Devastating setback for the LVH!!

As you may recall we advised you recently that Counsellors would be voting this past Tuesday at their regular Council meeting on the recommendation from the Officers that Council nominates Proponent A as the successful proponent to develop the LVH and then finalise and execute the Project Delivery Agreement with that party.  The signing of the PDA was due to happen this week!

The gallery in the Council Chamber was almost full, with all those present there to support approval of the project.  Thank you to those of you who attended. Unfortunately, a bombshell was dropped on Council staff Tuesday morning by a contingent of officers from Transport for NSW.  Their message was that TforNSW was withdrawing the $9.8m funding for the 135 commuter parking spaces. 

Please see the links below for details:

Needless to say, heads are still spinning and we will be working with Council and Matt Cross, our State Member of Parliament, to try to have this decision reversed.  To that end, we met with Matt Cross who is fully supportive of the project.  He has put a petition on his website for residents to sign and submit to the Minister for Transport.  We encourage you to have your say and complete the petition at this link.

We’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, we welcome your comments.

Regards,

The Support Lindfield Team
info@supportlindfield.net

Posted on Facebook here

Changing of the Guard in Davidson Electorate

As you will be aware, Jonathan O’Dea has been the State Member for Davidson since before Support Lindfield was formed in 2012.  He has been a great supporter of ours and the Hub project. Because some State Government funds are destined for the Hub he’s been a staunch advocate for the Hub with relevant Ministers, as well as addressing Parliament several times about the project.

 
Jonathan has worked tirelessly for the communities in his electorate, and he has now decided to leave politics for the next stage in his career. We sincerely thank him for his dedication and work with us, the Hub project, and the electorate as a whole.  We wish him the very best in his next career move.
 
Jonathan invited us to meet his intended successor for Davidson; three of our Committee members met with him and Matt Cross last week. Matt hopes to be elected to the Davidson seat at the election this Saturday.
 
Matt was very keen to hear about the Hub project, and Jonathan had given him some information before we arrived. As a Lindfield resident, he is keen to get more involved and, should he be elected, will do what he can to move the project along.
 
We gave Matt a run down on the history of the project, its ups and downs and the difficulties that Support Lindfield has experienced over the past 10 years. He is keen to learn more about it and to work with us.

There has been silence from Council lately as Council staff are now in the stage of negotiating with “Proponent A” and no information is available for the community as Councillors continue to be prevented from communicating with us. Whenever we get further information, we will, of course, pass it on to you.

We breathe a sigh of relief!!

A few of us attended the Council meeting on Tuesday evening in person.  It was a nail-biting experience as the debate over funding from the current library site went around in a few circles for an hour and a half.  The outcome was as follows:

Resolved:
That:
A. Council authorises the General Manager to undertake exclusive negotiations with Proponent A, with the objective of refining their proposal and agreeing the terms of a PDA
B. A report be brought to Council on the outcome of the negotiations, which if successful may result in Council resolving at a future meeting to execute a PDA with Proponent A.
C. The required proceeds from the future sale of the existing Lindfield Library will be quarantined and dedicated to the Lindfield Village Hub project.
 
For the Resolution:                The Mayor, Councillor Pettett, Councillors Kay, Ngai, Smith, Spencer, A. Taylor, G. Taylor, Ward and Wheatley
 
Against the Resolution:          Councillor Lennon
 
At least the Council Officers can now move to the next stage. 

There will likely be little action that Support Lindfield can take for the next few months so if there is silence from us, that will be the reason. 

FYI we're still looking for a Secretary to join the Committee.  If you're interested, please contact info@supportlindfield.net.  It's  a good time to join since there won't be much work for awhile!

Regards,

The Support Lindfield Team

Councillors to Decide Fate of LVH Project on 14 February

At their meeting next Tuesday 14 February, Councillors will be considering a recommendation from the Officers that:
A.    Council authorises the General Manager to undertake exclusive negotiations with Proponent A, with the objective of refining their proposal and agreeing the terms of a Project Delivery Agreement.
B.    A report be brought to Council on the outcome of the negotiations, which if successful may result in Council resolving at a future meeting to execute a PDA with Proponent A.
C.    Council confirms allocation of proceeds from the future sale of the Lindfield Library site to the Lindfield Village Hub project.

