Category: Crag Archives

Searching for a Poet Lorikeet, 11 November 2007

All Castlecrag residents are invited to a Sunday afternoon poetry reading get-together outside Sally’s Bookshop at The Griffin Centre on 11 November from 2.30pm to 5-ish. Bring along a piece of poetry that you have written, or has special inspiration in your life. As it is also Remembrance Day, why not some poems on peace and sharing of the world? Of course, some humorous Patterson-style doggerel, or Wordsworth whimsy will be welcome ingredients. Seated out on the verandah we will start about 2.30, take a 30 minute interval at 3.30 for you to get some afternoon tea or some wine from our excellent local shops, then a final hour of entertainment.

All original works will be eligible for the title ‘Poet Lorikeet’, to be selected by a well-versed expert formerly with the Passionate Larks & Wild Night Servers, Lorraine Cairnes. Other prizes donated by your Progress Association will be awarded to junior poets, and poems of special merit.

While entry is FREE, in order to be assured of a seat, please phone our convenor Sally Crawford 9958-5007 or visit Sally’s Bookshop to reserve a seat. Alternative arrangements will be made in case of wet weather or large numbers of participants. Why not book ahead with a Castlecrag restaurant to round off a wonderful afternoon and evening?

CragSitters

In August CragSitters arranged a night out for its Mums at the Bai Yok Thai Restaurant in Castlecrag. This provided a great opportunity for the Mums to have a well deserved night off and meet some other locals. They suggested that we organise a night out for the Dads. So Dads, we will keep you posted on dates and venues.

A follow-up gathering for families was held at Stoker Playground of the CragSitters on 9 September. Despite it being the APEC long weekend, we still had a number of families in attendance. The next gathering is planned for on Sunday 9 December at 3.30pm, again at Stoker Playground in Edinburgh Road. We invite existing and new members to join us on the day.

New members, both families and babysitters are welcome to the group, so if you’re a family who would like to find out more about the group or if you are interested in providing babysitting services, you can email us on cragsitters@yahoo.com.au

Sharie Kennedy-Wren

Community Notice Board

The Council’s notice board near the bus-stop outside The Quadrangle requires repair and the Progress Association has approached Council to attend to these. It also requires those using the board to follow some basic rules.

Please note the board has two sides: the eastern side is for display of notices from Willoughby Council and any of its formal sub-committees including The Haven Amphitheatre and Community Centre. The other side is for established community groups and public notices for local events. It is not for private commercial gain or advertising of events outside Castlecrag, or Willoughby, or personal notices of lost pets or possessions. Notices should be kept to A4 or A5 size.

Roger Page Real Estate kindly holds the keys as a community service to the people of Castlecrag. Please show them the proposed poster before asking for the key, and comply with the rules as to content.

Awards to Local Residents

Congratulations to Antoinette McSharry, who was commended by the judges of this year’s Willoughby Art Prize for her painting A Day in my Life, Sailors Bay in the Willoughby Resident Award sponsored by Willoughby City Council.

The coveted Sheads First National Real Estate 2D Award for Painting & Mixed Media was won by 92-year old Aboriginal painter Loongkoonan from the Kimberley Region of Western Australia for her Bush Tucker in Nyirina Country.

And congratulations to Valda Wilson who has been awarded the Best Soprano Award at this year’s McDonalds Performing Arts Challenge.

Boatshed Centenary

The Sailors Bay Park Boatshed celebrates its centenary this year. The first boatshed at the foot of Rockley Street in Sailors Bay Park was leased in 1907 for a Mr Bob Carr (no known relation of a recent NSW Premier). This was a popular place for families to picnic and hire of rowing skiffs for exploring the foreshores or quietly paddling canoes, as we still do today.

Special Thanks

The Castlecrag community extends special thanks to:

Willoughby Council’s Trades Supervisor Mark Supple and painters Frank and Tony Hecimovic for their recent restoration of the noticeboard at The Griffin Centre. The work demonstrates meticulous rust removal and stabilisation, while the former ‘Heritage Green’ has been replaced with ‘Eucalypt Green’.

