Category: Crag Archives

Shop owners, local community groups, young talented children and residents both young and old all came together for the Castlecrag Community Fair on Sunday 3 June. They were pretty much unanimous in declaring the 2007 Fair a great success!

We were fortunate in having beautiful fine day, large crowds descended on our suburb and they had a great variety of entertainment, information and craft stalls, and children’s activities to experience. The restaurants and stores aligning the streets of Edinburgh Road opened their doors to their friendly community with rows of stalls erected.

Whether you were after food, information on local pests or weeds or wanted to pick up some second hand clothing – you would have found it all on this entertaining day.

Willoughby mayor Pat Reilly got proceedings going at 10am by officially opening the new Watergate Walking Trail and the Fair. “It was a great day for a Fair in the historic suburb of Castlecrag,” he said and “the Castlecrag Progress Association has done a great job in bringing together all the community groups and the local businesses of the area to stage this event.” Cr Reilly thanked all those who had helped organise the event and sponsored the Fair, which he said “demonstrated the high level of community interest and support for the event”.

Children of the neighbourhood were entertained on a ride, some were eating cake made by local residents and others were gathered to watch the local girls perform to the beat of Christina Aguilera’s “Candy man”. The bungi jumping was a key attraction for children from the outset, the Wildlife Show held the attention of youngsters from 11am. Sally’s Bookshop offered a book reading of Oscar and Quincy by the author Kerry Millard, much to the delight of smiling young faces.

There was a real buzz around the Fair site throughout the day. Many visitors took time to relax with friends at our coffee shops, taste the wines on offer or explore our shops. The crowd in The Crag was also entertained by the local talented group Saving Grace, one member of which is a son of Pam of Pams’ Café fame. Others came to learn more about Castlecrag’s history and special features by joining one of the guided walks of the suburb.

The day brought many people through the doors of the boutique. The proprietor Sally Crawford said: “we have had lots of locals coming into the store to have a look at our books.”

Jeff Pharar, who has taken over ownership of Romano’s Restaurant said: “it has just been a great opportunity today to get to meet more of the locals in Castlecrag. A lot of the faces are familiar, but we definitely don’t know everybody” he said.

The community stalls offered an amazing variety of information and fund-raising activities. James Smallhorn, Council’s Environmental Projects Officer who grew up in Castlecrag, was assisting other Council staff on the pen Space Branch stall, which provided information leaflets on the local walking tracks, volunteer wildlife and weeding regimes and the highly successful Sustainability Street program. Sustainability Street brings residents together to reduce the impact on their environment.

A number of our community groups have reported that, from their perspective, the Fair was most successful, both in terms of the interest shown by the public and the funds raised to support their ongoing activities.

The Council-led walk along the Watergate Walking Trail got under way immediately after the opening, while Adrienne and John Kabos and Bob McKillop led four walks of the Griffin Conservation Area during the day. It was evident that the participants had come to the Fair to learn more about our suburb, many of them coming from Middle Cove, Castle Cove and North Willoughby, but there were others from further afield, including the Canada Bay Council area. Bob McKillop found two of his old university friends who had come from Perth on the first walk, so this group received ‘special attention’ in an extended walk that lasted 2½ hours!

Jacqueline Levett and Bob McKillop

Our AGM on Sunday 4th May was well-attended and Guest Speaker Linda Cardew gave a most interesting and informative talk on the Civic Place proposal.

Kate Westoby in her President’s Report gave the following summary of the Association’s activities over the past year:

Guest speakers at our meetings have included Greg Woodhams, Council’s Director of Environmental Services, who spoke on the thorny issue of Development Applications. For those with interest in the history of Willoughby, local resident Ian Rannard gave a fascinating talk on the market gardens which once flourished in the area bounded by Eastern Valley Way and Alpha Road. At an earlier meeting, Council’s Traffic Engineer Tony Lehmann outlined proposals for traffic calming installations in Castlecrag, with members of the audience giving suggestions for revisions in keeping with the special heritage nature of Castlecrag.