Councillors voted on these same recommendations at its December 2022 meeting.  However, they voted to defer their decision until February because "they needed more time".  We sent the message below to each Councillor encouraging them to vote in favour of the recommendations so that the project could proceed. 

The project has now been on the drawing board for 10 years and the cost to the end of December 2022 is $10,460,377.  It's about time we saw more progress.

Regards,
The Support Lindfield Team

Demolition of 4-6 Bent St

4-6 Bent St Lindfield

The State Government set October 1st as the date by which council had to show some progress against the Lindfield Village Hub or else lose the commuter carpark funding. With council yet to select a developer, they have instead decided to demolish 4-6 Bent St Lindfield over the next 6 weeks and sacrifice the rental income in the name of showing progress and securing the funding.

Let's hope we get some real progress with a final tender decision in the November council meeting.

Progress on the Coles Lindfield site

Coles closing poster

68 of the 69 apartments in the new Coles Lindfield development sold out in just 3 days, so construction is moving ahead! There were 1500 enquiries and only 59 apartments in this development, which bodes well for the Lindfield Village Hub development next door.

Given this success, the posters have gone up at Coles Lindfield to announce that the final day of trading will be Sunday 1st May 2022 at 8pm.

Construction on phase 2 of the development will commence in July. It is not known how long construction will take, but the result will be a new Coles that is double the size of the current offering!

Lindfield Village Green Progress Shots

Now that the Lindfield Village Green is complete, we would like to share some progress shots from along the way!

BEFORE: April 2020, the carpark before the Lindfield Village Green construction begins

September 2020, the foundations are being dug out and piers sunk. Poor Runaway Spoon!

October 2021, carpark construction almost complete. Starting on the earthworks and landscaping.

AFTER: February 2022, the park is completed and opened to the public. Water fountains are running, but the Olea cafe fitout continues.

Any News on the Lindfield Village Hub?

Unfortunately the answer is NO!

It has been some time since we’ve communicated with you and that’s because there hasn’t been much to say.

On 15 February Councillors had their first Council meeting since they elected the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and appointed Councillor representatives to various Committees. Some of our Committee members watched the proceedings via Live Stream. We were favourably impressed by the chairmanship of the new Mayor, Jeff Pettett, as he handled the large agenda very competently. All Councillors appeared to be heard and had ample time to ask questions and say what they wanted to. The behaviour of the Councillors was very businesslike and respectful. We are pleased to note that this behaviour is much more conducive to a cohesive and productive Council than some of the performances we witnessed in the previous term. We compliment all Councillors and hope that it continues.

While there were no agenda items directly related to the implementation of the Hub project at that meeting, there were some references to funding in documents related to agenda items. These are of note and interest to our community.

  • GB5: “Council’s investment Portfolio performance for December 2021.” and Note at foot of this item ” *** During December 2021, Council received a $9.8M grant from Transport NSW for Lindfield Village Hub Car Park. As part of the Grant’s terms and conditions Council is required to keep the funds in an independent at call account for audit purposes.”

  • GB19: “The Ku-ring-gai Long Term Financial Plan and the Delivery and Operational Program 2018-2021 and Operational Plan 2020-2021 identify projects which are to be funded from asset sales, including:
    major town centre projects such as Lindfield Village Hub and Turramurra Hub;”

We assume, but don’t know of course, whether the GB19 item means that they will now use some of the proceeds from the sale of the current library site to help fund the Hub project. Support Lindfield and the community at large have been lobbying for that to happen for years.

Unfortunately, we have no information about the status of the project or anything resembling a timeline. On 30 January we wrote to all Councillors with some suggestions for next steps. To date we have had no replies from any of the Councillors. None of the Councillors has reached out to us since the January Council meeting. So we are still in the dark.

