic committee;
• obtain a copy of Gleeson’s submission to LCC and copy this to Councillors;
• research the undertaking by Billy Blue to maintain the building as a hostel (eg check library’s local history section or contact Judy Washington).

b) Waterbrook/Sunshine Homes
An on-site inspection by a few residents, as agreed with LCC, has been undertaken on the Waterbrook site.

The current application from the developers did not include details of the wheelchair access that would be required from the Waterbrook site to Pacific Highway, to comply with SEPP 5. Details of this pathway were not included in the Council report and yet they advised this application complied with SEPP 5.

The proposed pathway would have to be constructed alongside the current right of way, which is on Ridgeview land, and this has not been discussed with Ridgeview residents who would have to approve any such development.

The issue of the restaurant was also raised with the developers and they acknowledge they want to operate it as a commercial operation and not just for residents. This will be a 116-seat restaurant and obviously they would not have the parking to accommodate so many visitors. This means parking in surrounding streets. Council have excluded this from the DA application and have advised this would be addressed as a separate application.

Further legal advice re the right of way and the compliance with SEPP 5 interpretation is being undertaken by affected residents.

LCC staff state they are fully informed of the issues. Their legal opinion is that the density (0.97:1) is OK. Residents are trying to obtain their own legal advice (but funding is an issue).

c) 12 George St
The Land & Environment Court has stated that a DCP must be respected in the municipality or it will not be respected in court. In this case, the external assessor, Mr T Nash, appears to be ignoring a multitude of DCP non-compliance issues.

GCA will compile its own montage of the proposed building on the site to compare to that supplied by the applicant.

d) 14 George St
The planned Section 96 amendment is for a basement which is not dimensioned. This does not appear to be a proper way to present plans. Further, this may allow the applicant the leeway to create a third storey on the proposed building.

7 Councillors’ Reports
Councillor Tudge cited the many submissions due to come before Councillors:
• Social Profile
• Community Cultural Plan
• Sustainability Plan
• LEP
• DCPs
• Building Codes.

He noted that Council will set precedents on sustainability especially when built on Council-owned land.

He urged people to provide more input on the Cultural Plan, especially regarding what should be done to promote the existing cultural interests of everyone in the municipality.

Councillor Lawson commented on the “Main Street” program to improve the amenity and appearance of the town centre.

8 General Business
The lease on the Leemon Reserve tennis courts is up for renewal. The club has requested an extension of opening hours on Sundays until 11pm (currently 1pm). No particular objections were raised by residents.

A reminder that the Greenwich Village Games will be held on 4 and 5th December.

The FOGS/Greenwich Public School Fun Run will be held on Sunday 19th September.

Denis Smith raised a concern about the poor state of lighting near the footbridge in Smoothey Park and requested a letter be urgently sent to the council concerned (North Sydney?).

He also noted that new road signage in the municipality was being installed. The cost of this maintenance was queried. Clr Tudge offered to try and find out how much it costs.

John Gebler noted that the rail at the wharf was rusting badly.

Liz Gill highlighted a problem with power lines in George St. The pole at the corner of Albert St is constantly being hit by passing traffic. She queried how this might be made safer and suggested the GCA question LCC on this matter.

9 Close
There being no further business, the meeting closed at 10.10pm for supper.

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President