After its long gestation period, we are happy to report that the Association’s website is now available. We thank Karen Benhar for her professional input.

Recently, the longstanding matter of the Foreshore Building Line has finally been resolved, and the Progress Association congratulates Council for bringing to conclusion a difficult process that needed to address a wide range of interests. While all groups will no doubt have some disappointment at the final result – ours being that the FBL on the Northern Escarpment is not as strong as the line we had hoped for – nevertheless, the outcome will provide significant protection for our foreshores over the coming years.

The Committee prepared a submission regarding Council’s corporate signage in parks, reserves and walkways. This was successful in getting Council’s support for installing the Bim Hilder-designed bronze plaques which have been used in various locations in Castlecrag over past years.

The Progress Association sends delegates to the Federation of Willoughby Progress Associations which meets every two months, for information-sharing meetings on matters of concern to the wider Willoughby community. The Federation has recently made a detailed submission to Council on the revision of DCP 27 which covers notification of Development Applications to interested parties.

Thank you to the hard-working committee which meets every alternate month to our general meetings, and tackles a wide range of issues of importance to maintaining the unique character of Castlecrag.

Kate Westoby, President

On Census night, 8 August 2006, householders in every house in Australia filled out their Census forms. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has now released the ‘QuickStats’ – see: www.censusdata.abs.gov.au

So what secrets do our 1022 private dwellings contain? Some Castlecrag numbers and percentage proportions are summarised below, with occasional comparisons where there are interesting differences with the Sydney Statistical District (the most relevant comparison) and Australia as a whole.

Population: 2807 (Syd 4.12M; Aus 19.9M); Females: 50.2% (Syd/Aus 50.7%).

Ages: 0-14 years, 650 (23.2%; Syd/Aus 20.7%); 15-24 years, 302 (10.8%; Syd/Aus 13.8%); 25-54 years, 1079 (38.4%; Syd 44%,Aus 42%); 55-64 years, 372 (13.3%; Syd 10.2%,Aus 11%); 65 years and over, 405 (14.4%; Syd 12.3%,Aus 13.3%). The median age is 41 years (Syd 35, Aus 37).

Citizenship: 88.9% (Syd 83%, Aus 86%).

Born overseas: 878 (31.3%; Syd 31.7%,Aus 22%).

Country of birth: Australia 1844 (65.7%; Syd 60.4%, Aus 71%); England 174 (6.2%; Syd 3.5%); New Zealand 59 (2.1%; Syd 2.6%); Hong Kong 58 (2.1%); South Africa 45 (1.6%); China 44.

Languages spoken at home: English only 82% (Syd 64%; Aus 79%); Cantonese & Mandarin 138; German 39; Japanese 37; Hungarian.

Religious affiliation: Catholic 748 (26.6%; Syd 29.7%); Anglican 737 (26.3%; Syd 18%); No Religion 547 (19.5%; Syd 14%, Aus 19%); Uniting Church 106 (3.8%); Judaism 98 (3.5%). (Note that Sydney includes 4.3% Eastern Orthodox; 3.9% Islam).

Marital status of Over 15s: Married 67% (Syd 50%); Never married 22% (Syd 34%); Separated or divorced 6.1% (Syd 10%); Widowed 4.5% (Syd 5.6%).

Income of Over 15s: Median weekly individual income $932 (Syd $578, Aus $440). Median weekly household income $2672 (Syd $1154, Aus $1027).

Family characteristics: 804 families, including 472 couple families with children (59%; Syd 49%, Aus 45%); 262 couple families without children (33%; Syd/Aus 37%); 63 one-parent families (8%; Syd/Aus 16%).

Dwellings: 1022, with 947 occupied on 8/8/06; 931 separate houses (98%; Syd 62%, Aus 75%).

Median weekly rent: $600 (Syd $250, Aus $190).

Median housing loan repayment: $3000/month (Syd $1800,Aus $1300).

Average household size: 3.0 (Syd/Aus 2.7); av. 1.1 persons per bedroom.