The Bai Yok Thai Restaurant for its donation of 137 items of crockery, including 70 large plates, 14 serving platters and 30 coupes. These can be hired cheaply for Castlecrag events by contacting us at: info@castlecrag.org.au

The Haven Notice: Shuttle buses

Do you have a light-rigid bus, mini-bus, people-mover or large car that could help for half-an-hour before and after an event at The Haven amphitheatre? Do you currently hold an ‘LR’ (Light Rigid) licence?

The Haven is looking for volunteers in this area – even occasional help would be a tremendous assistance. Naturally there would be free admissions to shows and other rewards.

Phone Howard Rubie on 0418 648 870 if you can help.

Eric Kaye 1916-2004

Life Member of the Castlecrag Progress Association

Castlecrag lost one of its notable and longstanding citizens with the passing of Eric Kaye on 14 June.

The construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge during Eric’s teenage years sparked his interest in engineering. He joined the Navy and studied engineering at Technical College in the evenings.

Eric married Rita in 1942. They purchased a block of land at 325 Edinburgh Road in 1948 and got local architect and close friend, Chris Sorensen, to design their house. They then spent many years building this house – indeed, Eric was still working on it 50 years later.

Many, many wonderful memories were created at their home. From their deck perched above Middle Harbour, the Kayes were inspired by the magnificent natural landscape.

During his successful engineering career with the Australian Navy, Eric took possession of the Navy’s first computer in the United Kingdom, and spent several years in Washington DC where he and Rita made many close friends and became interested in the human rights movement.

Eric held an abiding love for Castlecrag and established a strong relationship with the whole Castlecrag community. He was a passionate advocate for the natural environment, and it was under Eric’s guidance as president of the Castlecrag Progress Association that the successful campaign against the extension of the Warringah Expressway through the bushland of the northern escarpment of Castlecrag, was fought during the 1980s.

In 1980, Eric was elected to Willoughby Council. He stated that his aim was to preserve Castlecrag’s quiet beauty for the enjoyment of Sydney’s future generations. He was re-elected in 1983, becoming Deputy Mayor in 1985. His role as an alderman was one in which he took great pride.

Eric served on the advisory committee that prepared an environmental study of the Castlecrag Peninsula for Willoughby Council from 1980. The report, released in 1982, established the basic guidelines for the future development of the suburb.

A natural leader but a self-effacing person, Eric will be fondly remembered and missed by those in the Willoughby and wider community who were fortunate to know and love him.

Luke Hastings/Editors

Each community group and organisation is founded on shared aspirations and beliefs and a common purpose. As each group interacts with the wider populace and other groups, it helps weave the rich fabric that makes a vibrant community tapestry. Accordingly even those who do not endorse every belief of another group have reason to celebrate its achievements as a contribution to the greater good of the community.

On Sunday 22 July, the congregation of St James Church welcomed all Castlecrag residents, via its new wheelchair accessible entrance, to celebrate the 60th (‘Diamond’) Anniversary of the first Church of England (now Anglican) service in Castlecrag. (A ‘church’ refers to a body of people professing the same Christian creed, not merely the edifice for public Christian worship.)

Originally in the Parish of St Thomas’, North Sydney, the Castlecrag area became the responsibility of St Stephen’s Willoughby, when that Church was founded. Archdeacon H S Begbie became Rector of St Stephen’s in 1921 and soon purchased land in Willoughby and Castlecrag. The Castlecrag site was on the corner of Edinburgh Road and The Parapet, but was subsequently sold when a new minister took over at St Stephen’s.

There were no services in Castlecrag until July 1947 when 16 people assembled at the home of Jack and Dorothy O’Connor. Worship at this venue continued for seven years. The name St James was chosen as younger brother of St John, the Willoughby sibling church. A Parents and Friends Association was also formed, making thousands of cakes and bottles of jam to raise funds for the Sunday School and proposed church building. By August 1949 a Building Fund was established and by April 1950 thanks to the generosity of Mr FW Turton, the rocky site on 184-186 Edinburgh Road was acquired.

