Category: Crag Archives

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

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.