Fully-owned houses: 468 (49.4%; Syd/Aus 30%); Being purchased 331 (35%; Syd 31%); Rented 117 (12.4%; Syd 30%). Of the 947 occupied private dwellings, 797 (84%) were family households (Syd 68%); 125 (13%) were lone person households (Syd 22%). Of the 117 privately rented dwellings, 90 were via real estate agents (77%; Syd 62%).

Bruce Wilson

In April 1998 Willoughby City Council established the Griffin Reserves Advisory Committee and its members consist of residents of Castlecrag, the Councillors of our Ward and Council staff. Its functions are to review the current Plan of Management for the Griffin Reserves in Castlecrag as it relates to the ongoing implementation, development, work and management of these areas and to advise on aspects of the use, control management of Griffin Reserves for consideration by Council. Its duties include monitoring and advising Council on the health and condition of bushland in the reserves and encouraging the visitation, promotion and enhancement of the natural and built features of the Griffin Reserves.

Much work has in the Reserves and Islands has been overseen by this committee since 1998. The work has been done using bush regeneration contractors and in some reserves working with residents. It is funded by Council. The nature of the work is necessarily slow and it will be some years before Griffin’s entire system of inter-related Walkways and Reserves is again able to be used safely. Regeneration and planting in The Buttress Reserve, below The Tower Reserve, has been underway for some time, but last week the contractor arrived to start work and was horrified to discover that vandals had ripped out plants and slashed or destroyed trees. All her efforts to restore the natural vegetation of this reserve had been made null and void.

Griffin’s vision for Castlecrag was one in which the natural landscape, not the built form was the dominant feature. The Plan of Management seeks to re-establish this vision and it is a matter of deep disappointment that some would seek to destroy this. Let us hope that The Buttress, after further regeneration work, and as the other Reserves are demonstrating, will become the place of natural loveliness it was planned to be.

Elizabeth Lander

A key focus for the NSW Fire Brigades is assisting communities to prepare for fires and minimise the risk.

Terry Munsey, Deputy Manager, Bushfire Natural Hazards Protection Unit of the NSW Fire Brigades (NSWFB) was the Guest Speaker at the Castlecrag Progress Association’s General Meeting in February. He spoke on the formation and operation of Community Fire Units (CFUs).

Terry stated that the interface between residential areas and bush is a wonderful living environment, but also generates risk of fire. Landowners on the interface with bush have the responsibility for managing the fire risk. These risks relate to three stages of a fire – before it gets there, during the fire and after the fire (e.g., cleaning the roof is important, but not once the fire is on its way.) In the Blue Mountains bushfires of 1994 more people were injured falling off their roofs than by the fires. Property owners need to minimise the risk to their homes and to their neighbours. The local council has a huge task to manage the risk with a bushfire preparedness plan.

The NSW Fire Brigades’ priorities are firstly, your personal safety, secondly, your house, and other assets after that. They work with local councils to develop sound bushfire management plans. Willoughby Council invests a lot of resources to manage the bushland-property interface. The principle is to make the houses at this interface more prepared to counter the fire risk without causing drastic changes to the landscape and associated negative environmental impacts that may occur with widespread hazard reduction measures. Local areas need different approaches, depending on the vegetation species, etc. If the preparation measures are in place and sound hazard reduction strategies are carried out, you will minimise the risk of property damage from bushfires.

CFUs in NSW

The development of CFUs has occurred as the result of the catastrophic bush fire event in 1994 (e.g., in the Lane Cove Valley). Under these conditions, there were not enough fire engines to attend to all calls. Therefore a new strategy was developed to empower people to prepare prior to a fire. There are now 357 CFUs in NSW with over 6000 people in the program. While units occur across all of NSW, they are predominantly in the metropolitan area. The preparation that occurred through CFUs in the Hornsby area prior to the 2002 bushfires (which were very similar to those of 1994) meant that these fires had little impact and not a single home was lost.

About 50 CFUs a year are being formed. They are not intended to be fire-fighting units – the emphasis is on prevention and property protection. Currently there are three CFUs in the Middle Cove/Castle Cove area and the NSWFB is in the process of establishing a fourth. A problem is the high rate of dropout of members – as people are increasingly resource-rich and time-poor.