On 24 July 1954, the lower church hall was opened and dedicated by Archbishop of Sydney and Primate of Australia, the Most Reverend H W K Mowll. This building served as a church, Sunday school and concert hall and centre of community activities. By 1956, the congregation had outgrown it and every Anglican family was approached for donations enabling a decision to build a new building and acquire adjoining land for a future church centre.

The present Church was designed by local architect John Brindley and features the acclaimed Bim Hilder foyer mural depicting scenes from Apostle James’ life. In November 1969 the Church Centre was dedicated by Bishop Hulme–Moir, a fitting climax to the work of Rev C E Reynolds, his planners and builders. The large debt incurred was repaid via musical comedies organized by Dorothy O’Connor with local youth, and Annual Art Shows organized by June and Barry Raymond. In 1987, St James Church was finally consecrated by the Bishop of North Sydney, the Right Rev D Cameron.

At the present, services are held at 8am each Sunday and the Sunday school has recently re-opened under the guidance of our youth worker Richard Sercombe. Bishop Peter Watson is the interim minister until Rev Robert Cameron arrives in February 2008.Each Christmas members carry out ‘Operation Caring Christmas’ delivering small cakes and similar ’goodies’ to residents who are unable to get out. If you would like to receive, or to give, please contact St James’ members.

Today, St James’ elegant design in light face-brick and stone tower topped by an unadorned wooden cross, floodlit at night, is a pleasing landmark and symbol of community cooperation that welcomes all. Please contact us on 9958 4377.

Bev Westwood and Esther Leslie, with Bruce Wilson

Marguerite (Rita) Elizabeth Kaye:

1917-2003

Marguerite Elizabeth Kaye, who has died aged 86, was a resident of Castlecrag for nearly 60 years and a former editor of The Crag. She is survived by her husband, Eric, her daughter, Barbara, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Marguerite, affectionately known as Rita, was born at home in Paddington on 3 July 1917. She was one of six children of Fred and Ethel Miller, and their only girl. After living in various houses in Sydney’s east, Rita’s family moved to Northbridge. Rita attended a youth fellowship group at St Mark’s church in Northbridge. She regularly attended the local movie theatre (near to the current Woolworths) on a Saturday. On one Saturday, Rita noticed a fine looking gentleman in the theatre queue and determined that they should meet. You will not be surprised to learn that Eric Kaye was oblivious to all but the newsreels and movies that he had gone to view. In stark contrast to the times, Rita brashly invited Eric to accompany her to a dance of the youth fellowship group and the rest, as they say, is history. Rita and Eric were married on 21 February 1942.

Rita and Eric always had a great love for the outdoors and their honeymoon was spent bushwalking from Bungonia down the Grose Valley to the Kangaroo Valley, including passing through the Blue Gum Forest, later photographed by another former resident of Castlecrag, Max Dupain. After they were married Rita and Eric moved from their family homes into “Wee Jean”, a shack at the end of the Castlecrag peninsula. In 1945 and 1947, they had two lovely young girls – Barbara and Margaret.

In 1948, Rita and Eric had almost saved enough for a deposit on a block of land further up the hill. They bargained the owner down and purchased 325 Edinburgh Road, an address that would remain theirs for more than 50 years.
In this post-war period materials were in short supply so the construction of their family home took a number of years. Rita was actively involved in the building and often told of her pride in the walls she had plastered. Many, many wonderful memories were created at 325 Edinburgh Road.

It is not hard to understand why Rita and Eric were attracted to Castlecrag. However, Rita and Eric did not merely adopt this suburb, they adopted the entire community. Rita became a voluntary librarian at the Community Library. Rita and Eric were members of the Castlecrag Progress Association for more than 50 years. Among the many tasks she undertook, Rita worked tirelessly to raise funds for community projects such as building the Castlecrag Kindergarten. Rita and Eric participated in numerous community campaigns opposed to the construction of the proposed Warringah Freeway which would have devastated their suburb. As we know, this was ultimately successful. Rita took on the role of Editor of The Crag for many years.

Another role in which Rita took immense personal pride was in the regeneration of Castlecrag’s bush. She participated in various groups, including one led by Beverley Blacklock and, more recently, WEPA’s Bush Regeneration team working in the Sugarloaf Catchment Creek.

Rita made many, many friends in Castlecrag, who will sadly miss her and fondly remember her.

