18thSEPTEMBER 2017 Edition Two. In this edition: Council elections, Beecroft Market Centre,
Bag Free Beecroft , Ray Park Heritage event,
traffic issues in The Promenade and the
rezoning of the former IBM complex on Coonara Rd.
President’s comment. I
thought I’d get a break from compiling the eNews this week but once
again a number of matters have arisen. While they are all important,
perhaps the most pressing is the announcement of the opening of
Woolworths in the Beecroft Place shopping centre next Wednesday. I
am quite sure we are all looking forward to getting our shopping centre
back and seeing an end to all the disruptive construction
activity. The Trust worked hard at the early planning and design
stages to achieve a better shopping complex for our community, so I hope
our past efforts will be rewarded by a shopping centre that the local
community will accept and use.
I managed to visit the Ray Park heritage event on election day last
Saturday. Dorothy Doolan managed to contact many descendants of the
original farmers and orchardists who reminisced about living in the area
last century.
Speakers included members from the Cantrell, Lees, Hazlewood and Stanley families. photography courtesy BCCT committee member This photograph shows our State Member for Epping, Damien Tudehope, presenting a plaque to Carol Finch (Cantrell).
I have included in this eNews an item from outside of the Beecroft and
Cheltenham precinct that may interest many of our readers. The
future of the huge former IBM site in West Pennant Hills with its
extensive bushland is still uncertain. The new owner, Mirvac, will
of course want to optimise the financial return on their acquisition.
Read the article below and if you have an opinion, now would be a good
time to make it known.
Local Council Elections last Saturday 9th September As
you know, the elections for local government were held last
weekend. The final results are yet to be posted on the Government
website but indications are that Philip Ruddock will be the next mayor
of Hornsby. Across the three Hornsby wards we expect that at least
four Liberal and two Greens councillors will be appointed. The
other three councillor positions are at this stage unknown. If you
are interested in studying the results, including a breakdown of voting
in the local booths, click on http://www.votensw.info/results. The Trust will continue to work with all nine councillors and the Mayor to support our local community.
With respect to Epping Ward within Parramatta Council, there is little
certainty of who the three councillors will be. But at this stage it is
likely that there will be a Liberal and a Labor councillor. Use the
above link to search for Parramatta Council results.
Opening of the Beecroft Market Shopping Centre. Woolworths is holding an opening ceremony next Wednesday morning 20th
September commencing at 10 am. Come along and join in.
Check out the shopping complex to see if it measures up to your
expectations. Coinciding with the Beecroft Place opening, the
ladies promoting Beecroft Bags will have a large display of their bags
in a glass cabinet at the entrance. There will be a special permanent
bag depot in the centre to allow shoppers to ‘borrow and bring back’
bags if they have forgotten their own. A sewing team from the
group will create bags while visitors watch on Wednesday 20th September and Saturday 23rd September from 9 am to 1 pm each day!
Next Sewing Bee for the Beecroft Bags. Coincidentally, on Wednesday 20th September the fourth bag-sewing bee will take place as usual
from 10 am to 1 pm in St John’s Church Hall, which is situated on
Beecroft Rd. between Hannah Street and Chapman Avenue. It’s best
to approach the hall driving northwards (towards Pennant Hills) so that
you can turn left into the car park, the driveway of which is located
before you pass the church itself. Morning tea will be provided
and new faces are always most welcome.
If you are unable to attend the sewing bees but would like to make some bags at home, just send an email to Deirdre Mowat deirdremowat@bigpond.com
and her team can deliver a pattern, instructions and ready-cut kits to
you! Deirdre would like to say a special thank you to the people
who have been sewing beautiful bags at home over the last few months;
and many thanks to Anita Howard, who kindly created a cute silk-screen
stencil to print some pockets for us.
From Deirdre, on behalf of Trish, Clarissa and Emma.
Ongoing traffic problems in The Promenade. On
Thursday afternoon the Trust was invited along to a meeting with
Council’s traffic staff to discuss with local residents and school
representatives how to improve traffic management in The Promenade.
photography courtesy BCCT committee member
Over
20 people attended the informal meeting, including Emma Heyde and
Nathan Tilbury who are two of the councillor candidates likely to be
elected.
Many grievances were raised and suggestions offered.
Council staff will consider the issues raised and provide feedback soon.
Rezoning of the former IBM site next to Cumberland State Forest West Pennant Hills. Many
residents will be aware of the former IBM complex located on 28
hectares at 55 Coonara Avenue West Pennant Hills. Although located
in the Hills Council local government area, it has come to our
attention because it adjoins Cherrybrook which is now part of Hornsby
Council’s C Ward. The complex, with its extensive car parks
nestled in the trees, currently has a Business zoning that prohibits
residential development. It adjoins the Cumberland State Forest
and a significant percentage of the site contains critically endangered
Blue Gum High Forest and Sydney Turpentine Ironbark Forest. The
entire site has been sold to Mirvac.
Because the new Cherrybrook Metro Station is located ‘up the hill’,
Mirvac have submitted a rezoning proposal to redevelop the IBM complex
for up to 600 medium and high density dwellings. The rezoning proposal
has been supported by the Hills Council and has been forwarded to the
NSW State Government for a gateway determination. This rezoning
proposal is generating a lot of local community concern, similar in
magnitude to the South Dural rezoning proposal that Hornsby Council
dealt with earlier this year. The crux of the issue is the
uncertainty of what will eventually be developed on this site and how
much bushland will be destroyed. photography courtesy BCCT committee member If
you are interested in this rezoning proposal, all relevant documents
are attached to the West Pennant Hills Valley Progress Association
website. CLICK HERE. You can if you wish register your concerns on this site.
There is another website, created only this week, which you may also
find useful and where you can find a link for comments or objections.
Click on www.forestindanger.org.au
Trust Spring Walk. We
always strive to make the walks interesting so this Spring Walk will be
slightly different. We are going further afield into the wilds of
Cherrybrook.
The location will be Trevors Lane off Purchase Rd. The date is Sunday 29th October from 2pm till 4 pm. It’s an easy 90 minute walk with some interesting rock formations.
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The
eNews has becoming our main method for disseminating information to the
community. Currently we have over 1020 email addresses, up from 900 two
months ago. We encourage residents who receive the eNews to tell
their neighbours and friends. The eNews letter is available to all who
subscribe. Trust Membership is not a requirement.
The eNews archives are available HERE. To subscribe to the eNews: CLICK HERE.
At this stage, the Trust will continue to distribute the printed bulletin as not everyone uses the internet. We
are continuing to looking for volunteers who like walking and who may
be able to distribute approximately 100 Bulletins a couple of times per
year, as this is all done by kind members of our community. If you are
able to help out, even as an occasional fill in person, please contact trish@bcct2119.com.au.
The Trust has always had an unwritten policy to assist any resident regardless of their membership status.