The NSW Fire Brigade Act gives NSWFB the power to undertake action to extinguish fires, and a change in the Act in 2005 gave the NSWFB responsibility for training CFU members through local fire stations.

The CFU concept

The aim of CFUs is to have communities better prepared when there is a fire in, or approaching, their area. They are located on the urban interface within the NSWFB area and each CFU has a limited area of operation. CFU members work alongside fire fighters, but focus on property protection. The program is not intended to train fire fighters. Units can be equipped with either cabinets (boxes) or trailers and members make a commitment to undertake regular training.

CFU activities include equipment training, education and preparation prior to fire activity. CFU members are required to undertake 12 hours per year to supervised training. This allows NSWFB to assess the preparedness of each CFU.

The NSWFB keeps constant contact with CFUs, and their operation is restricted to very small neighbourhood area. Each CFU is structured under a team leader, who is the point of contact for the CFU. CFU members are covered for workers compensation and liability insurance.

CFUs are informed about fires in their area and need to contact ‘000’ prior to commencing any activities during fires. The CFU regional coordinators respond to fire activity where CFUs are engaged in fire management. ABC Radio is widely used to get information out to communities.

Establishing CFUs in Castlecrag

Castlecrag, with all of its bushland reserves, would benefit by having a number of CFUs established. For example:

• Residents adjacent to the Castlecrag Northern Escarpment might be interested in forming a local CFU;
• The Bulwark area will soon apply to form a CFU (Contacts for this: Richard Newton tel. 9967 4933 or Peter Moffitt tel. 9958 1213).

If your neighbourhood might have an interest in forming a CFU, we suggest that you convene an informal gathering of your neighbours in the first instance; there is an application form on the NSW Fire Brigades website or you can email for more information to cfu.nswfb@nswfire.nsw.goc\v.au.

Of course, if you would like to post a notice in the next issue of The Crag to invite neighbours to get together for this purpose, just contact The Editor and we will be glad to help.

Lorraine Cairnes and Bob McKillop

All Castlecrag residents will have noted the refurbishment work being undertaken by Council on the Griffin Memorial Fountain at the intersection of Sortie Port and Edinburgh Road. The island has been landscaped, the bowl has been repaired, the pump and jets have been refurbished and new lights will shortly be fitted. Willoughby City Council undertook this work in close consultation with the NSW Heritage Office under its maintenance budget.

Bob McKillop and Cr Trevor Morgan reported this good news at the Progress Association General Meeting on 28 February. As the refurbishment does not entail a modern water treatment facility, the operation of the fountain will require regular checking and cleaning of the fountain by local residents. To this end, the Progress Association has formed a ‘Friends of the Fountain Group’, which will inspect and clean the fountain on a roster basis using a kit supplied by Council. A number of residents have already nominated for the Group, but additional support is welcome. Please contact the Progress Association Secretary at 6/77 Edinburgh Road, Castlecrag or phone 9958 5384.

With the formation of the Friends Group, Council will have the fountain operating again in the next few weeks. Council will continue its efforts to obtain additional resources to upgrade the fountain over the longer term.

Progress Association President John Steel has congratulated Council for its achievement in refurbishing the fountain to operating condition and expressed his appreciation of the efforts by Councillors Morgan and Cox in gaining this positive outcome. He said:

“The Griffin Memorial Fountain was constructed in 1965 as a result of a community fund-raising effort to mark the Centenary of Willoughby Municipal Council. The magnificent water sculpture by Bim Hilder was created as a memorial to the creator of our suburb, Walter Burley Griffin. Local residents also helped with the construction. The Mayor, Alderman Laurie McGinty, unveiled the fountain on Centenary Day, 23 October 1965, to the great pleasure of the many residents who attended. It continued to be a feature of the suburb until recent years and has been listed as a heritage item of State and Regional significance by Willoughby Council. The Progress Association has made its restoration a priority project for the community and the funds raised through the Castlecrag Community Fairs have been set-aside for this purpose. The Progress Association will continue to liaise with Council for the long-term conservation of this local icon.”