There are some who pass this way and it is difficult to recall what, if any, impact they have made for doing so. Rita was not one of them. The contribution which she made during her life – to her family, her community and to her husband – is substantial and lasting.

For nine nights during February and March, audiences at your Haven Amphitheatre were treated to William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, his most loved comedy, the way he intended – outdoors in the amphitheatre’s idyllic bush setting!

There was no better backdrop for this magical and romantic tale of warring fairies, Athenian lovers and a group of bumbling actors in a moonlit forest as they fall under the magical spell of the summer solstice. The Raw Em production was full of energy and fun; and Shakespeare’s tale came to life with all the vitality contained in the classic words of the play.

Those who attended were delighted by the uplifting adventure about love, chaos, marriage and dreams. We were pleasantly surprised at the number of young people who attended the performances, and they certainly seemed to enjoy themselves allowing the excellent performances of the players to carry them with much laughter through the classic story. The season was a great success for the Haven, with over 750 patrons attending the performances, even though the first weekend was troubled by uncertain weather.

Nine nights of commitment to running the theatre was a ‘big ask’ for any community group so, on behalf of the Haven Committee, I thank all those members of the community who gave willingly of their time to assist the Haven in the presentation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

What’s Next at the Haven?? Watch this space in the next issue of The Crag.

Howard Rubie

It is the practice of Willoughby City Council to send copies of DAs to each progress association within its area and the Castlecrag Progress Association is sent all DAs relating to Castlecrag. The Castlecrag Progress Association attempts to monitor all DAs relating to Castlecrag and to comment without fear or favour on those DAs that may have the potential to adversely impact on our community. The Association does this according to strict policy guidelines that are linked to its long-standing objective: ‘To conserve the natural and human heritage of Castlecrag for the benefit of future generations.’

Acquiescence to non-complying development that will impact upon our community will incrementally damage the special character of Castlecrag and reduce the enforceability of the planning controls.

To facilitate transparency and understanding of our policy and the processes followed in implementing the policy, the Committee of the Progress Association redrafted its DA policy last year. The redrafted policy was unanimously endorsed at the Progress Association general meeting on 23 August 2005. It was published in The Crag and is posted on the Association’s web site.

The Progress Association is pleased to report that it has only found need to object to or to comment on a small percentage of the large numbers of DAs received since August 2005.

The Association has, in accordance with its DA policy, commented on several DAs requiring a SEPP1 variation. This arises where a proposal seeks to depart from any mandatory standard contained in a local or regional environmental plan or state environmental planning policy such as site area requirements, maximum height or foreshore building line. In these cases the applicant must lodge a written statement known as a SEPP1 objection.

As the Progress Association does not always have the means in the time available to assess whether such a variation from the controls is justified and will not adversely impact upon the community, it will write to Council to remind it that consent should only be granted if the SEPP1 objection is well founded.

On other occasions if the applicant has not provided all documentation that is required by the planning controls for assessment of a DA, the Association will also write to Council to remind it that consent cannot be given until all the necessary information has been provided to permit a proper understanding of the proposal. The most common omission is the failure to provide a SEPP1 objection for a partial three storey development (which always requires a variation of the height standard), or a landscape plan, or a heritage impact statement for a development in the Griffin Conservation Area.

Jill Newton and Peter Moffitt

Some of you may have noticed work occurring at the Community Centre if you happened to vote there on Polling Day.

A new roof was installed over the Christmas period. Water from the new roof is to be collected in an 8000 litre water tank, plumbed into the toilets and for use on the garden. Additional work is also underway. Over the Easter break a pair of windows on the Southern wall will be converted into doors. These new doors will lead onto what should be a delightful new timber deck. There will be new storage sheds for the Centre’s tables and chairs.

The narrow western side will be landscaped and a path put in which will provide access to the bushland and rock ledges below the centre. This bushland has been quite inaccessible for many years and has some weed issues. The new access will facilitate Council and Community Bush Carers getting to work on the area. In time it may well form another bush track link down to Warners Park.

It is envisaged these works will be completed before the end of May.

Adrian Cox

Ward Councillor, Sailors Bay.

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