As usual, we appreciate your comments and feedback. Please write to us at info@supportlindfield.net. When/if we get any information about the project we will, of course, pass it on to you.

Regards,

The Support Lindfield Team

Support Lindfield comments on the new Council and the Lindfield Village Hub

From The Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Post

PRESIDENT of Support Lindfield, Linda McDonald, has congratulated the new and re-elected Councillors and is looking forward to working with them to bring the Lindfield Vil­lage Hub to fruition.

Support Lindfield is a community group with a database of 1800 sup­porters and a committee of 10 vol­unteers whose objective is to have a new heart for our village that services the residents of Lindfield, Killara and Roseville.

"Over $9m of ratepayer’s money has been spent on the Hub to date. Following many missteps and avoid­able delays over the past 9 years its now important for the Council to deliver for the residents. We’re opti­mistic the new Council will turn this situation around and promptly select a developer to undertake the project" stated Linda McDonald.

"The residents of Ku-ring-gai de­serve transparency and accountabili­ty for the expenditure and excessive timeline for this project. The actual design of the Hub should be put on display to allow public feedback and comments. It is unclear what the res­idents of Ku-ring-gai will getting. Unfortunately, the previous Council spent significant amounts of ratepay­er’s funds in the NSW Civil and Ad­ministrative Tribunal (NCAT) trying to keep information about the project from Support Lindfield and the rate­payers." added Linda McDonald.

The formal tender process started in December 2019 with a Request for Tender issued to five developers. By the closing date of 2 April 2020 only two tenders were received.

In December 2020 officers report­ed to Council that no financially vi­able tender had been received and the officers seemed to go back to the drawing board. This is now eight years into the project. The only pub­lic information made available during 2021 was that officers were “negoti­ating with developers”.

Support Lindfield wants the Hub to include a new library of the future, community centre, child care centre, open space and parkland, restau­rant and café precinct, supermarket and specialty retail, a range of high quality apartments, commuter and short stay parking. Also, a pedestrian bridge across Pacific Highway from the railway station is urgently needed for safety, access to the Hub from the station and Pacific Highway and to unite east and West Lindfield into one community.

President. Linda McDonald said, “If we get the Hub right it will deliv­er a place where all ages can gather to play, socialise, shop and enhance the joy of living in our beautiful sub­urbs.”

This is the largest project ever un­dertaken by Ku-ring-gai Council and Council’s future plans include a Tur­ramurra Hub and eventually a Gor­don Hub.

For more information info@sup­portlindfield.net or our website www. supportlindfield.net.

Kur-ring-gai Council Election Results

Yesterday the election results for all Ku-ring-gai Wards were finalised after the preferences were distributed. The results are as follows:

Roseville Ward

Sam Ngai - who won his seat in a landslide!
Alec Taylor - a newcomer who polled very well and knocked the former Mayor out of the race.

Gordon Ward

Barbara Ward
Simon Lennon
Both Barbara and Simon are new to Council.

Comenarra Ward

Jeff Pettett - seasoned Councillor
Greg Taylor - newcomer

St.Ives Ward

Christine Kay
Martin Smith
Both Christine and Martin are now into their 2nd term

Wahroonga Ward

Cedric Spencer - second term for Cedric
Kim Wheatley - newcomer

 

We are confident that this Council will be much more cohesive and community focussed than the previous term Council and will provide much needed leadership. We look forward to working with them more successfully and collaboratively and expect smooth sailing ahead for the Lindfield Village Hub.

Thank you to those of you who generously donated funds so we could mount an extensive and effective campaign. We raised over $9,000 and spent every $1 of it on the campaign. We believe it was well worth it. Thank you also to those of you who helped hand out flyers and/or did your own campaign around your neighbourhood to help our preferred candidates get elected. Or those who helped in any other way.

We will continue to work in your interests to get the Hub built as soon as possible and with everything the community has told us for years what they want.