Burley’s café and restaurant

Many residents will be aware that a new café and restaurant, Burley’s opened at Shop 5, The Quadrangle, in early March, which was formerly Lunch Café & Restaurant. The owners, Malcolm and Janet McLune, have named their venture after Castlecrag’s famous founder and designer, Walter Burley Griffin. Featuring refurbished premises and Modern Australian cuisine, Burley’s is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as coffee anytime in between. The chef aims to have regular changes of menu and also offers daily specials.

Sydney Butcher Boys

The butcher’s shop in The Quadrangle is under new ownership. Ian Goldfinch, trading as Sydney Butcher Boys, renovated the premises and gave the shop a new image for it’s re-opening on 1 March. Ian previously worked for butchers in the eastern suburbs. Sydney Butcher Boys at Castlecrag is his first venture as an owner and his father and mother, John and Sandra, are currently assisted with the business. Ian offers a large range of gourmet meat products, with special lines such as Moroccan basil pesto lamb rumps and Batong Boerewees from South Africa.

Books of local interest

Sally’s Bookshop now has in stock a book about the early days of our community here in Castlecrag and another will be launched there on 31 May. Communism a Love Story by Jeff Sparrow is a biography of Guido Baracchi, a colourful resident of Castlecrag between 1937 and 1945 (and again in 1950). Baracchi’s time in Castlecrag stemmed from his friendship with Walter Burley Griffin in Melbourne. It was characterised by a number of romantic liaisons.

The Crag by Wanda Spathopoulos will be launched at Sally’s Bookshop at 6.30pm on Thursday 31 May. It is a memoir of Wanda’s life in Castlecrag during its early years. A daughter of Edgar Herbert, the physical educational pioneer who lived in Castlecrag from 1927, Wanda is one of the few remaining people to have personally known Walter and Marion Griffin. All are welcome to the book launch, but bookings are essential for what promises to be a very interesting evening –
Phone: 9958 5007. Sally Crawford.

Are you searching for another playground to visit with the children? Make your way to Warners Park, which has recently been refurbished by Willoughby City Council.

The enclosed playground is suitable for young children, though the older ones will be well occupied on the massive climbing frame. A paved bike path for the trikes and bikes with training wheels encircles the sand pit, complete with a water pump, perfect for building dams and rivers. Adults are catered for as well, with two gas barbecues and three covered picnic tables waiting to host the next family outing.

Warners Park is accessible by car through Northbridge by following the signs to The Outpost. For an even more memorable approach, walk down to The Rampart, follow the trail through Keep Reserve and enter the park through the bush.

Jennifer Kos

Things seem to be ‘hotting up’ on the subjects of environmental sustainability and its close cousin, climate change. The loss of most winter crops in southeastern Australia due to utter failure of spring rains and severe bushfires this summer tied up resources and caused severe losses, while Al Gore’s compelling film convinced many about the Inconvenient Truth of global warming has generated widespread discussion within our community. These events lifted public awareness to a new level and the Stern Report from Britain and local political developments since have at least maintained that level.

Willoughby City Council has been encouraging greater awareness of sustainability issues through many of its ‘e-Restore’ suite of programs over several years. We now have a larger and more loyal group of volunteer bush-carers than any other council in New South Wales. Our recycling achievements are also the envy of many local government councils. The e-Restore program was funded by a levy on rates. That levy was introduced and extended with very little objection. So I draw the conclusion that most ratepayers are in favour of our actions. However, a paucity of new faces at e-Restore events suggests that many ratepayers remain largely uncommitted. Perhaps they remain ‘on the fence’ with thoughts such as ‘I just don’t have time’, ‘what impact can I have?’ or ‘what impact can Australia have?’

