The retiring President, Kate Westoby, presented her third annual report to the Annual General Meeting on 16 May, as follows:

The past year has been a successful one for the Progress Association. Our main activities were:

The Castlecrag Community Fair, held on 4 June 2003, was once again a very successful event with a number of community groups and local businesses involved. The Progress Association ran its highly successful trash and treasure stall under the splendid management of Kathy Rosenmeyer. Money raised has been put aside for the restoration of the Griffin Fountain and other community projects.

General meetings. James Smallhorn spoke at the August meeting on the Griffin Fountain, covering the restoration plans and the costs. A community forum was held at our October meeting where a range of issues and ideas were discussed such as Development Applications, traffic problems, tree plantings on Edinburgh Road and the recording of oral histories from long time residents. Willoughby Council’s Traffic Manager, Tony Lehmann, spoke about traffic management in Castlecrag at the February meeting.

Council’s Development Controls. During the last year Willoughby Council has revised some important DCPs – notably DCP 19(Heritage and Conservation) and DCP 27(Notifications). The Progress Association made submissions on these and we are pleased to report that, generally, the revisions have clarified and tightened the processes and the controls. However, this Association has ongoing concerns about the need for more rigorous application of the Controls.

Traffic. After a longstanding effort by the Progress Association I am pleased to report that there has been some action by Council during the year, the most notable being the completion of the roundabout at the corner of Edinburgh Road, The Postern and Rutland Avenue. The other planned calming structures have been placed on hold pending change in traffic speed and/or accidents. However, some line markings will be painted on Edinburgh Road to demarcate cycle lanes and parking spaces. Other minor traffic improvements have been made in Sunnyside Crescent and The Bulwark.

Federation of Progress Associations. Traffic has also been a major issue for the Federation of Progress Associations, which established a subcommittee to examine traffic issues in Northbridge with representation from Castlecrag, South Willoughby, Naremburn and Northbridge. The Federation has been able to establish an umbrella Public Liability Insurance policy that has enabled the five participating Progress Associations (including Castlecrag) to significantly reduce their premiums. Also, through the Federation we have been actively providing input into the planning process of Civic Place. We therefore, note with satisfaction, the endorsement of the project by Willoughby’s citizens at the Council poll conducted at the March Council elections. We thank Bob McKillop, Elizabeth Lander and Gay Spies for representing our association on the Federation throughout the year.

The Crag. Kerry McKillop and Elizabeth Lander continue as editors of The Crag publishing four issues culminating in Number 150 in April 2004. We have continued with the serialisation of the history of Castlecrag, which has generated considerable public interest. Thanks are in order to Bob McKillop, Adrienne Kabos, James Werrick and Elizabeth Lander for putting this series together. We thank all the advertisers for their support and we ask the community to get behind the local businesses that support us. Thanks to our devoted volunteer deliverers: Mac and Annette Robertson, Judith Keller, Lisa Sherington, Jill Newton, Gay and Harold Spies, David and Joanna Harrop and Marie Clifton-Bassett. Thanks also to our expert ex-postman Harry Fox for delivering The Crag. We are proud of our newsletter.

Website. I reported last year that we were about to establish our website. However, we had some technical difficulties so we advertised in The Crag for a volunteer to manage the website. I’m pleased to report that Annette Frith has come forward in response and with her help the website has been updated and established with a new ISP. Please check our site at: www.castlecrag.org.au. We welcome any comments and suggestions for further improvement.

Committee. Finally, I would like to thank the members of this committee for all their hard work. They are all people with a love of this area and are committed to enhancing and protecting our natural and built environment as well as encouraging a sense of community. A lot of work is carried out throughout the year such as, responding to DAs and DCPs, creating The Crag and producing the Fair, to name just a few tasks.

Kate Westoby