Some leaders, such as Al Gore and Tim Flannery, exhort us to start the change process with small steps in our own lives – steps like recycling, saving water and reducing our energy consumption. Others, like Clive Hamilton of the Australia Institute, say that we need to be ‘told’. He points out that leaded petrol, with its health risks, was not abolished by people deciding not to buy it, but by prohibition through government legislation. But which politician or party will be brave enough to propose such legislation in the face of powerful vested interests while the public appears apathetic? Both views are correct: let us have voters demanding political (and corporate) change and backing it up with visible actions of our own. Obvious activism in Willoughby might involve joining a Sustainability Street group. We might choose to buy ‘green’ power, ie, electricity that is generated from renewable sources. If we believe in the power of the market, we might be prepared to advocate (or at least acknowledge to friends and colleagues) the logic of higher prices for energy and water.

A recent commentary on the level of affluence in present-day Australia mentioned that we now spend a smaller proportion of our income on water and most forms of energy that at any time in the past. The economic ‘system’ encourages us to use more. How many of us are prepared to concede that, in terms of protecting the environment, the system is not working and needs to be changed? Perhaps Australia can be the place that makes the necessary changes and shows that possibility to the rest of the world.

Furthermore, can we here in Willoughby be at the forefront of that change process? We are well placed to do so: affluent, educated and progressive. It seems to me that this must be where not only our priority but also much of our energy must be directed as a community. For me, many of Willoughby’s traditional concerns become inconsequential by comparison.

To paraphrase from an epoch-changing book: what profit for mankind if we gain the whole world but lose the planet?

Councillors will be addressing the future of e-Restore and its stance on sustainability and climate change in a full day workshop in late April. Watch this space. I would welcome any thoughts you may have on how and when we might involve you, our constituents.

Clr. Barry Thompson (Naremburn Ward)

Phone: 9412 1596; Email: Barry.Thompson@willoughby.nsw.gov.au

Mark Sabolch, the Water Management Engineer at Willoughby City Council, was guest speaker at the Progress Association’s AGM on 16 May 2004. He spoke about water in Castlecrag from both the perspective of an environmental water engineer, and that of a boy who grew up in the 1960s environment of Castlecrag.

Mark’s early childhood was in Castlecrag, his architect father having built the family home in The Bulwark. The house applied many of Walter Burley Griffin’s principles, with its flat roof and grey brick finish melding into the bush setting. The blocks on either side were vacant, so his early educational experiences were of the ‘enchanted bush’.

While Griffin’s achievements in relating the built to the natural environment are well known, the relationship of the fabric of Castlecrag to water is less appreciated. Griffin saw the importance of keeping the creeks as nature reserves to maintain the aesthetics of the bush and to ensure that the bays received clean water. The Castlecrag landscape design provides ‘zones of transition’ from the built to the natural environment.

As the built environment has become more dominant, native vegetation has been lost and the creeks and bays have become degraded, especially after storms. Mark presented photographs of recent examples of pollution from litter and scouring of creeks in Willoughby. Often sediment from building sites and other man-made interventions is deposited in the creeks and this kills off the biological life of the creek. He included extreme cases where chemical spills had caused major fish kills in our local creeks.

Willoughby Council is monitoring the environmental condition of the creeks by sampling the water and sediment, and measuring the presence of sensitive animal and insect species, such as the damsel fly. On the Signal Index of water quality, which uses a 1-7 scale with less than 4 being severely impaired, all the Middle Harbour creeks rate around 3.3. Against the AusRiverAS biotic index, the Willoughby creeks averaged around ‘D’ (impoverished). Thus, the creeks draining into Middle Harbour are in poor condition environmentally.

The key issue is, do people care? This is a difficult question to answer, but testing under the Streets to Creeks project suggests that residents are now more aware of where stormwater from their street goes. The results show, however, that residents regard problems associated with urban density and its impacts more highly than those of stormwater and water quality.

Mark spent some time outlining innovative stormwater management practices to reduce environmental impacts in future. These include vegetative drains in the median strip of roads, the use of roof gardens and greater use of rainwater tanks. A demonstration rainwater tank with plumbing for internal use and planter boxes that collect roof runoff have been installed at the community centre at Warner’s Park and there is optimism that innovative stormwater management practices will be applied to the LandCom development site at Willoughby Market Garden Park.